[nStyle]

Hello,
 
I'm new here, but highly interested in finding the right tools to produce amazing sound. I have always been interested in buying some good equipment, but I am now in that position.
 
My question for now is: what is the difference between an amp is dedicated for headphones and one that connects regular speakers? Is it possible to use a regular amp (one that powers regular speakers) to power headphones (stock or with modification), or would an amp of this size demolish the headphones?
 
Also, another question: are all headphones "amp-able", or are only certain ones with certain specifications. I ask this because I am wondering if even my $20 headphones from Wal-Mart could be improved (sound quality wise) with an amp. Obviously I would never seriously use $20 headphones in an enthusiast setup, I am simply asking for reference and educational purposes.
 
Oh, and I've already considered Denon's top cans out: the 7000's. They are beautiful and I hear the sound quality is amazing. I would love to find a dealer that I can actually compare cans, but I don't know exactly where to start.
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[scottiebabie]

well for 1, a lowly 50w home amp is approx 500x more powerful than a very high output headamp. 2ndly, home amps are designed to drive loads (speakers) of btwn 2-8ohm whereas current headamps are designed mainly for btwn 32-600ohms. in plain speak, dedicated headamps are just amplifiers of micro wattage outputs with high(er) output impedances & limited gain.
 
that said, any home amp of any power rating can drive any headphones either off its headphone jack or even directly off the speaker taps. but because home amps have as much as 32+db gain, one maynot have a whole lot (if anything) of volume headroom to play with before hitting ear poppin volumes. & yes over driving headphones can & may cause damage to headphone drivers just as over driving full size speakers can also achieve similar results. its just easier to overdrive headphones because of its small mw power requirements.
 
it is my opinion that powering headphones directly off speaker taps will most likely improve SQ compared with headphone jacks esp of current amps. if this is the direction u wish to partake, than simply adding an inline series resistor of 100ohm or so to the positive speaker out will suffice to stepdown the voltage & gain sufficiently to drive headphones. a slightly more elaborate resistor voltage divider adaptor can be easily made which will make the amp more optimum for driving headphones.
 
& yes its my opinion that a well powered headphone will sound better than inferiorly powered. now whether a home amp or a dedicated headamp sounds better will depend on many factors such as type & design of headphone, type & design of said amp, synergy of amp & headphone & last but not least, your very own ears.
 
caveat:i myself stricly use vintage home amps for my headphone needs to the very satisfactory degree not needing a dedicated headamp. similar arguments can & will most likely be made for the reverse. if u already have a home amp, then it costs u very little if anything to try it out. goodluck

 

[pp312]

Quote:

it is my opinion that powering headphones directly off speaker taps will most likely improve SQ compared with headphone jacks esp of current amps. if this is the direction u wish to partake, than simply adding an inline series resistor of 100ohm or so to the positive speaker out will suffice to stepdown the voltage & gain sufficiently to drive headphones. a slightly more elaborate resistor voltage divider adaptor can be easily made which will make the amp more optimum for driving headphones.
 

 
 
There's no advantage trying to use headphones from the speaker taps through resistors. I don't now about HT equipment, but virtually all stereo amps (NAD, Marantz, Rotel etc) power their headphone jacks through resistors from the speaker outs, so you'd only be replicating what the manufacturer has aleady done, probably better, and with impedance compensation.
 
So the answer to the OP is: yes, a good speaker amp will drive your headphones just fine and will probably sound just as good as most dedicated amps up to quite high prices. Some will disagree with this and they're welcome, but that's my and many others' experience.

 

[scottiebabie]

dont wanna prick your bubble here but not all mgfrs (practically none of the bigboys really) optimize their headphone out for...well headphones. u're are totally correct that alot of them directly tap their amp out to the headphone jacks using resistors as to stepdown voltage & gain. however none (besides Leben thats said to have an awesome optimized headout comparable to their main amp out) optimize it for either voltage out or impedance out - 5v rms volt out & 120ohm source impedance being the 'industry' standard. 
 
one needs just a bit more than dropping a coupla inline series resistor (usually btwn 220-470ohms) to be optimal. a slightly more elaborate scheme allows us to drop the voltage & impedance out to "industry" standard & also allows for optimization for different type amp output wattages.
 
dont forget too that we are dealing with 30-40yr old resistors that is possibly degraded. this adapter allows us to not just use new resistors but custom it with audio rated boutique resistors if one chooses. if we care about the kinda wires we use in our cables, why wouldnt one care about resistors too thats directly in the signal path.
 
this is why i do it. ofcos as always YMMV

 

[pp312]

Actually in the real world--and this will more directly answer the OPs question--the success or otherwise of using a regular integrated or receiver for headphones depends a lot on HP impedance. High impedance phones (Sennheiser 600/650 etc) tend to be virtually impervious to output loading and will sound good with any good amp (crap amps will of course sound crappy). Lower impedance phones become more problematical, but my own experience is that the effect of incorrect loading (and this has been noted by better men than I) is mostly apparently in a slightly looser bass, which, as has also been noted, is not always a bad thing. The final answer as always is: suck it and see.