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Is My Receiver A Headphone Amp As Well?

post #1 of 44
1/3/09 at 1:52am
Thread Starter 
Well I use my Marantz SR4400 to Drive my bookshelf Speakers and I plug my headphones (Dt 770 Pro) into the Headphone jack. So is my Marantz a headphone Amp as well?
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post #2 of 44
1/3/09 at 1:54am
Sure, it's just probably not as good as a dedicated one, that's all.
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post #3 of 44
1/3/09 at 2:00am
Yep, of course you have a headphone amp in your receiver. A not real good one.
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post #4 of 44
1/3/09 at 3:45am
It can be a very decent buit-in amp. Better than a lot of so called "dedicated amps".
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post #5 of 44
1/3/09 at 7:44am
Yes, it sure is.
A headphone amplifier is one feeding a headphone jack. It can very well be built into another unit, like CD player, DAP, DAC, Pre-amplifier, speaker amplifier, ..
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post #6 of 44
1/3/09 at 5:35pm
The only way a receiver/integrated amp rivals a dedicated headphone amp, in my experience, is if the headphone out is directly coupled to the output transformers, i.e. some Leben and Cary integrated amps.
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post #7 of 44
1/3/09 at 6:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by QQQ View Post
It can be a very decent buit-in amp. Better than a lot of so called "dedicated amps".
X2!!

In my experience you can much better have a 400e amp then a 200e headphone amp. Alot of the amps just use the same board as the main amplification, only to adjust the signal for headphone purposes, but it still uses that same quality board the amp was designed for. I sold my MKIVse after finding out I liked the sound of my NAD amp better.

Cheers
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post #8 of 44
9/11/09 at 4:37pm
I am glad to see this thread and similar ones on here. I just got a new Harmon Kardon 3390 two channel receiver and am pleasantly surprised to find the headphone out sounds great. Good enough that I am putting my Predator up for sale and will just listen off my main living room system. I don't really use the portability of the Predator, and my modded Denon MD5000s sound just as good plugged into the HK receiver. I am also trying out the Music Streamer and a Music Streamer Plus USB DACs so they might be a big part of why everything sounds just as good through the receiver, since the DAC in the Predator is not known as being that great.
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post #9 of 44
9/11/09 at 4:49pm
Some of the biggest differences come with the impedance of the headphone. In my experience low imp cans can sound very nice from a reciever (remember the speaker imp. is 4-8 ohmns) - but high imp. cans don't fare to well. My HD650's really sing with the DV332 whilst sounding dead from my Onkyo 805 amp. The HF-2 sound great from pretty much anything, amp, reciever, ipod etc.
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post #10 of 44
9/11/09 at 7:27pm
The Denons are low impedance (25 ohm) so maybe that is why they work so well with the headphone out on my receiver.
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post #11 of 44
9/11/09 at 8:47pm
You really have to take what you hear around here with a huge grain of salt. This, for example, is the opposite of reality:

Quote:
low imp cans can sound very nice from a reciever (remember the speaker imp. is 4-8 ohmns) - but high imp. cans don't fare to well.
I'm not doubting the poster's experience, but it must be limited to the exception. Most receiver headphone sections are powered by the speaker amps. stepped down with resistors. The problem with this, to the extent that it is a problem at all, is high output impedance, which may result in lack of good bass control in very low impedance cans, but will rarely have an audible effect on high-impedance headphones like 650s. And really, it's rarely a problem at all as the overwhelming majority of commercial headphones are optimized for the 20 - 25 ohm output of most receivers. Those of us with dedicated headphone amps are, after all, a pretty small minority.

Many receivers/integrated amps have very good headphone performance, whether those who have invested hundreds (thousands?) in dedicated head amps want to believe that or not. But don't take my word for it. Use your Marantz as a reference. Only order headphone amps from stores or manufacturers with liberal return policies and do the comparing for yourself. Blind. It's the only way to judge gear.

P
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post #12 of 44
9/12/09 at 12:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phelonious Ponk View Post
Many receivers/integrated amps have very good headphone performance, whether those who have invested hundreds (thousands?) in dedicated head amps want to believe that or not. But don't take my word for it. Use your Marantz as a reference. Only order headphone amps from stores or manufacturers with liberal return policies and do the comparing for yourself. Blind. It's the only way to judge gear.
This is me. I've been using my Onkyo integrated to drive my headphones since I got into this hobby, and I think it does a fabulous job. It's hard to believe it could get much better, but I have got to know, so I am in the process of auditioning two amps from retailers with satisfaction guarantees. I'm not going to be able to totally relax with my Onkyo unless I know for sure, even with a member on this forum posting that it sounds almost indistinguishable from a GS-1. Obviously, it's also possible that I don't have audiophile ears, but that's just as valuable information.
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post #13 of 44
9/12/09 at 12:26am
Too much generalization in this thread. Some receivers/integrateds/pres have good headphone sections some don't. Same goes for type of phone they work with etc. It's always worth a shot to see and compare of course but there's no certainty one way or another unless someone else has tried the model and is a reliable judge.
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post #14 of 44
9/12/09 at 12:48am
I think you are right about the generalizations not being worth much, but it was enlightening to me to find the headphone out sounded so good on my new receiver as I was believing another generalization that those headphone outs are never worth much. Live and learn
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post #15 of 44
9/12/09 at 2:44am
Cool. HK stuff, even in these days of cost-cutting and integration, is generally well built. Perhaps one of the keys is that it's a stereo amp and not a bazillion channel surround amp rated for umpteen*125W with a 400VA transformer
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