K93George
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2011
- Posts
- 63
- Likes
- 10
WARNING! Long post, but I want to get this right =)
Hi guys!
New member here =) Each time I searched a headphone related issue, debate, from "do headphone cables make a difference"" to "are headphone amps necessary"" all questions a new comer would be asking. This forum came up each time! Such interesting discussions, so I joined.
Not here to ask such basic questions though, I already knew the answer by applying my known knowledge in home theatre but it was interesting none the less!
I am seriously thinking of entering the headphone scene, and I want to enter into the deep end My research has pointed me to the AKG K702s and I can get them for $369 from the RRP of $599 in Australia. I am completely open to new ideas but hear me out for now =)
The game plan is: AKG K702s in the near future, after a bit of conviencing, you know how it can be
Anyway, for starters I will go with a pair of good headphones such as the 702s, in which will be running off the 1/4" headphone jack of my Onkyo TX-SR606 amp. This will suffice for the time being, my next step will be a cable upgrade, I want to get it right the first time, so no cheap cables and upgrade if I feel the need in the future. It has to be good, not to the extent of paying more for the cable then the headphones but the collective cables in my home theatre are around $620-680, that is for everything, from HDMI to RCA cables for the subs, so... That should give a good estimate.
The most interesting is the headphone amp, I feel the need to do it. Personally I feel an amp is most definitely needed. Especially considering that a home theatre amp most likely uses the same circuitry as the main speakers, just "stepped down" so to speak, so 4-16ohm of supported resistance is a large mismatch for the 62ohm K702s. It may use a dedicated headphone amp which considering I have no idea on the impedence would once again lead to the mismatch and not to mention not so great quality.
I was considering the Burson Audio HA-160, and it will be hard to change my mind, I am quite pleased with it and being locally made makes it even more appealing.
That sums it up, except for the source. May as well address it. Currently I have a 6850 GPU, well actually 2 (but that is irrelevant) in my PC which sends a decoded signal to the amp, it actually sounds better then the amp decoding it :/ I am concerned if the Onkyo would do, if it can, a good job of getting this digital stream and converting it to send it out the RCAs to the 160. It might be worth investing in a high-end sound card otherwise. What is your personal take on that?
Thanks a tremendous amount, I truly look foward to some replies if anyone bothered reading all this, got to get it right the first time =)
Hi guys!
New member here =) Each time I searched a headphone related issue, debate, from "do headphone cables make a difference"" to "are headphone amps necessary"" all questions a new comer would be asking. This forum came up each time! Such interesting discussions, so I joined.
Not here to ask such basic questions though, I already knew the answer by applying my known knowledge in home theatre but it was interesting none the less!
I am seriously thinking of entering the headphone scene, and I want to enter into the deep end My research has pointed me to the AKG K702s and I can get them for $369 from the RRP of $599 in Australia. I am completely open to new ideas but hear me out for now =)
The game plan is: AKG K702s in the near future, after a bit of conviencing, you know how it can be
Anyway, for starters I will go with a pair of good headphones such as the 702s, in which will be running off the 1/4" headphone jack of my Onkyo TX-SR606 amp. This will suffice for the time being, my next step will be a cable upgrade, I want to get it right the first time, so no cheap cables and upgrade if I feel the need in the future. It has to be good, not to the extent of paying more for the cable then the headphones but the collective cables in my home theatre are around $620-680, that is for everything, from HDMI to RCA cables for the subs, so... That should give a good estimate.
The most interesting is the headphone amp, I feel the need to do it. Personally I feel an amp is most definitely needed. Especially considering that a home theatre amp most likely uses the same circuitry as the main speakers, just "stepped down" so to speak, so 4-16ohm of supported resistance is a large mismatch for the 62ohm K702s. It may use a dedicated headphone amp which considering I have no idea on the impedence would once again lead to the mismatch and not to mention not so great quality.
I was considering the Burson Audio HA-160, and it will be hard to change my mind, I am quite pleased with it and being locally made makes it even more appealing.
That sums it up, except for the source. May as well address it. Currently I have a 6850 GPU, well actually 2 (but that is irrelevant) in my PC which sends a decoded signal to the amp, it actually sounds better then the amp decoding it :/ I am concerned if the Onkyo would do, if it can, a good job of getting this digital stream and converting it to send it out the RCAs to the 160. It might be worth investing in a high-end sound card otherwise. What is your personal take on that?
Thanks a tremendous amount, I truly look foward to some replies if anyone bothered reading all this, got to get it right the first time =)