[daycart1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by buggalugs /img/forum/go_quote.gif The reason I use the spare speaker outlet is because this amp (Rotel 972) doesn't mute the speakers when inserting the phones into the headphone jack.

ON my Rotel, you can put the loudspeakers on the "remote" outputs--they are then switched off when the headphone jack is used.

 

[MartinB]

I currently use my Cyrus 8vs amplifier for headphones. I think it works very well and is very neutral. However, I haven't compared it to anything else for a long time. Over the years I've used Creek OBH-11, Sugden Headmaster and Grado RA-1 with different headphones. I've also used a couple of integrated amps over the years. I've found very little difference between dedicated amps and integrated amps.
Sometimes I think that most integrated amps are probably more neutral and flatter and may sound boring to a lot of people. I'm pretty sure that a modern headphone output has way less distortion compared to a vintage receiver, but maybe people like that added distortion..

 

[granodemostasa]

to be picky, my "headphone amp" is actually a pre-amp.. but it is better known as a headphone amp.

 

[Knoxious]

Currently using Harman Kardon PM 665 and Denon PMA-1080 amplifiers - both high current amplifiers

One in the sound lounge and one in the home theatre !
(OK, one in the living room and one for the 'telly)

Both the amplifiers are over twenty years old
(All my gear is old except my nice new Ultrasone 2200's headphones)

On both amps the speakers can be switched off and on both the headphone amplifiers are high quality !

 

[Snusk-Pelle]

I was using a X-Can v2. But after i bought a Harman kardon HK 980 amplifier. I have stopped using my X-Can. The HK is better. I dont want a headphone amp any more. The HK is good enough for me. It uses some headphone amp integrated on a chip.

 

[.Sup]

Yamaha rdx440

 

[Busta9iron]

I pulled the old Luxman LV-100 from the basement about one month ago. Have not regretted that move, as it makes the AD700's that much better. My wife didn't care for the move, but my ears sure didn't mind.

 

[sunseeker888]

To be quite honest, I preferred my Cambridge 640A v2 to my Little dot 2++ and MKII so I sold them both. Grados sound great on this integrated.

From the manual: The 540A v2 and 640A v2 both got upgraded from their v1 counterparts and one of the upgrades was a class-a seperate headphone circuit. Good stuff.

 

[Stoin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by granodemostasa /img/forum/go_quote.gif to be picky, my "headphone amp" is actually a pre-amp.. but it is better known as a headphone amp.

Same here. I use the Sugden Headmaster as my headphone amp. It's a mix of headphone amp and pre-amp. At some point I'll put it into my main system with a power amp.

I have used my Grados with a Rotel RA-03 integrated amp and they sound fine. I've never bothered doing a comparison - both sound good - but I'd expect (hope?) that the Sugden would be better. It is around twice the price.

 

[boomy3555]

Up until September of 08, I was running my lowly cans off of Sony Integrated reciever/home theater. I was and still am extremely impressed by the SQ. I auditioned several int. amps at the time. ( Alot easier than auditioning high end headphones), I'll tell you) and it gave me the best SQ for the 269.99 at the time. ( 12 years ago)

 

[Baimi]

M902 user here.

I have the RS1 and GS1000 (which gets more use as of late) and I found the sound from M902 to be very refined with nice mid. I actually had the X-Can V3 earlier on and tried the M902 - V3 - RS1/GSK route (with the M902 acting as a DAC). I was underwhelmed by the combination and promptly sold the V3.

To be fair, I was using stock tubes (crappy) with the V3, but I figured extra investment on expensive NOS tubes for marginal improvement to be poor financial decision when I could be content with M902 alone.

 

[emelius]

i listen to my d7000 through a portal panache integrated...sounds quite good, but i haven't settled on a source yet...

in the mean time, i'm considering some small things to improve the sound (tweaks) like replacing the fuses with hi-fi tuning fuses...maybe try a different power cord, etc....

 

[milkweg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daycart1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Most people above have mentioned integrateds famous for their head-outs (e.g. the Melos). I have a lowly Rotel that drives Senns and Grados very well, almost (but not quite) as well as my nice head-amps. It is, however, almost 10 years old; there are hardly any budget integrateds with good head amps in production....

My Onkyo SR505 sounds just as good as my Audiolab 8000A to me. In fact, it has an even quieter noise floor. I use LunchboxPro tube amp for headphones but in hindsight either of those two amps would have sufficed.

 

[milkweg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunseeker888 /img/forum/go_quote.gif To be quite honest, I preferred my Cambridge 640A v2 to my Little dot 2++ and MKII so I sold them both. Grados sound great on this integrated. From the manual: The 540A v2 and 640A v2 both got upgraded from their v1 counterparts and one of the upgrades was a class-a seperate headphone circuit. Good stuff.

Wonder if the Cambridge surround sound amps have that too. I was thinking of upgrading my surround sound receiver to a Cambridge model. I saw nothing in their specs about the headphone section though.

Specifications / Azur 640R 7.1 HDMI AV Receiver / Azur / Products / Cambridge Audio

 

[ddoingwell]

I have a Classic 10.0 pre-amp that I bought from Hong Kong; it's sold as a pre-amp/headphone amp. It's really good with some of my headphones, and delightful with others (Philips SHP9000 and AKG K240S). It's not so good with my AKG k501s nor does it have the oomph for my AKG K240Ms. I also have a Meier Corda Arietta and though it's better with the easy headphones, it cannot get there with the K501s either. Sadly as a result, my K501s are more ornamental...

Regarding the integrateds, I've also read good things about the Cambridge 540 V2 as well as the NAD C320BEE; both are described as having headphone outs connected to the output stage of the main amp but I'm an absolute moron when it comes to tech stuff and have to rely on extensive research of forums like this for my secondary impressions. I did have an older NAD amp and it was just OK with the headphones I had at the time but that was quite a while ago.

One of my best headphone experiences came from the headphone output on my home recording studio mixing console and some AKG K240Ms. These small pro audio mixer things are cheap as chips now that home recording rigs sell to every muso with dreams of stardom. Maybe thinking outside the box would yield good results. Obviously I'm talking about lower budget alternatives here but many of us have less $$$ these days so it's a worthy discussion.