[TR909]

I know this question has been asked before but I'm hoping for some clarification with using headphone amps as volume control/preamps for a speaker setup. I have powered studio monitors connected to my mac through a soon to be replaced m-audio transit. My monitors are discontinued NHTPro A-10s (http://emusician.com/speakers/emusic_nhtpro/) which feature an amp that has a switchable sensitivity knob along with bass and treble attenuators to compensate for less than ideal placement. The sensitivity knob has settings of +11, +4, -3, and -10 for gain matching with different equipment.

I've begun using my headsave classic between my transit and monitors as a preamp. The sound with the Classic in place becomes more refined, less treble glare, better soundstage and imaging, and overall more musical. I've tried experimenting with the sensitivity settings on the monitor amp and found that -3 seems to be a good match. I'm curious to know whether this setup is viable or if I should discontinue the Classic's preamp use and just use the transit until I can afford a dedicated preamp. How are headphone amps designed to be used also as preamps designed differently? And finally, would the fact that I can adjust the sensitivity on my monitor amp make a headphone amp as preamp logical? I'm currently in the market for a new amp and am interested in either the Gmore Lite or Eddie Current EC-01, with the hopes of them doing double duty as my monitor preamp. If it's not viable however, I guess I'll wait to save up for a GS-1...

 

[drarthurwells]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TR909 I know this question has been asked before but I'm hoping for some clarification with using headphone amps as volume control/preamps for a speaker setup. I have powered studio monitors connected to my mac through a soon to be replaced m-audio transit. My monitors are discontinued NHTPro A-10s (http://emusician.com/speakers/emusic_nhtpro/) which feature an amp that has a switchable sensitivity knob along with bass and treble attenuators to compensate for less than ideal placement. The sensitivity knob has settings of +11, +4, -3, and -10 for gain matching with different equipment. I've begun using my headsave classic between my transit and monitors as a preamp. The sound with the Classic in place becomes more refined, less treble glare, better soundstage and imaging, and overall more musical. I've tried experimenting with the sensitivity settings on the monitor amp and found that -3 seems to be a good match. I'm curious to know whether this setup is viable or if I should discontinue the Classic's preamp use and just use the transit until I can afford a dedicated preamp. How are headphone amps designed to be used also as preamps designed differently? And finally, would the fact that I can adjust the sensitivity on my monitor amp make a headphone amp as preamp logical? I'm currently in the market for a new amp and am interested in either the Gmore Lite or Eddie Current EC-01, with the hopes of them doing double duty as my monitor preamp. If it's not viable however, I guess I'll wait to save up for a GS-1...

Headphone amps, that serve also as single line input preamps to an amp and then to speakers, must be able to have an impedance match to the amp and as well as to the headphone.

My BLAudio LP 1 is a great high end preamp and a great headphone amp that is really smooth and sweet in sound quality.

However, I think the headphone impedance should be 75 ohms or more for best results.

It is battery powered, for freedom from AC grunge and noise. Can be used as a portable for 50 hours on the rechargeable batteries, but it is heavy and bulky compared to other portable amps.

Click on the link below in my equipment.