Price Paid:  $65.00 from ebay

Summary:
Of all the under 100 dollar portable headphone amps available from ebay, the Xenos X0HA-R is probably the best bang for the buck. It has decent looks, it's not like a lot of the headphone amps on ebay that look like they were built in somebody's garage. Good packaging helps make a good product even better, and so far only the ATP guys have figured this one out. The sound quality is very good, not the best I have ever heard, but better than most of the low cost portable amps I have tested. One of the big problems with most of the "Cmoy" or op-amp based headphone amps is that they run on a 9 volt battery. I don't have to tell you that 9 volt Alkaline batteries are not cheap, and heavy duty 9 volt batteries are pretty much useless on these type of amps, since they will last a few hours at best. The Xenos X0HA-R is designed to use an 8.4 Volt NiMH high capacity rechargeable battery that is slow charged so it can be used 500-1000 times. This is a big plus, since a NiMH battery will set you back only about 10 bucks. You can buy one from ATP when you buy the amp, and I recommend that you do, since these batteries are hard to get elsewhere. The charger can also be purchased from ATP, and I also recommend that, since the plug type needed to mate to the amp is not a standard size.

Strengths:
Very good sound
Enough output to drive low efficiency phones
Good looks/Packaging
Has belt clip
On-Off control on volume control knob
Has built-in NiMH charger circuitry

Weaknesses:
Short battery life
Takes 12 hours to charge NiMH battery

Similar Products Used:
PA2V2