[terry parr]

for the non-do-it-yourselfer who wants to directly tap into the speaker outputs for headphone listening:



http://vinylflat.com/canopener.html


thought i'd run this past you guys here on AC.  would using this type of configuration render the tone controls of an integrated or receiver useless?  or would the tone controls still be functional with this piece of equipment connected? 

since this component "by-passes all headphone amp circuitry", it's by-passing all pre-amp section functions, correct?

[Russtafarian]

I've used this circuit successfully.

http://sound.westhost.com/project100.htm

[Letitroll98]

+1 for Dale's post.  Volume, tone controls, balance, etc. would all work from an integrated or receiver.  And he's correct that most vintage units already have this circuit built in as their headphone out thus this product is a waste of money, and modern units have cheap op amp circuits that might really benefit from this product.  Also, if you have several power amps, you instantly have that many headphone amps, a very enticing feature.  I wonder why they don't tout these benefits more in their site copy.

Finally, yes there have been a zillion circuit designs for the diy crowd, but I can't remember seeing a fully built product anywhere else.  I'm sure there must be some, just none I've encountered.  So for the small sum of $80 I think it's a great find, good job.

[terry parr]

very good, guys.  appreciate everyone's input.  (thanks, Russ, for providing the link to the rod elliot paper "headphone adaptor for power amplifiers".   even though the step-by-step instructions won't apply to me, i'm still enjoying reading it in order to add to my understanding of this concept.  plus, reading the warnings and notes should be required reading for anybody thinking about doing this).  thanks.

since i stumbled upon the existence of this ready-made piece, my thoughts go back to auditioning a marantz integrated a little over a year ago where you could hear musical detail and nuance that i couldn't discern in other amps that i was comparing at the time.  but, i remember thinking that the headphone out was under-powered (almost "anemic"-sounding).  it was the marantz pm-8004.

i got home from listening to the marantz, and re-connected my cdp to my old, trusty jvc rx-317 receiver that i have, and the impact and slam was back!  (i was missing some fine-level detail and more subtle-shadings with the jvc that the marantz could deliver, but it still seemed nice to have that more visceral experience that the jvc amp gives you).  my thoughts after testing an anthem integrated was along the same lines.  "a refined-sounding" amp that allowed me to hear finer details than what i was normally used to, but where the musical elements were implied, rather than felt.  no real  punch with either the marantz or the anthem. 

i remember thinking at the time that i wish i could combine the low-level, subtle refinements of the marantz or anthem with the kick of the jvc. 

maybe this is it.  maybe this is how i do it.         

[terry parr]

put in my order for the "can opener" late sun. night.  got home tonight and mr. martindale at vinyl flat sent a msg. saying the unit would be shipping later in the week.

i made sure to give him my list of headphones and the amps that i intend to use with this piece.  maybe that makes a difference, i don't know.  maybe every "can opener" is identical as far as the resistors (and their values) that the unit ships with.

if this unit performs as expected, i'll have to re-visit the anthem 225 and the marantz pm-8004 (the fatal flaw of both of these integrateds when i listened to them was an under-powered headphone section in both of them).  both of these amps were able to reveal more subtle resolution and allow you to hear more nuanced detail that none of my other amps were giving me.  but they both sounded too "polite".  neither h/p out had "balls." 

according to a review that i read just before ordering last night, the "can opener" gives you "more of what's there", without adding any coloration.  that's good, if it turns out to be true. 

it'll be interesting and fun to hear these two amps with the "can opener" connected. 

what i'm hoping to hear is for the extra bit of resolution and finesse (that "timbral" quality that's hard to describe: the sustain of chords from an acoustic grand piano, that "woodiness" of a stand-up acoustic bass, and the ability to be able to tell different cymbals apart when the drummer moves from one to the other, instead of all the cymbals and cymbal crashes sounding the same) that these amps already have (compared to what i have now), PLUS with a more dynamic presentation.

i just hope that introducing this piece between the amp and my h/p's won't change anything that the amp is "bringing." (or, allowing to be heard).

 i just want to hear more of it!   

[terry parr]

my review of "the can opener" after having spent exactly one month with it (listening to it off and on, not continuously) is an overall positive one.
it was connected to the speaker outputs of my carver cm-1090 int.  the first h/p connected was the audeze lcd-3. the first thing i noticed was how quiet "the can opener" was in the system. no background noise or hum.  none. 

on the initial listen of just a couple of different music tracks i noticed a difference in how the high frequencies in the lcd-3's sounded better with this little black box in the chain.  the higher frequencies seemed a bit more "clean"-sounding and (dare i say "smoother"?)  although, by saying "smoother", i don't mean "rolled off."  i noticed this especially when listening to acoustic piano where the transients sounded better with "the can opener". whereas usually with the audeze phones it would seem like these phones would want to distort that initial attack of the higher piano note.  it seems like by giving the lcd-3 more "juice", it actually improves this aspect of this headphones' sound (where you might think that by giving the h/p more current you might be making this tendency worse.  but, no.)  and low frequencies seemed that much better articulated. overall midrange sounded a bit better, too.  the mids seemed to sound just a bit fuller, with a noticeable difference in space between instruments being added on this headphone.  [note:  these are fairly subtle differences.  not the type of before and after that would make anybody go "wow! what a difference!"]  but, the differences were noticeable.

at times, listening to other music tracks, the difference between listening through "the can opener", and then plugging the phones into the h/p jack of the carver and listening to the track again, virtually no discernible difference was heard. taking all of my listening with "the can opener" as a whole, i would say that on roughly 25% of the music that i've listened to with the lcd-3's,  it's difficult to hear much of a difference. but, one thing you can say.  it'll either improve the overall sound of my audeze phones, or make very little difference.  at least it never degrades the sound in any way.  (i've never wanted to go back to plugging the phones into the h/p jack directly to "improve" the sound, now that i have "the can opener" as an option).  but, here again, the differences (while appreciated on most music i've listened to), isn't "night and day" overall, and little-to-no difference on certain music selections.

the bottom line though, is that when i'm listening to the carver amp i prefer to have "the can opener" in the chain, and keep the h/p's plugged into it.   

even though the difference between having "the can opener" and not are fairly subtle refinements with this amp and with these headphones (by presenting a more fuller and wider sound, and at times bringing more musical details into sharper focus  (most of the time, and for most of my listening.  not all.) 

at the end of the day, it's a keeper.