[matthewd5]

hello.

i finally found a local dealer where i could demo a headphone amp...

i borrowed a grado amp for the weekend.

i tried it with my senn 600's and i honestly couldn't tell the difference between the grado and the headphone jack on my receiver.

i also tried it with my sony portable cd player (el cheapo, nothing special) and i still couldn't tell the difference.

am i missing something here??

matthew

 

[Beagle]

I had the same experience initially. Then, after a couple of weeks of using the amp, I went back to the jacks of my Walkman Pro and my integrated amp and...YUCK!

I was using Grado phones, but I also use the RA-1 with my HD600's. The difference is subtle at first, then becomes more apparent over time. Whether you want to take that chance and buy it is up to you. Try and see if you can return it after a few weeks if you are not happy.

 

[redshifter]

Quote:

i also tried it with my sony portable cd player (el cheapo, nothing special) and i still couldn't tell the difference.

are you running out of the player's line out? does your player even have a line out?

 

[shivohum]

I think Beagle put it well. The difference is subtle, and you'll only appreciate after living with it for a while. The change tends to be more apparent when you switch from solid state to tubes.

 

[kelly]

You guys are lucky. I only wish the difference had been subtle with my source's built in jacks versus an amp.

Er.. I mean... I wish the source component's built in jacks had been better, not that I wish my headphone amps were worse... or something.

 

[chych]

Erm yeah, I hope you aren't plugging that amp from an amplified source (like another headphone jack), because that really defeats the purpose. The amp should be connected to the line out of your portable cd player - if it doesn't have one, the amp is useless... or plugged in directly to your cd player which is connected to your reciever.

To me, it is APPARENT, blatantly apparent, when I listen to my pcdp, my reciever, and various other headphone jacks to my MG Head...

 

[matthewd5]

nope i'm not stupid!

i had it plugged into the line out on both the portable sony cd player and my brand new nad 541

next stupid question...

the amps i really wanted to try out but couldn't find anywhere locally...

creek ob11-se or the earmax pro

would i have noticed more of a difference with any of these?

thanks

matthew