[mattkat0410]

so to put things in perspective, let me start by saying i own shure srh840's, sennheiser hd25-1 ii's, bose oe2's, and my audio source will mainly be my galaxy player because my computer is not near my bed where i do most of my listening. so my question is this, i currently use a vintage yamaha ca-810 stereo amplifier and receiver to run my headphones when i'm trying to do "detailed listening". (i know my setup is very amateur). so would an actual desktop amplifier provide me with any sort of sound improvement? should i invest in a desktop amp to pair with my 840's like a hifiman ef2a etc? and if so, specifically what amps should i look into. please keep recommendations under $200, i'm not looking to spend more on my amp than i have on any of my headphones (seems logical). also one final question, if i purchase a desktop amp, would it be wise to go from my source to the receiver then to the amp so that i can still use the bass controls and treble controls on the receiver, or would that not be worth it, like would it sacrifice final quality. please help! thanks.

 

[NA Blur]

Unless you hear significant amounts of noise, low volume levels, and really low bass a dedicated amp is probably not going to give you huge improvement.  As always the way to significantly improve audio quality goes:
 
In order of importance
 
1.)  Source Material ( better recordings )
2.)  Headphones / Speakers ( find something that matches your taste and quality needs )
3.)  DAC ( removes noise from the audio train )
4.)  Amp ( if all of the above is done well then the amp should just be gain with a wire and not color the sound or add noise )
5.)  Power management ( having cleaning power can often result in better control of the above components )