Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Culture
  3. News

The gorgeous Billie amplifier packs a wallop for your eyes and ears

While surround sound, wireless, and multiroom audio tend to generate the biggest buzz these days, many audio enthusiasts still swear by a relatively simple amp with two channels — preferably analog.

The Billie amplifier — named after Billie Holiday — aims to combine the precision of digital components with the analog magic of tubes into one package, and is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter. We’ve seen plenty of other amplifiers created with that same goal, but the striking minimalist appearance of this amplifier, combined with its high-grade components make it worthy of a closer look.

Recommended Videos

Related: Astell & Kern unveils gorgeous hi-res player for the cheap(er) seats

The Billie amplifier is well-equipped to drive just about any speakers you throw at it, combining a tube preamp featuring JJ ECC99 tubes with one of Bang & Olufsen’s touted ICEpower Class D amplifiers that delivers a claimed 125 watts per channel. The unit can also function as a headphone amp, making it a good fit for your high-end headphones. Amplifiers can consume a fair amount of electricity and generate heat, so the Billie automatically shuts itself off after 45 minutes of inactivity.

A total of three analog inputs are available, with one dedicated turntable input. Two optical SPDIF inputs are available as well, allowing for digital input from components like a PC, CD player, or high-res audio player. The ESS Sabre DAC supports up to 32-bit/384kHz audio, while wireless audio is available via Bluetooth connectivity.

Plenty of amplifiers aimed at audiophiles make a point of looking like they belong in a ’70s-era recording studio, with wobbling V/U meters and plentiful shiny metal knobs. The glistening tubes atop the Billie will show that it’s working as intended, but otherwise it presents a decidedly sleeker approach than most nostalgia seekers, with a brushed metal body available in black and silver complemented by two simple sculpted wooden knobs: one for volume and the other for switching inputs.

If this pretty package doesn’t exactly sound cheap, it’s because it isn’t. The Billie Amp in silver goes for roughly $650, and if you want it in black it will cost you just under $690. A number of Early Bird specials are currently available, but they’re quickly running out, with the earliest and cheapest deals already gone.

At the time of this publication, Heaven 11 Audio has crossed the halfway mark of its $70,000 goal, with plenty of time left in the campaign. Assuming the amp gets funded, the company expects to begin manufacturing units by November of this year and shipping by December — as long as there are no snags in the final testing, which can and does happen with Kickstarter projects.

See the Billie campaign page on Kickstarter for more information.

A version of this post was first published on our “brother site” Digital Trends.

Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it’s called when someone makes videos for the web. In his… Read Full Bio
Saturday Packs a Punch With Anthony Joshua vs. Kristian Prenga and Errol Spence Jr. vs. Tim Tszyu
Adult, Male, Man

Your Saturday is pretty much booked if you’re a big boxing fan. But if not for Tyson Fury, the action would have actually started Friday morning with his heavyweight bout against Poland’s Mariusz Wach, which was NOT televised because the so-called Gypsy King opted to save the footage for the upcoming season of his Netflix series, At Home With the Furys. According to reports, Fury squared off against Wach at Max Muay Thai Stadium in Thailand, where Fury secured a seventh-round TKO. Fury’s dominant win sets up a once-in-a-generation heavyweight showdown against Anthony Joshua, provided the British boxing star keeps his end of the bargain on Saturday.

Joshua’s long-awaited return to the ring comes against Kristian Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as part of Riyadh Season. It’s Joshua’s first fight since he brutally knocked out Jake Paul at Kaseya Center in Miami in December 2025. While his fight against Paul was a sanctioned contest, Joshua’s last fight against a legitimate boxer came against Daniel Dubois in September 2024. Joshua, who was a passenger in a deadly car crash that killed one of his best friends in Nigeria days after the Paul fight, lost to Dubois via a fifth-round knockout.

Read more
What I Learned From John Daly About Smoking Cigars
Body Part, Finger, Hand

I’ve been smoking cigars for two decades. I fell in love with the aroma when I walked into my first cigar lounge, Fair Oaks Cigars, in South Pasadena, California, when I was 21 years old. I remember my first stogie — Flor de las Antillas from My Father Cigars. During my early 20s and 30s, I smoked cigars religiously, at least five per week. I puffed alone in the living room, hours before getting ready to hit the town with friends. On my patio on a lazy Saturday afternoon. In the car during heavy traffic. On the rooftop lounge at the mid-high-rise building I lived in for a few years in downtown Los Angeles. Inside my loft — decked with concrete floors and walls, and exposed pipes — while watching pay-per-view boxing or a Dodgers game.

No matter the setting, smoking a cigar, to me, was the occasion. I never needed, nor do I need now, a reason to light up. It doesn’t matter if I smoke alone at a lounge or with friends on my patio; I love that, for an hour-plus, time slows down for me. Because smoking cigars can’t and shouldn’t be rushed. It’s not a cigarette. From the moment you light up to when you set down the final stub of a cigar, at least 45 minutes to an hour has passed, during which, if you’re like me, you made new friends, formed stronger bonds, and/or reflected on all that is great in your life.

Read more
What’s the deal with Bryson DeChambeau? The Open Championship controversy explained
Baseball Cap, Cap, Clothing

It was Ryan Fox who birdied the 18th hole on Sunday to win The 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. Despite the electric finish, all anyone’s talking about is Bryson DeChambeau, who was given a two-stroke penalty following Friday’s second round. The penalty has apparently divided the golf community, but the fact remains that DeChambeau’s response to the penalty over the weekend took away from Fox’s triumphant moment. And now, word is that DeChambeau reportedly tried and failed to rope President Donald Trump into said controversy.

The drama unfolded after Friday’s second round, when it seemed DeChambeau finished the day in sole possession of second place with a -7 under score heading into the third round. At least it appeared that way — until the leaderboard was updated to reflect a two-stroke penalty against DeChambeau, after officials claimed he stomped on the grass behind his ball to improve the line of his swing at No. 5. That, officials say, violates Rule 8.1, which states that, in order “to support the principle of ‘play the course as you find it,’ this Rule restricts what a player may do to improve any of these protected ‘conditions affecting the stroke’ (anywhere on or off the course).”

Read more