[Benny-x]

[clipped]
A good starting point for building your own voltage divider, which will work pretty well with many "ordinary" headphones, would be to use a voltage divider using a 100 ohm resistor and a 10 ohm resistor.... (One end of the 100 ohm resistor goes to the + output of the amp, the other end is connected to one end of the 10 ohm resistor, and the other end of the 10 ohm resistor is connected to ground; you then connect the ground on the headphones to ground, and the input on the headphones to the top of the 10 ohm resistor - where it junctions with the 100 ohm resistor. You need a separate pair of resistors for each channel. If your headphones are 50 ohms, this will reduce the level by about 12:1; the "source impedance" the headphones see will be about 9 ohms, you'll still have a damping factor of about 5 - which is OK. You can probably do this safely with 1/2 watt resistors - but one or two watt ones will run much cooler if you have the space for them.)
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Thanks a lot, Keith. You're one helpful guys around here, and it's greatly appreciated. 
 
About the damping factor, I've read about this being a big thing in speakers and component matching, but I also read that with headphones it's less important because its effects are not totally parallel as with speakers. I don't know if there's any truth in that, what's your stance on damping factor here vs. in a full size system?
 
I'm also wondering how this would work vs. the Khozmo passive pre-amp I linked to. You're very likely right that the Khozmo wouldn't be able to handle the higher voltage and current of the speaker amp, and rightly so being applied in a place it's not meant to go, but that approach would have let me adjust the volume right there by using many resistors. The method you mentioned would keep the box at a constant resistance and use the receiver's volume control for adjustment. Do you have a view on what would be better, imagining that the Khozmo or a box like it were built with resistors that could handle the signal off the speaker taps and not burn up?
 
I also don't see how something like the Khozmo can do it's job and not affect the damping factor if used in a normal speaker system. It adds resistance to attentuate the volume, but wouldn't doing so affect the damping factor?

 

[SX3900]

It is good to see another SX-3700 receiver at work!
I always love the blue power meters.

 

[i luvmusic 2]

with all 3 amps i have (SX-1500TD,SA-7700,SX-3700)the SX-3700 is the best sounding of them all.

 

[CrocCap]

deleted

 

[Luckbad]

I've kinda been looking for a vintage tube amplifier for years. I was never able to find any in great condition for a reasonable price.
 
That said, I've never actually asked in here. No idea why.
 
What are some really solid vintage tube amps you guys would recommend?
 
I love the crap out of my ampsandsound Mogwai for its vintage looks and sound (it even uses an old school circuit design), but I wouldn't mind a legit vintage amp to put in the living room specifically for speakers.
 
Edit: To clarify, I'm looking for a vintage speaker tube amp under $1000, not a McIntosh or similar bonkers amp. The Mogwai is badass, I just can't afford a second ampsandsound amp for the less-used living room setup.

 

[BucketInABucket]

  With the 32wpc tube amp, i still get some of the noise floor, but its only really noticeable if no music is playing.  I did have a combo of resistors that was basically noiseless, but the resistors would start smoking if i turned the volume up, so i live with slight noise and no smoking/distortion.

Sounds like the resistors aren't rated for a high enough power for the application. Smoke only tends to happen if a component can't handle the power passing through it 

 

[RAZRr1275]

  I've kinda been looking for a vintage tube amplifier for years. I was never able to find any in great condition for a reasonable price.
 
That said, I've never actually asked in here. No idea why.
 
What are some really solid vintage tube amps you guys would recommend?
 
I love the crap out of my ampsandsound Mogwai for its vintage looks and sound (it even uses an old school circuit design), but I wouldn't mind a legit vintage amp to put in the living room specifically for speakers.
 
Edit: To clarify, I'm looking for a vintage speaker tube amp under $1000, not a McIntosh or similar bonkers amp. The Mogwai is badass, I just can't afford a second ampsandsound amp for the less-used living room setup.

The Fisher 500C might be something you're interested in. I don't know about its design specifically, but I know its old, has tubes and is very highly regarded.

 

[tallisman]

Hi everyone, I am new to the world of vintage (and this forum) and recently put a deposit on a $125 Sony STR 6065 which will be delivered next week. Today I found a SA-9900 with "make an offer" as the price. I don't think this guy really knows what he has, how much should I offer? All original internals, good cosmetic shape. 

 

[SirMarc]

Hi everyone, I am new to the world of vintage (and this forum) and recently put a deposit on a $125 Sony STR 6065 which will be delivered next week. Today I found a SA-9900 with "make an offer" as the price. I don't think this guy really knows what he has, how much should I offer? All original internals, good cosmetic shape. 

I've heard the 6065 is a very nice receiver, and it looks awesome. Hope you enjoy it.

 

[Benny-x]

  benny, ive used this great website by fellow headfi member robrob, to build a couple of speaker to headphone adapters. 
https://robrobinette.com/RobinetteBox.htm
 
i have a 0db attenuation one for he-6, a 12db attenuation for t1/he-500, and a 28db attenuation one for th900.
 
these also provide a safe load for the tube speaker amp i use them with.
 
With the 32wpc tube amp, i still get some of the noise floor, but its only really noticeable if no music is playing.  I did have a combo of resistors that was basically noiseless, but the resistors would start smoking if i turned the volume up, so i live with slight noise and no smoking/distortion.
 
With the 65wpc solid state amp, there is almost no noise floor to be heard

 
Wow, that's an amazing read. Thanks a ton for that. I'll have to read it over in depth and see what I can do. And there's tons of pictures and colour coded diagrams. Very nice.
 
In another thread (Little Dot Mk VI & Mk VIII Super Mods) one of the guys started making a resistor switch to adapt the amp for different headphone loads. This Robinette Box can also be done like that, but instead of having a 1/4" or Balanced, this could be adapted to have 2-3 balanced connectors and just different resistor ratings per connector. Thanks for the heads up on this.

 

[buson160man]

  I've kinda been looking for a vintage tube amplifier for years. I was never able to find any in great condition for a reasonable price.
 
That said, I've never actually asked in here. No idea why.
 
What are some really solid vintage tube amps you guys would recommend?
 
I love the crap out of my ampsandsound Mogwai for its vintage looks and sound (it even uses an old school circuit design), but I wouldn't mind a legit vintage amp to put in the living room specifically for speakers.
 
Edit: To clarify, I'm looking for a vintage speaker tube amp under $1000, not a McIntosh or similar bonkers amp. The Mogwai is badass, I just can't afford a second ampsandsound amp for the less-used living room setup.

    Dynaco tube amps have usually been pretty decent tube amps that sold well over the years when they were produced. They were for the most part pretty reliable as well . They were built in large quantities so they should be easy to find on the used market . The dyna st70 is a popular amp that is easy to modify if that is your forte . If you want more power there is the dynaco  MKIII mono bloc amps which are a good way to go . But some say the best sounding tube amps dynaco made were the smaller st-35 but these only put out about 17 watts per channel which might not be enough .
   You should be able to get one of these for a very reasonable price . Plus as I mentioned they are easy to modernize to get much better performance out of them .

 

[verde57]

Anyone listening their headphones thru Yamaha C4 preamplifier?
It's capable of 18V on the output, no IC's, made to power those old Yahama orthodynamic headphones.
I'm interested in buying one, that's why I'm asking.

 

[Monsterzero]

So I picked up a pair Sansui SS 35 headphones on Fleabay for 14 bucks.....

I was pleasantly surprised as to how good they sounded,deep clean bass,neutral sounding...

But my god,I have NEVER worn a more uncomfortable set of headphones in my life!

I honestly dont know how they got the vice grip that tight...felt like I had Andre The Giant trying to crush my skull...serious.

Ten minutes was all I could take.

These headphones could single-handedly end terrorism,just make suspects wear them for an hour...problem solved!
 

 

[Oregonian]

  So I picked up a pair Sansui SS 35 headphones on Fleabay for 14 bucks.....

I was pleasantly surprised as to how good they sounded,deep clean bass,neutral sounding...

But my god,I have NEVER worn a more uncomfortable set of headphones in my life!

I honestly dont know how they got the vice grip that tight...felt like I had Andre The Giant trying to crush my skull...serious.

Ten minutes was all I could take.

These headphones could single-handedly end terrorism,just make suspects wear them for an hour...problem solved!
 

Seems they early days of headphones, comfort was the LAST thing they considered.  I have two vintage Pioneers - the Monitor which came with the SX-1050 back in 1977 that I purchased and the SE-205.  The Monitors pads are so flat it's like having two pieces of 1/4" ham up against your head..............the SE-205's are very comfy and sound good. 

 

[SirMarc]

So I picked up a pair Sansui SS 35 headphones on Fleabay for 14 bucks.....


I was pleasantly surprised as to how good they sounded,deep clean bass,neutral sounding...


But my god,I have NEVER worn a more uncomfortable set of headphones in my life!


I honestly dont know how they got the vice grip that tight...felt like I had Andre The Giant trying to crush my skull...serious.


Ten minutes was all I could take.


These headphones could single-handedly end terrorism,just make suspects wear them for an hour...problem solved!

 

Just looked at pictures. So they sit over and on your ears? I wonder if you could retrofit more comfortable outer pads?