[jeffks5]

This is my first "real" headphone purchase. I ordered the Sennheiser HD 650 headphones and a 15' CablePro Earcandy extension cable. I will be recieving them in a few days. I will be using them 99% of the time for nighttime movie watching. All of my source equipment runs through my RX-Z9 receiver, which has a headphone jack. Yamaha has a special headphone DSP mode simular to the Dolby Headphone codec when using this port.

Here is my question: As I've read many posts on this site, it seems many people use a special/dedicated amp to drive thier headphones. Knowing I have a Z9, would I really hear much of an improvement with a special amp dedicated to driving headphones? And if so, how would I connect it to my Yamaha?

Thanks!

 

[Swampwalker]

Hi Jeff- Yes you would hear a difference and you can drive a headphone out from the tape loop or from teh pre-amp outs of your receiver.

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

Hey Jeff, welcome to HeadFi and sorry about your wallet!

When I purchased my first real pair of cans (HD600s) I was listening to them through the headphone output of my Yamaha HTR-5590, which was one of the higher models in their line-up. What I found was even a basic cmoy ($40) had a more favorable sound than the Yamaha's headphone output. Not to bash the Yamaha but a dedicated headphone amp is a must, especially for the HD650s.

Best cheap method is to use a pair of RCA Y splitters and run one output from your cd player to your headphone amp and one to your reciever.