[harmony1992]

hi guys,if you have any great plan of driving the headphones with adapter to pre &power amplifer or intergrated.could you please share the experience and your combo here.

the very dificult driving planar headphones such as
hifiman he6/susvara
abyss1266
audeze lcd4
hd800

 

[wwwwwwwjn]

I`m interested in this topic too. Have you had any solution or recommendation?

 

[rumina]

i use(d) different class a amplifiers with headphones. most of the amps i use are nelson pass amps like the the first watt j2 or diy f5, diy pass sony vfet. for headphones like the abyss or lcd4 you don't need a box (voltage divider), only check that the offset is ok and if you like double safty first power the amp on, wait 30 sec then connect the headphones, off - first disconnect the headphone, then power off.

today i use my abyss phi most of the time with a pathos inpol remix (10 watt class a tube hybrid amp) without box - it's the setup i like most of all my gear.

from time to time i use my diy pass sony vfet with a box for my more efficient headphones. it's easy to build a box (voltage divider), take a look here:

https://robrobinette.com/RobinetteBox.htm

but buy some quality resistors (i use some jantzen resistors).

btw 80-90% of the integrated amps using a voltage divider for the headphone socket, well made with good parts it's a good solution and often better then a simply opa headphone ampboard.

imo a good class a amp with around 10-25 watt is hard to beat for power hungry headphones, only headphone amps like the dynahi are similar good.

if your into diy audio a pass f5 is a great amp for these headphones, sadly it's hard to get the parts for a pass sony vfet but thats a real magical amp. a f5 is easy to build and to set the bias, you can made even a better match lowering the power a bit (look at diyaudio com for help).

 

[kid vic]

Integrated amp user here; I've used or am currently using:
Akai AM-2650
Yamaha CA-600
Kenwood KA-9100
Citizen JSA-8

With headphone amps I had a cheap Ebay straight outta china tube amp (like $30) then a really nice Darkvoice 3322.
I find that a well made (vintage) integrated will sound better than a well made headphone amp for less money and be more versatile.

 

[Thieliste]

For Susvara if you want the absolute best amp there is, i would recommend Aries Cerat Genus directly from speaker taps 25W class A.
€15K retail.

 

[Sam Spade]

I have a circa 1990 Marantz CD 80 modded about 10 years ago I had a burson low jitter digital clock, burson opamps, new caps and a Philips TDA1541A S2 double crown d/a converter put in. It is 30yo and still sounds beautiful and better than most modern machines, it is wonderfully musical especially with simpler acoustic music. I also have a Marantz PM 80 from the same era, 20 watts Class A, switchable to 100 watts Class AB. . Owned both since new. Both drive headphones well, including my LCD4s outstandingly from the headphone jacks. The Amp is better than the CD player.

I have only just got the LCD4s and am yet to try them with my Burson Conductor 3x ref and Sparkos Aries/Chord Qutest combo. Once I do I'll post my impressions.

I also have an Astell & Kern SP1000M and a balanced Cardas Parsec cable. I'm betting the A&K will drive the LCD4s well. It does a great job with my LCD3's. I'll post on that too once I've tried it.