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Originally Posted by MalVeauX /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Other than that, instead of seeking a cheap speaker amp, look at AVR's. A cheap $200 AVR that does 50~75wpc (real world is probably half that) gives you a DAC and speaker tap AMP all in one with a remote. I used my HE-500 on several of my Receivers and it was great. Thing is you can use one as old as you want too.
 
 

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I'm currently using an Onkyo SR-502 receiver with my HD-500. Sounds great. I don't feel I need anything better, and remote control is a real luxury.
 
Oh, not off the speaker taps though. Plain old headphone jack for me.

To any one that knows...
 
Is there a difference from the headphone out and the speaker taps on a AVR?

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preproman said:

To any one that knows...
 
Is there a difference from the headphone out and the speaker taps on a AVR?

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Yep, most modern recievers these days just use a little opamp based headphone amp. Some of the older ones come off the speaker tap with a resistor network. Im pretty sure mine does that, but its from '97

Quote:

preproman said:

To any one that knows...
 
Is there a difference from the headphone out and the speaker taps on a AVR?

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Heya,
 
Depends on the model and ear it was made. Old ones just have a resistor and use the speaker amp, but it's got a dummy load already in place. New ones don't do this. And it's amazing how they don't really document this in your manual, so you really have no idea unless you crack it open or get ahold of the tech manual or something. Annoying.
 
When I plug my HE-500 into the headphone out of 4 different AVR's and compare when using it on speaker tap from the same amps, it sounds different on each one. The speaker taps all sounded better to me, more black space, less noise floor, full dynamic rich sound. It sounds ok from the headphone out of them, but it just sounds better from the taps.
 
Very best,

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souprknowva said:

 
Yep, most modern recievers these days just use a little opamp based headphone amp. Some of the older ones come off the speaker tap with a resistor network. Im pretty sure mine does that, but its from '97

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Tread carefully here as this has been the subject of several debates and no little research in the past. It's mainly centered around amplifiers, where it was found that the received wisdom, that the headphone jack was driven by cheap op amps, was largely a myth--and this came directly from the manufacturers! It could be the same with AVRs, in which case those plugging into the speakers taps may well be duplicating what the manufacturers have already done with the HP jack. Now that would be ironic.
 
I've read MalVeauX's opinion above, but I'm also aware that people sometimes hear what they expect to hear. I hear no noise at all from my HP jack, and the silences seem pretty black to me. As for "full dynamic rich sound", I'm pretty sure I've got that as well.

^^ Defo a case of, "if it aint broke... don't fix it." ^^

Ah yes, but you know that's not how it works around here, LugBug.

I ordered an emotiva! Gonna use it for my giant desktop speakers (Pioneer SP-BS41-LR). I don't have any headphone crazy enough to power off of it.. My T50rp is happy with 1X gain off my O2.
 
Just wanted to say thanks to Mal for shining light on this amp... Even though I'm not using it for headphones

Maybe if I get a real life job, I can get some he500 some day!

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chrislangley4253 said:

Maybe if I get a real life job, I can get some he500 some day!

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Having just read your profile, Chris, may I wish you the best of luck in that endeavour. You seem like the kind of young guy that deserves it.

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pp312 said:

 
Having just read your profile, Chris, may I wish you the best of luck in that endeavour. You seem like the kind of young guy that deserves it.

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The past few days have been really stable! I finally got to bump my meds up to a decent dose, something that takes some time. Mood stability is something a lot of people take for granted, among a bunch other things.. Hopefully it can become the norm and I can start taking it for granted too! Thanks for the positive vibes and wishes man (or woman)! Simple things like this really helps keep me headed down the right path

Sorry for going way, way off topic guys. But, I had to respond to such a nice post.
 
In order to make the post somewhat relevant to the thread, I'll update with some impressions when the amp comes in. Granted they will be off my speakers.. But, my speakers aren't too shabby. I'm sure the Emotiva will offer a good improvement over this unknown model JVC receiver. I almost wish the T50RP were a little harder to drive

Keep on truckin', Chris, as they say.
 
I know I shouldn't consider a dedicated amp as I don't believe it's going to give me much if any improvement over my Denon receiver, but I keep looking at the Audio-gd C2.2 as terrific value for its output--around 3 watts at the HE-500s impedance. I'm sure there's been a lot said about this amp but I'm way too lazy to read every thread in search of it: could someone give me a mini review. For something with that output, double mono and with those quality parts it seems like a bargain.  

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pp312 said:

Keep on truckin', Chris, as they say.

 
I know I shouldn't consider a dedicated amp as I don't believe it's going to give me much if any improvement over my Denon receiver, but I keep looking at the Audio-gd C2.2 as terrific value for its output--around 3 watts at the HE-500s impedance. I'm sure there's been a lot said about this amp but I'm way too lazy to read every thread in search of it: could someone give me a mini review. For something with that output, double mono and with those quality parts it seems like a bargain.  

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Stand aside everyone... I'll handle this.
 
Theres two of us me and darkbeat who own this little bargain of an amp and we use it with the HE500's. I've tried about 5 mid price amps with the HE500's and although they will sound good out of pretty much all dedicated hp amps (with the exception of some OTL) the little bit of extra power that the C2.2 gives helps to open them up in the soundstage department. There are 2 gain options and this gives plenty of room for volume control. I use the high gain but feed them a lower source volume as personally believe "higher gain" gives you "more of the amp". If you are using a cd player for instance then you will probs have to use the lower gain to give you more use of the volume pot.
The amp itself is built like a tank and certainly looks like it could power one too! I'll not go too much into the specs because they are well documented on the website. What I would advise is, If you are not using an Audio gd Dac with the [size=x-small]ACSS [/size]amps and special cables, then you may want to upgrade the opamps inside. This is very easy to do. Or... you can simply buy it with one of the OPA options (there is a description of the sound characteristics on the website). The stock opamps are cheap burr brown ones and sound very warm. Don't get me wrong, they do sound nice but I found the amp improved a great deal in regards to transparency and detail with cleaner sounding opamps. I use a pair of LT1028ACN8 and these are none coloured and dynamic.
I would describe the sound of the amp generally as; on the warmer side of neutral, airy with very nice soundstage, more musical than analytical. I would also say that it has more "tube like" characteristics rather than normal SS. I personally like this, as I do like tube amps but don't like the maintenance involved with them. So for me an amp like this is the next best thing.
 
For the price, it really is a bargain. It powers both my orthos phones very respectably and also keeps me from wanting to try speaker amps, simply because they don't seem to lack anything for my taste.  

Thanks for that comprehensive review, Lugbug; I'm sure it'll be useful to others as well. I don't really know what "an Audio gd Dac with the [size=x-small]ACSS [/size]amps and special cables" is, or indeed why I would need a Dac at all, as my stereo is completely separate from my computer. I'd just be using the analogue inputs from a Western Digital media player, where I've ripped all my CDs. The only dealer that sells this amp in Oz ($369) doesn't mention op amps and I wouldn't really want to get into opening it up and swapping things around. (When you say "cheap Burr Brown ones" what type are you referring to?). All in all though it does sound like a bargain. I'll think on it.

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pp312 said:

Thanks for that comprehensive review, Lugbug; I'm sure it'll be useful to others as well. I don't really know what "an Audio gd Dac with the [size=x-small]ACSS [/size]amps and special cables" is, or indeed why I would need a Dac at all, as my stereo is completely separate from my computer. I'd just be using the analogue inputs from a Western Digital media player, where I've ripped all my CDs. The only dealer that sells this amp in Oz ($369) doesn't mention op amps and I wouldn't really want to get into opening it up and swapping things around. (When you say "cheap Burr Brown ones" what type are you referring to?). All in all though it does sound like a bargain. I'll think on it.

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No probs. The stock Burr brown (OPA 604) opamps are a very common type used in this type of amp as they are cheap. Now that doesn't mean they are bad... Just means that there are better ones out there. That is why Audio gd offer the OPA options. That being said, I know (just from what I've picked up from your posts) that you don't really like sharp trebles, and so with that in mind you actually might prefer the wamer laid back sound they offer. The ACSS amps when used in conjunction with their dacs means that you bybass the opamps in RCA mode and enables a more "direct" sound. I must stress however, that I did quite a lot of research before I bought the amp and the opamps that I use apparently sound the same as using the ACSS amps.
 
So in a nutshell, stock opamps= warmth laidback. Upgraded opamps (depending on what type) can offer a more transparent and detailed sound but also brighter.
 
My advice would be to see how you get on with the amp in stock mode. then if you wish to upgrade the opamps at a later date. I (or many others on here) can show you how to change the opamps step by step. But its very easy.

You're a good citizen LugBug.