[protos]

Is there any reason that a good head amp would outperform a good pre/power or integrated amp when driving headphones directly, assuming the volume can be adjusted easily for low output?

 

[greenhorn]

Yes, it seems there are a couple of reasons.

 

[kuma]

I see goodness in both ways.
A short signal path and void of excessive cabling can be a good thing for head amps.

OTOH, with headphone amplifiers, a quality of a volume pot has a lot to do with the outcome.

In general, it is harder to design low level signal components than power amplifiers. imho. ( a head amp seems to be essentialy a preamp )