[Salty Pickle]

Hello,

I am looking to upgrade my desktop headphone setup. I currently have the JDS element 3 and my headphones are Focal Radiance and HD660s.

Why I want to upgrade is because on my stereo speaker setup, I plugged my Radiance headphones into a built in headphone amp in my integrated amplifier and it sounded much better. I have Rega Aethos and chord Qutest dac. I play music from my surface tablet.
The instrument separation was better, instruments were spaced out better, wider and deeper soundstage, flow of music was better and more emotional and details were crisper. The JDS sounds more clinical, instruments are more centred together and layering is not as defined, its more squished together, details not as smooth.

I would like an desktop headphone amp that matches these sound characteristics of my speaker amp. I assume class A is what I should be looking at? It does not need to have a built in dac.
I live in the uk and my budget is around £1000 for new or second hand. I can push the budget if I need to spend more money on importing from abroad. I could get something from the USA if its good.
It should be able to run both my focal radiance and HD660s.

 

[WorksUnit]

If I was in your boat, I would try to demo a Rega Brio.
Any decent dealer should let you do a side by side with an Aethos...

 

[Salty Pickle]

If I was in your boat, I would try to demo a Rega Brio.
Any decent dealer should let you do a side by side with an Aethos...

For headphone usage?

 

[WorksUnit]

^Yep^
Just be honest with them about what you want with their time.
A lot of them have realise they have to deal with headphones too

 

[Salty Pickle]

^Yep^
Just be honest with them about what you want with their time.
A lot of them have realise they have to deal with headphones too

Is there any reason why you suggest this and not a dedicated headphone amp?

I have a local rega dealer I got my amp from so it should be no issue. They deal with focal headphones too.

 

[WorksUnit]

Is there any reason why you suggest this and not a dedicated headphone amp?

Friend of mine has been through some Rega Amps yet kept the Brio for a second system. Really likes it when using headphones, and so do I.
They can be good value on the used market too.

A step above that for much of you what you value, is GSX-Mini.
Bit hard to find in the wild this side of the pond...

 

[Salty Pickle]

Friend of mine has been through some Rega Amps yet kept the Brio for a second system. Really likes it when using headphones, and so do I.
They can be good value on the used market too.

A step above that for much of you what you value, is GSX-Mini.
Bit hard to find in the wild this side of the pond...

Friend of mine has been through some Rega Amps yet kept the Brio for a second system. Really likes it when using headphones, and so do I.
They can be good value on the used market too.

A step above that for much of you what you value, is GSX-Mini.
Bit hard to find in the wild this side of the pond...

Thats interesting, I will to try out the brio. i do need to upgrade my desktop speakers too (from bose) so I could use it for my headphones and new speakers.
I was looking at that American brand. Seems like there is a lot of choice over there.
I came across a Ukrainian company, flux labs, they seem to have what im looking for but right now everything is out of stock

In the uk it seems like we have a wide range of good speaker amps brands, but headphone amps are more scarce.

 

[WorksUnit]

Some say the Flux Labs stuff is very soft in the lower registers.
Beyond that, that company faces some appalling challenges

In the uk it seems like we have a wide range of good speaker amps brands, but headphone amps are more scarce.

True. Arcam has the R-Head which is smooth and a bit of a value proposition with low impedance headphones.
There is Graham Slee too...

Have a look at some of Burson`s products. Hifonix is the UK dealer, so warranty and demos..

 

[Salty Pickle]

Some say the Flux Labs stuff is very soft in the lower registers.
Beyond that, that company faces some appalling challenges


True. Arcam has the R-Head which is smooth and a bit of a value proposition with low impedance headphones.
There is Graham Slee too...

Have a look at some of Burson`s products. Hifonix is the UK dealer, so warranty and demos..

Thank you for your suggestions and help!
Ill check out Hifonix and Burson amps.

 

[pbui44]

There are also iFi Zen Can Signature amps that you might be able to demo in and around Bristol UK, as well as more expensive options from iFi available for demo at least around the greater London metro area.

 

[jjrivers]

One big consideration to think of is if you want closed back or open headphones. If you are in a noisy environment and want to block out outside noise you should get closed-back, but I prefer the sound and comfort of open-back headphones. I recommend the SHP9500, but they are open back so better in a quiet environment.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Why I want to upgrade is because on my stereo speaker setup, I plugged my Radiance headphones into a built in headphone amp in my integrated amplifier and it sounded much better. I have Rega Aethos and chord Qutest dac. I play music from my surface tablet.
The instrument separation was better, instruments were spaced out better, wider and deeper soundstage, flow of music was better and more emotional and details were crisper. The JDS sounds more clinical, instruments are more centred together and layering is not as defined, its more squished together, details not as smooth.

I would like an desktop headphone amp that matches these sound characteristics of my speaker amp. I assume class A is what I should be looking at? It does not need to have a built in dac.

None of those attributes are solely a result of just running in Class A, just from a better circuit.

You can get a cheap (not necessarily outright bad) class A that sounds warmer and mostly fluid but lacks detail, "air," width, etc.

Just to start with - the Asgard3 isn no longer Pure Class A like its predecessors but it has a lot of Class A bias - 500mW into any impedance before it switches to Class B - but it's about as good as it gets for $250. Unless you really want a likely better amp to spit out more power while still running in Class A you might not necessarily need way more than this one.