[btankey]

Don't know if this is a dumb question (since I'm fairly new to head-fi, etc) but I have a receiver (Sherwood S-9200CP from 1981) that I use to occasionally drive my headphones (HE400 and K550), using the Audioengine D1 as a DAC/preamp, and sometimes feel like there's too much current... i.e. it seems like I can feel the current, and it becomes fatiguing pretty fast at (what seems to me) similar volume levels than listening straight from my D1.  I'm guessing the receiver puts out a lot more juice than my D1 (and makes the bass more dynamic), and am wondering if anyone has experience with this? Could I be actually feeling the increased current?  Is it more likely I'm listening to a higher volume than I realize?  Could this be doing damage to me or to the headphones?  Thanks in advance

 

[btankey]

So, it looks like I've put this question in the wrong forum... oops.  Did I say I was new at this?
 

 

[tomb]

Just a guess, but there may be a couple of carbon resistors on the headphone output.  That probably gives the sensation of "wooly" power because of inherent, but variable, distortion that exists in a typical carbon resistor.
 
Maybe that explains what you're experiencing.  I doubt seriously you're experiencing anything that could be damaging personally, but distortion can burn out drivers/cause fatigue much faster than otherwise, I think.
 
BTW, I had a Sherwood S-8900A (quadraphonic) at one time in the early 70's - it was one of the last ones made in Chicago and was probably the best receiver I ever owned.  I keep looking for them (or an S-7900A) on ebay, but I'm never in time with enough money.  That may sound contradictory with the above, but nothing's better for your headphones than a dedicated headphone amplifer.  I love receivers, but I'm not part of the crowd that thinks there's a receiver gold mine for headphones out there if someone can just discover it.  Rather, the discrete amplifier stage (for speakers) and the tuner is something that's just not available anymore. 

 

[btankey]

Thanks for the response... I'm torn because I like the increased bass response of my receiver, which I attributed to increased current, but do find the receiver puts in some distortion (is less accessible to immediate detail), yet have no way of identifying/understanding this... I enjoy the increased power but don't enjoy the overall presentation, so I think maybe you're right about a dedicated headphone amp doing this for me... I'm awaiting a Little Dot +1 at the moment, so maybe that will take care of it.  The Sherwood was an experiment that I don't regret (cost me $40 locally), but of course hoped for the best of all possible worlds... Y
 

 

[btankey]

What's interesting to me is that no distortion is introduced by turning up the volume without a signal, yet there's distortion with a signal, but of a very confounding nature... i.e. I'm trying to identify it by listening A/B with my D1 but maybe my ears aren't attuned enough... anyway, thanks again for the response, it was pretty much what I imagined (increased distortion that I couldn't identify by A/B comparisons), but had no way of explicitly naming

 

[tomb]

Quote:

Thanks for the response... I'm torn because I like the increased bass response of my receiver, which I attributed to increased current, but do find the receiver puts in some distortion (is less accessible to immediate detail), yet have no way of identifying/understanding this... I enjoy the increased power but don't enjoy the overall presentation, so I think maybe you're right about a dedicated headphone amp doing this for me... I'm awaiting a Little Dot +1 at the moment, so maybe that will take care of it.  The Sherwood was an experiment that I don't regret (cost me $40 locally), but of course hoped for the best of all possible worlds... Y
 

Here again, I think what you describe in terms of sound character is probably attributable to old-style carbon resistors directly in the signal path.  These days, their use adds a bit of "flavor" in tube amp circuits or SS DACs that need a bit of "personality."  However, in a receiver such as the Sherwood, they're probably filtering the full power of the speaker's discrete output amplifier circuit, so the affect is much, much greater.