Which headphone amp you own?

DaveNote · « **Reply #120 on:** 16 Jan 2012, 06:00 pm »

Quote from: Frank I on 16 Jan 2012, 05:30 pm

[q

The He6 with a pigtail made would work off your speaker terminal and work well on any integrated or any other receiver with some power. The HE6 when I owned them worked best on my 80W Pioneer SX980 off the speaker taps and were special. I own the Decware taboo and CSP2 tube amps with headphone outs. I use them as a preamp and amp also for my Omega Super 5 and Outlaw sub but for headphones they can handle anything except the He6 with large scale recording. The 6 did much better on the Pioneer. I am using the Taboo power for my HE500 and the CSP2 for the T1. The D7000 play both sides well and I have a Pioneer SX650 when I get the SS amp bug. IMO all vintage receivers of the 70's Pioneer,Marantz and sansui have better headphone amps that are currently produced and all are discrete. So dont discard them and seek them out. as they are all well worth to own and admire as they do not build anything like these anymore.

Frank, thanks for this. Just to test your view, I took my LCD-2s and hooked them up to the headphone jack of a very ancient (at least 25 years old) Panasonic Technics SU-V303 integrated then called New Class A. It sounded very good indeed, giving the headphones a more open sound than I get with my Schiit Lyr, but not as dry as I get with my other SS device.

Dave

eclein · « **Reply #121 on:** 16 Jan 2012, 08:13 pm »

The first amp I used for my HE-5LE's was an older Kenwood AV receiver I got as part of a CL snag, slightly under powered but worked fine. I also have a Virtue TWO.2 which apparently is great for using as a headphone amp with the $99 adapter hifiman sells its safe to do without harming anything....I have yet to try it but I will someday. Vintage/older equipment is making a solid comeback in the headphone arena!!

charmerci · « **Reply #122 on:** 16 Jan 2012, 09:10 pm »

Quote from: Frank I on 16 Jan 2012, 05:30 pm

[q

The D7000 play both sides well and I have a Pioneer SX650 when I get the SS amp bug.

Yowza! You jolted an old memory. I had a SX650 in high school for a few months. I had forgotten all about that.

slwiser · « **Reply #123 on:** 22 Jan 2012, 12:47 pm »

In addition to the two desktop amps shown above (SPL Phonitor and the Yamamoto HA-02) I will soon will have these in my portable collection: Fostex HP-P1 (already noted with 32 bit DAC) or RSA SR-71B (fully balanced) or ALO Continental V2 (portable tube amp) along with a balanced DAC, the iBasso DB2 (dual internal DACs) to my balanced SR-71B amp feeding my recently balanced Beyerdynamic DT1350 headphones. I may also have to get a balanced cable now for my Sennheiser HD800 headphone since I am getting the balanced DAC (DB2) and Amp (SR-71B).

Pictures will be up when everything comes together.

Edit: All my components are in but to make it better I need a special optical toslink cable that is not a foot long hanging around. The Senn HD-25-1 is sounding much better than it should and so is the Beyer DT1350 both being balanced out of the iBasso DB2 balanced dac and the RSA SR-71B balanced amp.

ajzepp · « **Reply #124 on:** 22 Jan 2012, 01:19 pm »

Quote from: slwiser on 22 Jan 2012, 12:47 pm

In addition to the two desktop amps shown about (SPL Phonitor and the Yamamoto HA-02) I will soon will have these in my portable collection: Fostex HP-P1 (already noted with 32 bit DAC) or RSA SR-71B (fully balanced) or ALO Continental V2 (portable tube amp) along with a balanced DAC, the iBasso DB2 (dual internal DACs) to my balanced SR-71B amp feeding my recently balanced Beyerdynamic DT1350 headphones. I may also have to get a balanced cable now for my Sennheiser HD800 headphone since I am getting the balanced DAC (DB2) and Amp (SR-71B).

Pictures will be up when everything comes together.

Wow, that's quite a gameplan!!

mhconley · « **Reply #125 on:** 22 Jan 2012, 04:55 pm »

My Citypulse DA7.2xII DAC/headphone amp when I get my Sennheiser HD598's on Tuesday...

Martin

DaveNote · « **Reply #126 on:** 22 Jan 2012, 05:56 pm »

In a post above, I noted that I took up FrankI's suggestion to look into old amps and receivers as headphone amps, and that I hooked up my 25 year old Technics SU-V303 with excellent results. I contacted Frank about something even better, and he recommended a Pioneer SX980 for my LCD-2s. I was lucky enough to find one locally in very good condition at a reasonable price. Conclusion: Outstanding!

More weight and body than the Technics. More open and airy than my Schitt Lyr, and a lot more slam and detail than with either one. But like the Technics, with none of the hum of the Lyr.

Best headphone amp I've owned. The only downside is that this is a monstrously big component weighing about 42 lbs. which takes up a great deal of room. On the other hand, its performance as a headphone amp more than outweighs this minor problem.

Dave

aragon63 · « **Reply #127 on:** 22 Jan 2012, 06:28 pm »

J. Sound Lab

charmerci · « **Reply #128 on:** 22 Jan 2012, 07:57 pm »

Quote from: DaveNote on 22 Jan 2012, 05:56 pm

In a post above, I noted that I took up FrankI's suggestion to look into old amps and receivers as headphone amps, and that I hooked up my 25 year old Technics SU-V303 with excellent results. I contacted Frank about something even better, and he recommended a Pioneer SX980 for my LCD-2s. I was lucky enough to find one locally in very good condition at a reasonable price. Conclusion: Outstanding

Best headphone amp I've owned. The only downside is that this is a monstrously big component weighing about 42 lbs. which takes up a great deal of room. On the other hand, its performance as a headphone amp more than outweighs this minor problem.

Dave

I'm surprised the SX980 is still around.

Most of them internally burned themselves up in late 70's - early 80's. (They were very popular and most of the ones that I knew about then overheated and died.)

Glad you like it anyway.

tonycheung · « **Reply #129 on:** 24 Jan 2012, 06:12 am »

Here are my rigs:

Desktop amps:
SPL Auditor
Lehmann BCL
Yulong A100

Portable amps:
ibasso D4
ibasso D6

tonycheung · « **Reply #130 on:** 24 Jan 2012, 06:29 am »

I own following headphones:

SENNHEISER:
HD598
HD600
HD650
HD800
ie8

AKG:
K501

Too many gear, too little time!!

krikor · « **Reply #131 on:** 24 Jan 2012, 01:58 pm »

Quote from: charmerci on 16 Jan 2012, 09:10 pm

Yowza! You jolted an old memory. I had a SX650 in high school for a few months. I had forgotten all about that.

Love the old silver era Pioneer stuff! I occasionally use the headphone output of my SA-650II integrated which works OK for headphone use when banished to the living room (still prefer the little CMOYbb amps over this). Haven't tried the headphone outs on my other Pioneers (SX-780, SX-737 and SX-535).

TF1216 · « **Reply #132 on:** 24 Jan 2012, 03:03 pm »

Here is a picture of my JH3A. It's a 3-way DSP controlled amplifier.

adydula · « **Reply #133 on:** 24 Jan 2012, 03:15 pm »

The issue with using really old receivers etc is that they are indeed 'old'.

What I mean is the electronics inside in various circuits may not be what they were 20-30 years ago, caps etc age, things drift etc....

Not saying that they dont or cant sound great....just buyer beware.

I have tried several 'old' pioneers and they sound pretty good..some were original and some were upgraded or rebuilt.

It would be nice to get schmatics of the headphone circuitry and see how they compare what is being made and sold today.

Alex

lextek · « **Reply #134 on:** 28 Jan 2012, 09:02 pm »

Just finished building a Bottlehead Crack to go with my Sennheiser HD600s. This is a very, special pairing.

hibuckhobby · « **Reply #135 on:** 28 Jan 2012, 11:02 pm »

Just got an older Antique Sound Labs OTL headphone amp ( a Mk I, I think). With NOS tubes in it, this combination with my HD650's really floats my boat. Also am breaking on some Fostex TR50p headphone that sound great with my Headroom Total Airhead. Might get a Fiio E11 and will be on the lookout for another OTL amp for the future.
Hibuck...

lextek · « **Reply #136 on:** 29 Jan 2012, 02:08 am »

Quote from: hibuckhobby on 28 Jan 2012, 11:02 pm

Just got an older Antique Sound Labs OTL headphone amp ( a Mk I, I think). With NOS tubes in it, this combination with my HD650's really floats my boat. Also am breaking on some Fostex TR50p headphone that sound great with my Headroom Total Airhead. Might get a Fiio E11 and will be on the lookout for another OTL amp for the future.
Hibuck...

The MG Head awesome little amp. I miss mine.....

timjthomas · « **Reply #137 on:** 29 Jan 2012, 02:15 am »

Just picked up a Cavali CTH. Great little tube amp for the money: http://www.cavalliaudio.com/diy/cth/main.php?page=overview

Wig · « **Reply #138 on:** 1 Feb 2012, 02:01 am »

I'm not sure if my ModWright Sony 5400ES counts as a headphone amp but it smoked the Schiit Asgard class A amp. My Sony player was sweeter, better extension and I was amazed that bass was better also. Using Grado SR80 and now Shure 840 and I like alot.

I'm still considering trying a Woo Audio 6, what do you guys think about this tube headphone amp?

Thanks,
Wig

tapesonic · « **Reply #139 on:** 1 Feb 2012, 02:11 am »

My headphones are the Grado SR325is. I've got a Heed Canamp, but I much prefer my vintage Fisher 400 receiver.