[The Dark Shadow]

Hi, I have this amp (pre-amp maybe?) and I was wondering if it's any good considering it's free and it's quite old.
Will it be able to drive say 600ohm Beyers?
I guess you wouldn't be able to know how it sounds just by looking at its specs but it may be enough to gather if its really bad or not.
Specs
What do you think, should I give it a try or should I look into buying a new amp all together. (I'm in the process of buying better headphones so I don't have them yet, I'm just getting started in the audiophile world basically)
 
Thanks for your help!

 

[Meewoo]

You should look this thread http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/537704/calling-all-vintage-integrated-receiver-owners
I have a pioneer SA-6800 (a few years newer than SA-6300). And it can drive my AKG Q701 to it's potential level. I also have pioneer SX-450, it drives AKG with no sweat.

 

[vuntruong]

20 W is all you need.  Should be able to drive the headphones fine.  look up the service manual from hifiengine, and check DC offset.  give it a try to see if you like the sounds, 

 

[The Dark Shadow]

Thanks for the replies!
I was wondering would this amp be enough to drive the Hifiman HE-4?

 

[Stitch]

Good thing is, you already have it. So you can tell us if its any good

 

[The Dark Shadow]

Quote:

Good thing is, you already have it. So you can tell us if its any good

Eheh, the bad thing is I don't have the headphones yet, I'm still deciding what to buy.
 
If I decided to buy the Hifiman I will have less money to buy a better amp if needed, on the other side I guess they will still sound better than my current crappy headphones and this amp or the Asus Essence STX will be at least decent at driving them untill I can get a better amp.
 
Buying the Hifiman will leave me about 230€ / 210£ / 335$ for an amp, if get the Beyer (DT880/990) or Denons (D2000) I will have more money to spend on an amp.
 
Is there a good amp for the amount left by getting the Hifiman the I could get in case this Pioneer is not up to par?
I could get a E7/E9 combo with room to spare and have a semi-portable amp/DAC for my notebook and maybe get a more serious desktop amp later on.
 
Once I buy whichever headphone I'll end up buying I will surely post my impressions on this amp and if I get another I will try to compare them even tho I'm not an expert but it will be nice to give some info back to this forum for a change.

 

[Stitch]

Hmm yeah my bad. I thought you already had the beyers. Going by your profile  your taste is manly

 
I listen to metal a lot and i like the DT880/250. Mids could be a bit stronger(thats what the grado's are for ). For prog metal for example, the 880's are great. The bass is strong enough to bring out the kickdrums and basslines. Not sure how different the 600ohm evrsion is though.
 
I'd say get cans first and take the time to get to know them and, if you think the receiver aint pulling it, upgrade to a dedicated amp later.

 

[The Dark Shadow]

Quote:

Hmm yeah my bad. I thought you already had the beyers. Going by your profile  your taste is manly

 
I listen to metal a lot and i like the DT880/250. Mids could be a bit stronger(thats what the grado's are for ). For prog metal for example, the 880's are great. The bass is strong enough to bring out the kickdrums and basslines. Not sure how different the 600ohm evrsion is though.
 
I'd say get cans first and take the time to get to know them and, if you think the receiver aint pulling it, upgrade to a dedicated amp later.

 
Well those are the main genres, I listen to a lot of other stuff too but I couldn't fit all of it in the profile! XD
 
I was considering the Hifiman because from what I read they should be somewhat like DT880s on steroids with more mids and bass! (to put it very simple)
 
I guess I will take the plunge, I was just a bit scared by the price compared to my previous that were all under 100£ gaming (i.e. crap ) headsets.
 

 

[vuntruong]

Get the headphones you want or like!  Headphones sound quality only improve once in a while, when there are breakthrough in engineering.  AKG 701, 702 etc... are still the same as it was 3 years ago.  Amp seems "to improve" every few months or so.  This past year, there has been a lot new and old company releasing some really good cans ( but they are expensive)