[inarc]

I stream a lot of shows and movies from netflix but dont want to bother my roommate so I ordered a pair of Sennheiser HD555 headphones. They haven't arrived yet, but I realized that my TV doesnt have a headphone jack. I went out and bought an rca to mini jack cable, and now my earbuds work when watching tv. But now I realize that RCA probably isnt the best quality there is, even though it seemed fine to me. How would I get the most out of my HD555 headphones without plopping down $200 for a reciever? Whats the easiest and cheapest way to get great sound quality?

 

[roker]

It doesn't take much to drive the 555s and I enjoyed using them solely for gaming and watching movies.
 
That setup was a run of the mill Onkyo receiver (I think 80 on sale) with the optical out of the TV connected to it.  The headphone amp on those are perfectly fine for efficient headphones like the 555s, also you get a remote, perfect for adjusting the volume on the fly.  That's actually your best bet.
 
If you want to ... well, turn into one of "us", then you can get a pocket amp like an iBasso T3 ($119), or a Nuforce Icon Mobile ($80) (to name a few), and route your TVs audio out to the input, but then there's the question of it not being a direct line out ... then you'll open up a whole other can of worms where 200 bucks will be considered meager and "budget-fi."

 

[inarc]

is there really that much of a difference in sound quality in using a receiver/amp vs a simple rca to jack adapter? I know that surround sound wont be possible with the rca, but is there a noticable difference in audio quality?

 

[roker]

Quote:

is there really that much of a difference in sound quality in using a receiver/amp vs a simple rca to jack adapter? I know that surround sound wont be possible with the rca, but is there a noticable difference in audio quality?

If you go optical out of the TV to receiver to your headphones, you're getting a better line out.
 
Less likely to have distorted audio or muddy vocals and/or bass.

 

[inarc]

$100+ better or just marginally better?

 

[roker]

Quote:

$100+ better or just marginally better?

That's up to you to decide, but I think this is your best bet.