[LearnedHand]

Hey All,
 
First post to this forum.  Surfed here occasionally for sage advice though.  Anyway, this past summer I was looking to start playing vinyl on my "nice" turntable (read: not the portable I bought at Urban Outfitters), so I went out and bought a manageably priced amp.  I ended up with a Rega Brio 3 integrated amp and some Paradigm speakers.  The salesman sold me on the Brio as a great value at the price, with very little bells and whistles.  So no tuning or remote.  I didn't even occur to me to ask about a headphone jack.  May be a generational assumption, since every piece of electronic gear I have ever owned came with one.  This is a bit of a problem for me, as I can't really crank this thing due to living in a condo, and it'd just be nice to have the option for headphones once in a while.
 
To the question.  Is there a way to get headphones working with this?  Like buying another box and hooking them up to each other?  Try and sell the Brio and buy another system?  Or am I just hosed?  I am very much a rookie at stereo equipment on this level, so any help or information would be greatly appreciated.  Have a good one.
 
 
LH

 

[project86]

Rega Brio 3 is a great little integrated amp. I would hang on to it as long as you are satisfied with the performance and functionality. You would lose money selling it, and whatever you get to replace it will not be any better unless you spend a bunch more.
 
You can add an external headphone amplifier to the Brio. It will connect to the "tape out" jack on the rear. This output sends a signal to the headphone amp, which will control the volume for you. You can then turn the volume down on the Rega so no sound comes from the speakers.
 
Headphone amps come in many forms, from tube to solid state, big and small, cheap to very expensive. There are many good choices in the $100 to $200 range though. It sort of depends on what headphones you plan on using. Do you already own a pair that you like? If so, what are they?

 

[LearnedHand]

Thanks for the reply.  I really do like the Brio, not that I have much to compare it to.  But it is very nice.  So by connecting the headphone amp to the tape out jack, I could play my records or listen to the system when I'm using it for tv/movies through the headphones?  If it's that easy then I am very happy to hear that.  Thanks for that advice.  
 
Right now I don't have a headphone amp, or any fancy headphones to play with.  Best I have is my Bose earbuds.  I do have a NuForce DAC hooked up to my pc and my newish M-Audio's.  So I imagine it's sort of the same principle.  I have been looking for better headphones though.  Not really flowing in the cash department, but there seem to be good options in the 200-300 range.  Like these, http://www.jr.com/bowers---wilkins/pe/BNW_P5/#productTabDetails.  
 
I'm not all the picky.  I think my Bose sound just find most of the time, and I know I would be in the minority in that with the hard core audio folks.  So if you have any suggestions for a intro level amp and headphones, I'd really appreciate the recommendation.  And again, thanks for the reply, it is a great help.  

 

[project86]

There are tons of options for both headphones and amps, especially if you are not picky.
 
For headphones, you'll probably want to decide if you need something sealed to block noise leakage, or if an open style headphone is ok. These will annoy someone if they are in the same room with you while you listen, but generally sound a bit better.
 
Sealed headphones to look into:
Goldring DR150
Equation Audio RP21
AKG K81DJ
 
Open models:
Grado SR60 and SR80
Audio Technica ATH-AD700
Sennheiser HD485
 
There are plenty of other great options out there. This list is just a start and should be fairly cheap.
 
Amps:
Little Dot 1+
Fournier HSA1
Audiotrack imAMP
 
Again not a comprehensive list but a good start. Basically any of these amps paired with any of these headphones would sound pretty darn good. The whole thing would be easily done for $200 give or take a bit.

 

[LearnedHand]

Just wanted to post an update. This little end around worked, thanks so much for the advice dude. Spent a long while (on these boards) agonizing over headphones and ended up going with some Grado 225i's I found for sale on the forum. The Little Dot 1+ showed up today from the East and it works very well (very fast shipping). Very happy that I can now headphone it up and listen to my records. Thanks again.

 

[project86]

Quote:

Just wanted to post an update. This little end around worked, thanks so much for the advice dude. Spent a long while (on these boards) agonizing over headphones and ended up going with some Grado 225i's I found for sale on the forum. The Little Dot 1+ showed up today from the East and it works very well (very fast shipping). Very happy that I can now headphone it up and listen to my records. Thanks again.

 My pleasure, I'm glad it worked out to your liking.

 

[MichaelPemulis]

reviving this a bit to see if anyone has experience with particularly headphone amps and the brio-r.
 
i have two pairs of headphones I use, sennhesier hd580 and grado sr-80.
 
i am looking to add a headphone amp to my system, mainly to listen to movies at night.  i also will listen to music from time to time, but mostly will choose to listen to music via my speakers.
 
i am looking to spend as little as possible, (200 would be tops) as I just picked up the rega dac.  appreciate the help in advance!

 

[pauljoe77]

Could i listen to my tt if i hook my rega rp3 and brio-r amp to a compatible cd player?