Hello.
Apologies if what I’m asking below is a dumb question about Schiit headphone amplifiers, but it strikes me that posting it the week that Schiit announce their most expensive headphone amplifier ever is, well, double dumb, as I may well regret the advice I receive.
The Folkvangr has brought out a few new posters and with it some useful data on high-impedance headphones that the Folkvangr can apparently drive.
As you can see from my avatar and signature, my listening gear consists of a vintage Armstrong 621 amp (bought new in 1977) and an equally vintage pair of Wharfedale Isodynamics, (bought from Hi-Fi aficionado and friend who’d bought them new in ~1974).
The Iso’s are fine, and are happy being driven out of the loudspeaker ports of the 621, as they were designed to be. The 621 is beginning to complain under the strain so I need to look at a replacement; ideally from the Schiit range.
I don’t know how to read the Schiit amplifier specifications to identify which of them would drive the Iso’s, so I’m asking the group for guidance.
The data points I have are;
The Isodynamics state on their data label;
The 621 specifies that out of the loudspeaker sockets it will deliver up to 40 watts into 8 ohms. Loads less than 4 ohms are not recommended.The volume control on the 621 turns from 0 at 7 o’clock to full at 5 o’clock, and the Iso’s come alive at 10 o’clock and are too loud at 11:30-12:00 o’clock.
The other data point we have is from valiant66 who has posted
here on Schiit Happened and on the
Head-Fi dedicated Isodynamic thread that driving his Iso’s out of a Magni’s speaker ports was nearly but just not loud enough at full volume on the Magni 3. I echo valiant66's comments that the Iso's are edge case HPs, so it's not a surprise that identifying a Schiit amp is not straightforward.
I’ve been advised that driving them from a Schiit loudspeaker amp wouldn’t work as the 120 ohm resistance would trip the protection circuitry. It’s also been suggested that the headphone socket on a Ragnarok might provide the required power.
I’ve emailed
info@schiit.com and had replies, but as they have no direct experience of the Iso’s connected to Schiit gear, then the answers are, understandably, noncommittal.
I simply don’t know electrical engineering, so I’m not able to work out from the various Schiit amp specifications which of their amps can provide the required power and deal with the high resistance of the Iso’s.
As I’m in the UK, then the restocking charge of an un-satisfactory amp will have to include return transatlantic freight charges, and possibly non-refundable import taxes, so I’d like to avoid those if I can as they will reduce the budget available for the other Schiit components that will inevitably follow once the 621 is retired to cosmetic duties.
I’m hoping that the collective wisdom here on the group will provide an answer, and that without draining too much of my pension I’ll be able settle on what hopefully will be my end-game amp for my wonderful headphones.
Thanks to the members who’ve helped me get this far on PMs.