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Speaker amps for headphones
Feb 2, 2015 at 4:31 PM Post #3,001 of 3,871
chris j said:
Oh....

Assuming the output impedance is low enough, and you have enough power (i.e. you are not clipping) then it comes down to some amps sound slightly different than other amps.
If the output impedance is low enough, they should all have flat frequency response.

I once talked to the guy who designed a few amps for Sonic Frontiers.
He said as far as he is concerned, not all well designed amps sound the same.
Personally, I can't give you a good reason why that would be, but there it is!
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Voodoo perhaps?
 
Feb 2, 2015 at 7:03 PM Post #3,002 of 3,871
Feb 21, 2015 at 3:58 PM Post #3,003 of 3,871
I posted this over in the amps for HD800 thread.
My first venture into driving a headphone with a speaker amp ... what can I say, it worked quite well
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http://www.head-fi.org/t/660817/whats-the-best-amp-for-hd800/225#post_11345266
 
Feb 21, 2015 at 5:23 PM Post #3,004 of 3,871
Blow anything up? :wink_face:
 
Feb 27, 2015 at 9:06 PM Post #3,006 of 3,871
Right now I'm using a pair of Hifiman HE-500s with my old Yamaha CA-800, and the result is satisfactory.  But I plan to upgrade to the HE-6 in the next month or so.  I have my desktop > Cambridge Audio DacMagic 100 > Yamaha CA-800 > B&W 686 and/or HE-500.  I know the HE-6 is a very resolving headphone, and I want to bring that out.  Will using speaker taps attain this or is it better to upgrade my amp, dac, or both?  My budget is about $1500 - $1000 (HE-6) + $450ish (if I sold my dac and amp) = $950ish.  I should also mention that I plan on the HE-6 to be my last pair of headphones, then I'm going to focus on speakers, so ideally the amp would still give me the headroom to eventually upgrade to Magnepans.
 
Feb 27, 2015 at 10:58 PM Post #3,007 of 3,871
If your speaker amp is decent and can pump out the current then the speaker tap is easily the way to go, certainly for an HE 6. Current is really crucial, stable, strong current, and that requires really nice power supplies. I know advances have been made and smaller form factor power supplies can be very, very good, but it is hard to beat a decent speaker amp power supply unless it was of poor design or quality, and or very old. For the modest investment a good speaker tap is easily well worth trying. Post your amps specifications here and get some feedback on it's suitability.
 
As I did, and after a few very knowledgeable members suggested everything was fine I took the chance, sold my headphone amp and went speaker tap and I can't imagine how much money I would have to spend with a dedicated head amp to beat my M3. I'm guess at least around 3-4K and even then, how much of a difference could there possibly be? Could I hear the differences, or can an instrument measure it only? Not sure, but my 560s are sublime through the NAD. I may get a headamp simply to experience new sound signatures again, but never out of need that is for sure. I do want a very nice tube amp like the new DNA model.
 
Feb 28, 2015 at 1:23 AM Post #3,008 of 3,871
 Post your amps specifications here and get some feedback on it's suitability.
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Yamaha CA-800
Power output: 45 watts per channel into 8Ω (stereo)
Frequency response: 10Hz to 50kHz
Total harmonic distortion: 0.1%
Damping factor: 70
Input sensitivity: 2.5mV (mic), 3mV (MM), 120mV (line)
Signal to noise ratio: 70dB (mic), 80dB (MM), 90dB (line)
Channel separation: 50dB (MM), 50dB (line)
Output: 120mV (line), 0.775V (Pre out)
Speaker load impedance: 4Ω to 16Ω
Semiconductors: 2 x FET, 49 x transistors, 12 x diodes, 4 x zener diodes
Dimensions: 436 x 144 x 323mm
Weight: 13.5kg
 
CA800spec.jpg

CA800specA.jpg

 
Mar 2, 2015 at 7:11 AM Post #3,012 of 3,871
rossliew said:
Would my old NAD3020 Series 20 integrated be sufficient for the HE-6? It only outputs a modest 20W into 8 ohms.

Wondering if the 20 watts would be sufficient for the HE-6?
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That works out to approx. 2.5 Watts into a 64 Ohm load.
It should be sufficient.
No resistor network will be needed between the amp and the headphopnes.
 
Mar 2, 2015 at 7:39 AM Post #3,013 of 3,871
preproman said:
 
Give it a shot.  The F!J is really good at only 10W into 8 ohms..
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chris j said:
That works out to approx. 2.5 Watts into a 64 Ohm load.
It should be sufficient.
No resistor network will be needed between the amp and the headphopnes.
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Thanks, guys. The only thing left is whether there's synergy between the two. 
 
Someone before mentioned the Rogue Audio Sphinx amp - that would be on my to try list as well. 
 
Mar 2, 2015 at 4:20 PM Post #3,014 of 3,871
Regarding all the Nelson pass current amp designs they might even have higher output power at 50 ohms than 8 ohms because of the high output impedance so a comparison with the NAD doesn't make much sense?
 
Mar 2, 2015 at 5:04 PM Post #3,015 of 3,871
davidsh said:
Regarding all the Nelson pass current amp designs they might even have higher output power at 50 ohms than 8 ohms because of the high output impedance so a comparison with the NAD doesn't make much sense?
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I wanted to thank you again as your input helped me make the decision to use my M3 and I couldn't be happier with the results. Cheers.
 
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