Hey ive recently been offered a pair of Sennheiser 580's and im not sure what to do. I got a pair of them a little over a year ago and ended up not liking them because i was using them out of my cheap junky sony surround sound receiver. Ive recently acquired a Vintage Marantz 2220B which sounds great but i wanted to see if that would offer sufficient power to these, because last time i had them they sounded slow, overly warm, and boring. i need some opinions QUICK.
thanks,
chris

The Marantz 2220b has a headphone jack?

ya a 1/4" on the lower left hand corner

Quote:



I use my Marantz 2226B with the AKG K-1000s, but occasionally I use them with my Senn 600s/Cardas. I really like the sound with this combination. The Marantz is more than powerful enough to drive the Senns.

They just don't make receivers with headphone jacks like this anymore.

BTW--how's the quality of your Marantz? I've had some problems with the two that I bought on ebay, so I'm interested in your comments.

A one word review of my marantz would just be wow! theyre way too good for my low end MTS speakers but i hooked up my dads $1500 NHTs to it today and i was floored. It really sounds incredible and i cant how much these sell for. The only problem with mine is one of the inputs does not work for some reason but there are other inputs so it doesnt matter

The Marantz you own has more than adequate power from the headphone amplifier section of the receiver to drive a pair of HD-600s well. The HD-580 is very similar in impedance and sensitivity to the HD-600, so it should work very well.

If you prefer the sound of Grado headphones to Sennheiser phones, no amplifier is going to make you change your mind. Whichever you decide to get, you will always wonder what the other headphones would sound like when listening to a certain piece of music, so why not keep both your Grados and the Senns. Both will sound very good through a Marantz receiver.

You might want to unplug the receiver, remove the cover, and blow out any dust from inside the chassis and controls using some of that compressed gas such as Dust Off. Then get some contact cleaner lube spray (available at Radio Shack (RS) and spray a moderate amount into each switch and control, working them by hand until they are turning smoothly again. You may find that your dead input is the result of a stuck tape monitor button, and the cleaner spray will free this up.

Replacing any burnt out lamps is a little more effort but definitely something you can do. If you are going to use the FM radio of the receiver, by all means take the unit to a repair shop that does quality repairs, for an FM alignment. This requires an FM signal generator and an oscilloscope as well as specific alignment procedures for that series of tuner/receiver, so this is beyond the ability of most do-it-your-self repairs.

Agree 100% with what mkmelt posted. I love my 600's however my Marantz sounds better to me with Grado's. Just a matter of taste
If you need help replacing any lamps send me a PM.