[billinkansas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karajan Not only you can, you must. My experience is that the headphones sound far better out of the jack of a good integrated amplifier or a good A/V receiver than out of a headphone amplifier. I guess it's not a popular opinion in here, but I think a headphone amp is not necessary at all.

Not a popular opinion for sure, but I about 50% agree with you, the remaining 50% due to some crappy integrated amps in the world. The older Onkyo receivers sound pretty darned good, as do Luxman and Sansui, haven't heard any recent A/V amps though. Now, if you are talking about good quality vintage tube amps in good condition, then I'd 98% agree with you, reserving 2% for only the very best headphone amps. So many people have never heard their favorite cans through a Scott, Fisher or Bogen amp, but are quick to blow them off in preference to some relative toy by comparison.

 

[kontai69]

Another positive experience with NAD headphone outputs. When I first got into headphones, I used the headphone output of my NAD 1600 preamp/tuner to power a Senn 650 and Grado RS-1. It sounded pretty good and drove both cans effortlessly with practically no audible distortion or noise. Some people around here automatically assume the outputs from non-dedicated headphone amps are all inferior.

I later got a "real" headphone amp, a HeadAmp Gilmore Lite. I did an exhaustive A/B/A comparisons between the NAD and GL using the 650. I even level matched their outputs using a SPL meter, something most of people neglect to do. The NAD was a little "warmer" sounding and a little "darker." However, the differences were quite close. I certainly wouldn't wage money on a blind test.

I can't really say which was better, it was a matter of taste.

I wound up selling both the NAD and GL because I later got a GS-1 and used it as both a headphone amp and preamp for my speaker system. I mainly did this to reduce the clutter.