dabtpa
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2014
- Posts
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Great list, but readers need to know these are mostly high end audio pieces. Be prepared to open your wallet!
The PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium HP looks like an interesting new addition to the list. New review in Stereophile, but the headphone section was relatively glossed over. Would love to hear it and compare to the Cary and Leben products.
Yes, the headphone amplifier runs direclty off the same circuit as the speakers. "All tube" does not mean no output transformer... If we used an OTL design, 4 EL34s would produce significantly less power.
The output impedance varies depending on the load being presented by the headphones. It's about 4.88 Ohms when presented with a 32 Ohm load, goes up to about 6.4 Ohms with 300 Ohm headphones, and 9.54 Ohms @ a 600 Ohm load.
The HP's headphone amp puts out a lot of juice. The power output at 32 Ohms is approximately 11.4 watts. Into 300 Ohms it's about 1.6 watts, and at 600 Ohms it's about 800mW. It's been able to power any pair of headphones we've thrown at it including several Audeze models, the Abyss headphones, AKG, Sennheisers, and Grados. [my emphasis added]
The main speakers do not automatically mute when you insert the headphones. There is a switch on the side of the amp that allows you to switch between loudspeaker and headphone listening.
The Premium HP integrated will easily drive Maggie 1.6s. We even have customers using the standard DiaLogue Premium integrated with 1.6s and having great results. The DiaLogue's power and output transformers are massively over-built, so the amp is capable of producing enough clean, stable current to drive pretty much any speaker on the market.
340i and 350P headphone out specs:
340i Headphone Out Specs:
Output impedance: 330ohms
DHT: 0.03%
Power:
2W @ 32ohms
3W @ 60ohms
5W @ 180ohms
6W @ 330ohms
5W @ 600ohms
350P Headphone amp section specs:
Output impedance: 1.25ohm
DHT: 0.005%
Power:
1W@ 50ohms
200mW@ 300ohms
100mW@ 600ohms
The 340i appears to be the powerhouse here, but there is a huge output impedance difference (the lower the better), and this is the main difference between an headphone amp and an integrated amplifier with an headphone output. With Sennheisers like you mention, although it would work well with a 340i, any of our dedicated headphone amp will deliver much better sonics.
350P and 230HAD are very similar headphone-wise. 430HA is overwhelmingly superior with the similar topology, but doubled for full balanced differential, with higher power semiconductors and also power supply rails powered via M-LoVo regulators. Also adds the (defeatable) crossfeed circuit.
See above.
No it is summed up in the 350P; the headphone amp section is single in this model. Note that it is still incredibly quiet and musical.
It is the same card in 350P and 430HAD. [The] internal card is certainly better suited with the linestage inside; we optimized it. Have a listen and let your ears be the judge. [Note: my edits here]
230HAD is basic single-ended linestage. Works wery well and sound fantastic for the price. 430HA is much better, but everything inside was optimized for headphone amplification. In the design, the preamp section is a useful addition to the product, not the main focus. The 350P is by far the better preamp, with a kind-of equivalent of 230HAD headphone amplifier headphone out section. Between 350P and 430HA, it depends on which type of listening you want to favor the most; loudspeakers or headphones? But rest assured in both cases the musical performance is excellent. For non-exotic headphones such as Sennheisers you have mentioned, the 350P can delivers astonishing performance.
Wanted to bump this up and see if anybody else has info out there. Particularly interested in integrated amps with enough grunt to power a pair of Maggies, that also have a decent to great headphone out.
another “high end”,suggestion: Mcintosh D100 or D150 Digital preamp.
An older, however superb DAC, in my opinion. Mine sounds superb paired with my SimAudio transport and HD800 cans.