devices with a good head amp hidden inside?

[music_man]

hi,

i am intrested in any devices that are not specifically head phone amps and are in current production. also let's say not more than $1,000.
must equal at least mid quality headphone amps(xcan,sr71).


loudspeaker amps that can power headphones.
preamps with headphone out.
mini systems.
receivers.
daps.
integrated amps.
soundcards.
dacs.
universal transports.
anything else.

please name your top picks.

music_man.

 

[device manager]

Zhaolu D2 w/ discrete headamp upgrade

 

[nabwong]

NAD c320bee. I've not had a headphone amp for a year because of it.

 

[doctorjuggles]

The Lavry DA10 and Benchmark DAC1 both have decent headphone amps built in, with the Lavry's just shading things between the two, in my opinion.

 

[ghiberti]

Sugden Headmaster is a pre/headphone amp and, as I know, rated as Class A by StereoPhile.

Dared MP5 is a inte/Headphone amp that has very impressive looks and sound. it's a treat.

 

[grawk]

The ipod shuffle does a spectacular job of driving low-impedance headphones.

 

[Andrea]

Pioneer A-209R aka Elite A-35R.

35W, mosfet output stage, all discrete design. Sounds very very good with my HD650. Sounds more refined with headphones than the headphone out of a NAD C320 I had in the past.

 

[music_man]

yeah, the 35r thats the kind of price i like. that thing seriously has a good headphone amp? is it run off the main mosfets or is it an opamp? what grade(name a model) of independant headphone amp does it compare too?
can it do very low impedance/high current?

the nads seem pretty darn nice but don't seem to be readily available(in the states).

as far as the other stuff is concerned, the theme was "....with a good headamp hidden inside" meaning it is not something you would expect to have a good head amp. everything else mentioned it is no secret by now that those have good headamps. by good i mean at least sr71 or xcan type good.
i'm not looking for a cmoy here.

the nad and the pioneer were exactly the type of thing i was looking for.
plus i could put some decent speakers on those too and i am sure those would sound better than a mini system. thats great. i already have enough d/a converters. a cheap little mighty amp is right up my alley now.

if anyone knows more about that pioneers head amp and it is real good i am getting one today! sorry wallet. anything else like that little guy(in case i cannot locate one)?

music_man.

 

[Andrea]

The headphone out is taken directly from the main output stage, that's probably why it's so good (an independent headphone amp would've used a cheap op-amp).

It sounds better (especially in that it is effortless & emotional yet still smooth & detailed) with the 300 ohm HD650, than all portable amps I've had so far, admittedly not the most upmarket, including my upgraded Portaphile X^3 (see sig) powered with 24V, and the Xenos 3HA. With the HD650, HD595, HD485 it has a seemingly 'endless' power reserve. However, it clearly doesn't perform as good with low impedance headphones as it does with the HD650. This is normal, depending as it is on the inevitably highish (something like 300 ohms, possibly even a bit less) output impedance of its headphone jack.

 

[music_man]

well, i was just about to be upset that no one nearby seems to have it but now.....

i take it will not do phones in the 30-70 impedance range that need soom 'oomph'? any other little amp that will? like k701,rs1,proline 2500.

you had me so excited! because it could do little speakers too and with a couple hundred dollar universal player it was starting to look good.

my post about computer interfaces that work without computers got mostly overlooked, what about those?

still a little integrated amp or preamp is just what i want right now.
so let's try to stick with those suggestions. also if they have a less than rack footprint that is a great plus. i should just hit the pawn shops and find a melos or marantz but i stuck with current production because finding the right thing that way is pot luck. of course the cheaper the better. that thing is so cheap for an elite unit!

music_man.

 

[Andrea]

It may comfort you to hear that I highly doubt it could have problems in driving the K701. I used it with an AKG K141S too (55 ohms, 101 dB/mW vs. the 62 ohm and 93 dB/mW of the K701) and it no way lacked headroom nor "oomph". It's just that with low impedance headphones it seems to sound a little less crystalline, but nothing serious.

 

[music_man]

i was looking for something that competes with $400 headphone amps.

music_man.

 

[ken36]

My Lavry Black DA10 has a nice little amp. I hardly ever use it. The sound is just OK, with the K701s, IMO. I would never buy it with the intention of using the amp.

 

[music_man]

there must be a good modern preamp/integrated amp for use with high end headphones. like a modern version of jahns melos. what about that little eastern electric all in one?

music_man.

 

[Jahn]

An all-in-one solution? At least with Grados, I would recommend the Apogee MiniDAC, as its headphone out mates very well with that family of cans. And you get a nice DAC to boot, that can also do balanced outs as well, not bad for under 1000. In fact, I recommended this to the fickle 1911 and he hasn't regretted it - in fact, he went out and bought even more Grados to soak up the goodness!

Get the USB option if you need it, but it also has a minitoslink optical standard, so feel free to use either a computer or a standalone transport with it. 1911 uses a Pioneer stable platter mechanism as a transport.