[dunross]

You can find quite a few threads here about this particular topic. They usually devolve into a shouting match about why receivers and integrated amps suck for headphone duty. This thread has a decidedly different feel to it as most participants are true believers. And a few participants have enough credibility to perhaps keep the naysayers at bay.
 
Anyway it's been a really fun thread to read as I am also a true believer.Now, I have a few utilitarian looking pieces of audio equipment serving duty here, but in the vintage area, looks count.
 
Here's a pretty little Marantz 1030 integrated that is a headphone daily driver for me. She is only 15 watts per side but she plays headphones most beautifully.
   

 

[livewire]

Sweet!
What source are you using?

 

[scottiebabie]

ooopsie doooosie! double post! mea culpa

 

[scottiebabie]

@dunross nice  integrated marantz & i see u're power a low Z Denon with it. i know the old school way of stepping the down the voltage after pulling out the signal offa main amps out with resistors works very well with high Z cans but 'xeptin the 38ohm HE5-LE, i dont have any nice low z cans to try it out.
 
O & a big welcome to the club as its nice to have another true believer. i've stuck to my guns cos i believe what my ears tell me & after trying out over a dozen amps, my ears tells me they sound very very good. it would be much better id i had access to a real hi end dedicated headamp as a means of comparo but i guess having skylab do it for me is the next best thing. so S'labdude better get yo ass in gear & brings us some reviews. LOL
 
@Zida i just thought of what u said about wanting something clean & neutral so im gonna throw u a coupla curve balls to catch. in my vintage travels, my ears have been telling me that Technics & Yamahas lean more toward that neck of the woods than the more popular standards like Marantz, 'Suis, & Pioneers. my Technics SA-400 sounds exceptional clean, quick & transparent - infact too much so for my orthos but great with the darker Senns. ditto for a Yami CA610 i've heard.
 
so these two particular makes mite be exactly what the doc ordered for u. indeed i personally would pick up the Yami CA810 & above series of integrated cos they have an internal switch that allows one to run in pure class A - i bliv 15w per for the CA810 up to 25w per for higher models. something for u to chew on. 
 
addon:O & Frank before u put the triple hex on me, there's no intention on my part to ruffle any feathers nor any thoughts of diss'in your 2220 or any Marantz for that matter. heck one of my 1st purchases was a 2250 & it was darn good. i merely used overated as a means of objection to the ridiculous resale values they command nowadays. dont mean they're arent good - just not for the prices they go for now cos there's aplenty that just as good IMO for much less dosh.
 
that said, i do bliv that a better trafo & psu improves the sound. all things being equal, if we just upgraded the psu on any amp, what would the resultant be. now moving up another step, if a true dual mono psu design was implemented, what then. at the very least thats what a higher output brings to the table.
 
these amps were built in the "golden/silver era" in combination with the receiver power wars basically ensured each mfgr gave their best both in technology & parts. power outputs werent just some opaque obsure meaningless numbers & bench testing showed that most of them output'd more than stated. this can only be achieved when the power supply is over designed & over built at the very least. 
 

 

[Frank I]

LOL No hex intended Scottie.  I paid 200.00 with the case for a mnt almost new lookingt receiver. I can get stuff much cheaper but this one was too nice to pass and for 200.00 it very clean. I agree  there are many around but look at what the Sansui are going for and most not even restored. I would love to get a 9090 if the price was right. There is a restored one I seen for 1400.00 Nuts

 

[Skylab]

That's the key, Frank - you got a nice unit, LOCALLY, for a good price.  I have seen JUST the wood cases in the condition yours is in going for $150!!!  You got a steal.  And so far, I prefer the Marantz with headphones to the Sansui and the Sony monster receivers.  I'm listening to the 2275 right now with the LCD-2, and I am telling you, it's stupid-good.  JMO, of course, and frankly, the Sansui is very close, and it's also killer.  The Sony's headphone out is good but not great.  It's a little lacking in transparency. 
 
I pick up the SX-1250 in a few hours.  I'm geeked!

 

[Frank I]

Quote:

That's the key, Frank - you got a nice unit, LOCALLY, for a good price.  I have seen JUST the wood cases in the condition yours is in going for $150!!!  You got a steal.  And so far, I prefer the Marantz with headphones to the Sansui and the Sony monster receivers.  I'm listening to the 2275 right now with the LCD-2, and I am telling you, it's stupid-good.  JMO, of course, and frankly, the Sansui is very close, and it's also killer.  The Sony's headphone out is good but not great.  It's a little lacking in transparency. 
 
I pick up the SX-1250 in a few hours.  I'm geeked!

Its been a fun receiver with both the HE6 and the D7000 out of the headphone jack and the 6 on the pigtail. Listening to the tuner also and like what I hear so for 200.00 with the case and this condition Rob I am very happy with the unit and I see no reason to get another one. The 20W is way more than enough for what I am using it for. Your 2275 is also very very good. Glad you like it more than the 9090 Sansui
 

 

[dunross]

I have a Panasonic sa-xr55. It is a 7.1 receiver. They achieved some renown a few years back for their digital amps. I have it hooked up to a TV in the kids' play room. I have one or two vintage pieces that sound better to me on my speaker rig but it does a credible job nonetheless. More to the point of this thread, my digital receiver has one of the worst headphone amps I have ever heard.   Here is a pic.
 
 

Quote:

Has anyone tried Panasonic's now-discontinued line of receivers with digital amps [models SA-XR##]?

 

 

[CrazyRay]

Dunross,
I'm sorry but that unit is not vintage.
1980 and earlier is vintage not 2005.
That is why it sounds like crap.

 

[Skylab]

Well, Scottiebabie, I thank you most sincerely for giving me a nudge on the Pioneer SX-1250.  I picked it up at lunch, and let me tell you, it was lust at first sight, but really and truly LOVE at first LISTEN.  The thing sounds absolutely AMAZING.  I am really impressed.  Not that it would really have an excuse to sound bad - I have never before seen a receiver that was built quite like this.  Lifting it is VERY difficult.  I have also never seen a toroidal transformer as big as this one in my life, and I have seen a LOT of gear.  It's really astonishing.  Listened for a bit with both the Senn HD800 and the LCD-2, and it drove both at a level that you would have to spend much more than $1K to get from a dedicated headphone amp.  For the $600 I paid, it's just ridiculous.  And the tuner is absolutely outstanding. 
 
Now, for the fun part:
 

 

[dunross]

This is my source and path out:  Foobar2000>USB>Musiland Monitor 02>vintage amp or receiver.
 
I have alot of music in Flac format, some Wav and a little 320K MP3. I also listen to internet radio thru Foobar although I am looking for a more user-friendly way of handling internet radio. I also have the fantastic Sony XRD-F1HD for FM. I enjoy rotating my vintage amps every now and then I will post a few more pictures in a bit.
 
The Musiland is a terrific little device but I am going to upgrade my DAC at some point. 
 
Quote:

Sweet!
What source are you using?

 

 

[sling5s]

That's just ridiculously looks amazing.  That is going on my wish/want list. Congrats! 
 
Quote:

Well, Scottiebabie, I thank you most sincerely for giving me a nudge on the Pioneer SX-1250.  I picked it up at lunch, and let me tell you, it was lust at first sight, but really and truly LOVE at first LISTEN.  The thing sounds absolutely AMAZING.  I am really impressed.  Not that it would really have an excuse to sound bad - I have never before seen a receiver that was built quite like this.  Lifting it is VERY difficult.  I have also never seen a toroidal transformer as big as this one in my life, and I have seen a LOT of gear.  It's really astonishing.  Listened for a bit with both the Senn HD800 and the LCD-2, and it drove both at a level that you would have to spend much more than $1K to get from a dedicated headphone amp.  For the $600 I paid, it's just ridiculous.  And the tuner is absolutely outstanding. 
 
Now, for the fun part:
 

 

 

[scottiebabie]

Ooooooyyyaaaaaa! u actually bought it! LOL! i've lusted after it ever since i saw & heard it. at that time i found it hard to justify being an owner just to power headphones. plus that beast suxs like 1200w - not sure what it consumes at idle but for sure theres non of the standby mode crap. watch for how the rooms light go dim when u flip it on! 
 
now that i've found my "headamp", im gonna start spring cleaning on the rest of the gear & cherry pick some collectable amps of which the SX1250 is a musthave. im very happy to hear that u think so highly of its headout - im not hallucinating afterall as the ears tells me my current rig sounds pretty awesome but its hard to know without some good respected gear as a means of comparo. 
 
O & Congrats! it was my pleasure to give yo butt a kick in "right" direction. LOLLLLL!
 
ps:if ya really sincere, u can buy me a bottle if u ever find yourself in my neck of the woods

 

[scottiebabie]

the thing sounds like crap cos surprize of all suprizes, its got a crap dedicated headamp! the best cleanest output is always off the main amp - if it sounds lousy, then either the amps lousy to begin with or its a mismatch load. IMO ofcos

Quote:

I have a Panasonic sa-xr55. It is a 7.1 receiver. They achieved some renown a few years back for their digital amps. I have it hooked up to a TV in the kids' play room. I have one or two vintage pieces that sound better to me on my speaker rig but it does a credible job nonetheless. More to the point of this thread, my digital receiver has one of the worst headphone amps I have ever heard. 

 

[dunross]

Thanks Scottie for the welcome. Yes, up to this point I have only used Denons and Grados on my vintage pieces. Between us we have the whole range covered. Every vintage piece I've tried has done an admirable job; some better than others but all quite good.
 
I have often wondered if I am missing out on something by not using a dedicated head amp so this thread is providing great info for me. My vintage gear was sounding so good that it just didn't make sense to me when I would read that integrated amps and receivers were inferior. I must admit there are still quite a few dedicated amps I am dying to try. In order for me to pull the trigger on a dedicated, the piece will have to multi-task. I am most interested in ones that can serve as dacs and preamps as well. I am itchin' to try the new Burson that has gotten great reviews as a dac and pre as well as a head amp. At some point I will get the Decware CSP2 Pre that is known as a wonderful head amp.
 
Skylab's opinion is much valued on the board. I am looking forward to anything he might have to say regarding our beloved vintage amps. It could cause quite a stir. That's always fun. And his opinion holds sway over me too, which is why I am currently waiting for delivery of an Optonica SM-7305 that I grabbed off the bay the other day for 89 bux.
 
Thanks to Sky and the others who introduced me to Optonica.    
 
Quote:Originally Posted by scottiebabie /img/forum/go_quote.gif

@dunross nice  integrated marantz & i see u're power a low Z Denon with it. i know the old school way of stepping the down the voltage after pulling out the signal offa main amps out with resistors works very well with high Z cans but 'xeptin the 38ohm HE5-LE, i dont have any nice low z cans to try it out.
 
O & a big welcome to the club as its nice to have another true believer. i've stuck to my guns cos i believe what my ears tell me & after trying out over a dozen amps, my ears tells me they sound very very good. it would be much better id i had access to a real hi end dedicated headamp as a means of comparo but i guess having skylab do it for me is the next best thing. so S'labdude better get yo ass in gear & brings us some reviews. LOL
 
@Zida i just thought of what u said about wanting something clean & neutral so im gonna throw u a coupla curve balls to catch. in my vintage travels, my ears have been telling me that Technics & Yamahas lean more toward that neck of the woods than the more popular standards like Marantz, 'Suis, & Pioneers. my Technics SA-400 sounds exceptional clean, quick & transparent - infact too much so for my orthos but great with the darker Senns. ditto for a Yami CA610 i've heard.
 
so these two particular makes mite be exactly what the doc ordered for u. indeed i personally would pick up the Yami CA810 & above series of integrated cos they have an internal switch that allows one to run in pure class A - i bliv 15w per for the CA810 up to 25w per for higher models. something for u to chew on. 
 
addon:O & Frank before u put the triple hex on me, there's no intention on my part to ruffle any feathers nor any thoughts of diss'in your 2220 or any Marantz for that matter. heck one of my 1st purchases was a 2250 & it was darn good. i merely used overated as a means of objection to the ridiculous resale values they command nowadays. dont mean they're arent good - just not for the prices they go for now cos there's aplenty that just as good IMO for much less dosh.
 
that said, i do bliv that a better trafo & psu improves the sound. all things being equal, if we just upgraded the psu on any amp, what would the resultant be. now moving up another step, if a true dual mono psu design was implemented, what then. at the very least thats what a higher output brings to the table.
 
these amps were built in the "golden/silver era" in combination with the receiver power wars basically ensured each mfgr gave their best both in technology & parts. power outputs werent just some opaque obsure meaningless numbers & bench testing showed that most of them output'd more than stated. this can only be achieved when the power supply is over designed & over built at the very least.