|
Headphones, Personal Listening Gear Personal Listening at its Best |
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
|
#1
|
||||
|
||||
New Headphone Amp
I'd like to get a new headphone amp for the analog side of my system. Should I install it between the turntable and the phono pre, or between the Phono pre and the preamp. If there is a better idea I'm game. Thanks, Jack
__________________
Speakers........Dynaudio Contour 1.8 Mk II Amp...............Pass Labs X150.5 PreAmp..........McIntosh C2600 Sources..........Music Hall MMF 9.3 Walnut w/ Goldring Eroica LX MC Cartridge Phono Pre...…..Sutherland Insight CD Player Rotel RCD-1072 Record Cleaning Machine...….Okki Nokki DAC................Bryston BDA-3 Headphones.....Drop + Dan Clark Audio Ether CX / Sennheiser HD-660S Headphone Amp.....Bryston BHA-1 Cables....Amp to preamp - Morrow MA4 Preamp to DAC - Morrow MA4 Preamp to Headphone Amp - Morrow MA2 |
#2
|
||||
|
||||
Does your Preamp have a LINE OUT or REC OUT? If yes, that is the best output to the hp amp.
__________________
**** Formerly Dj_AmTraX ***** |
#3
|
||||
|
||||
I have a line out but it's currently being used by the other headphone amp I have in use on the digital side of my system.
__________________
Speakers........Dynaudio Contour 1.8 Mk II Amp...............Pass Labs X150.5 PreAmp..........McIntosh C2600 Sources..........Music Hall MMF 9.3 Walnut w/ Goldring Eroica LX MC Cartridge Phono Pre...…..Sutherland Insight CD Player Rotel RCD-1072 Record Cleaning Machine...….Okki Nokki DAC................Bryston BDA-3 Headphones.....Drop + Dan Clark Audio Ether CX / Sennheiser HD-660S Headphone Amp.....Bryston BHA-1 Cables....Amp to preamp - Morrow MA4 Preamp to DAC - Morrow MA4 Preamp to Headphone Amp - Morrow MA2 |
#4
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
If that is incorrect, then direct from your phono-preamp to your headphone amp would take one step out of the chain. However, you should try with and without your line preamp as you might find you prefer to have it in the chain. Depends on what you hear.
__________________
Glenn... Canton Reference 9 Clearaudio SM Pro Focal Bathys JLA 10" Dominion Kuzma Stabi S w/MC & MM Magnepan 1,7i McIntosh MA8950 & MR88 Oppo 203 Roon Nucleus Rose Hifi RS150B Shunyata Gemini-4 Sony ST-A6B, TA-F6B, ST-J75 & PS-X75 Sorane SA1.2 & TA-1L Stillpoints LP1v2 WW Pt, Au & Ag |
#5
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
__________________
Speakers........Dynaudio Contour 1.8 Mk II Amp...............Pass Labs X150.5 PreAmp..........McIntosh C2600 Sources..........Music Hall MMF 9.3 Walnut w/ Goldring Eroica LX MC Cartridge Phono Pre...…..Sutherland Insight CD Player Rotel RCD-1072 Record Cleaning Machine...….Okki Nokki DAC................Bryston BDA-3 Headphones.....Drop + Dan Clark Audio Ether CX / Sennheiser HD-660S Headphone Amp.....Bryston BHA-1 Cables....Amp to preamp - Morrow MA4 Preamp to DAC - Morrow MA4 Preamp to Headphone Amp - Morrow MA2 |
#6
|
||||
|
||||
I did disconnect the headphone amp from my DAC and ran it from the line out on my preamp and it worked. I do have to either crank up the headphone amp to around 10db on the dial or control the volume with the preamp. Getting a more powerful headphone amp might be the way around all that. Thanks to all that had a suggestion, your knowledge was invaluable.
__________________
Speakers........Dynaudio Contour 1.8 Mk II Amp...............Pass Labs X150.5 PreAmp..........McIntosh C2600 Sources..........Music Hall MMF 9.3 Walnut w/ Goldring Eroica LX MC Cartridge Phono Pre...…..Sutherland Insight CD Player Rotel RCD-1072 Record Cleaning Machine...….Okki Nokki DAC................Bryston BDA-3 Headphones.....Drop + Dan Clark Audio Ether CX / Sennheiser HD-660S Headphone Amp.....Bryston BHA-1 Cables....Amp to preamp - Morrow MA4 Preamp to DAC - Morrow MA4 Preamp to Headphone Amp - Morrow MA2 |
#7
|
||||
|
||||
I picked up a Channel Island Audio VHP-2 on Audiogon. Hopefully this will take care of the low volume output of the Musical Fidelity.
__________________
Speakers........Dynaudio Contour 1.8 Mk II Amp...............Pass Labs X150.5 PreAmp..........McIntosh C2600 Sources..........Music Hall MMF 9.3 Walnut w/ Goldring Eroica LX MC Cartridge Phono Pre...…..Sutherland Insight CD Player Rotel RCD-1072 Record Cleaning Machine...….Okki Nokki DAC................Bryston BDA-3 Headphones.....Drop + Dan Clark Audio Ether CX / Sennheiser HD-660S Headphone Amp.....Bryston BHA-1 Cables....Amp to preamp - Morrow MA4 Preamp to DAC - Morrow MA4 Preamp to Headphone Amp - Morrow MA2 |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
It's going to be better sound quality to come right out of the phono stage into the preamp. Otherwise you'll have the extra preamp circuitry and volume control in the signal path (a record or monitor out, as mentioned above, may bypass this circuitry). That said, if it's a big deal and you REALLY need the functionality and/or the extra gain of the preamp, it can be OK. I've tried it before (Rogue Hera II, Rogue RP-9, ARC Ref 6). I just always end up going back to the cleaner signal path.
If you need to convert SE outputs to XLR for a balanced headphone amp (some such headphone amps don't properly convert single-ended signals to balanced and will not sound their best), then Jensen makes some great ISO-Max transformers that will be more transparent than most preamps (even expensive ones). I've used these myself; they're great. You'll still need an extra set of interconnects, like with a preamp. Do keep in mind that many headphones amps are built with one or two of the following in mind: 1. ability to support very sensitive IEMs, 2. expecting a really hot output digital source, especially on XLR inputs. This means that on many vinyl rigs, you will be running the headphone amp's volume control MUCH higher than you would for digital. This gets much worse if you choose low-sensitivity headphones; in fact it is possible to run out of volume travel. |
#9
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
__________________
Speakers........Dynaudio Contour 1.8 Mk II Amp...............Pass Labs X150.5 PreAmp..........McIntosh C2600 Sources..........Music Hall MMF 9.3 Walnut w/ Goldring Eroica LX MC Cartridge Phono Pre...…..Sutherland Insight CD Player Rotel RCD-1072 Record Cleaning Machine...….Okki Nokki DAC................Bryston BDA-3 Headphones.....Drop + Dan Clark Audio Ether CX / Sennheiser HD-660S Headphone Amp.....Bryston BHA-1 Cables....Amp to preamp - Morrow MA4 Preamp to DAC - Morrow MA4 Preamp to Headphone Amp - Morrow MA2 |
#10
|
||||
|
||||
Your Sutherland phono stage is not very high gain. Combine that with the low output Goldring, the Cary, and your headphone amp, and you may just not have enough overall gain to drive your headphones effectively. You may need to consider a headphone amp with higher gain/more power, or a phone stage with higher gain.
Since the Sutherland has only one set of outputs, you can’t go direct to the headphone amp unless you want to switch plugs when you listen to headphones. You might try that though as an experiment: plug your Sutherland directly in to the Musical Fidelity and see how it sounds. If you still find you don’t get enough output then you need to consider alternatives: a higher output phono stage or higher gain headphone amp.
__________________
Tony D'Agostino Momentum S250 MxV & HD pre; Linn Klimax Organik DSM, SonicTransporter, EtherRegen; Acoustic Signature Typhoon Neo, Koetsu RSP, Boulder 1108; Sf Il Cremonese; Shunyata Everest, Altaira, Sigma & Alpha v2 |
|
|
Audio Aficionado Sponsors | |