Speakers as amplifiers

[Alan_Grey]

(Newbie alert, be gentle!)

Hello,
I'm in a situation where I want a new pair of headphones to run off my SBLive (yeah, I know) via my Yamaha powered speakers. I'd like to know how good powered speakers would be to use instead of a dedicated amplifier. At the moment I'm using a pair of HD497s through the speakers, and it sounds a lot better than when directly plugged into the sound card. Can I expect higher quality through a seperate amp instead?

Cheers.

 

[jjcapurro]

If you move up from the 497 you will definately want a dedicated amp to get the full potential out of your upgrade. Unless you go to a Grado phone (which are more easily driven), the more you move up the ladder of headphones, the more you will wish you had an amp. What kind of music do you listen to & what is your budget? And oh yea, welcome to head-fi! Sorry about your wallet!

 

[taoster]

I wouldn't both with a dedicated headphone amp yet. All you are going to get is more of that SBLive hiss the better the amp.

 

[jjcapurro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by taoster I wouldn't both with a dedicated headphone amp yet. All you are going to get is more of that SBLive hiss the better the amp.

I would agree, but only if you dont upgrade your headphones... which I believe was one of your initial concerns. If you are serious about the sound as a whole, you really do need to look into alternative sources. Search around in the 'computer as a source' forum for options on both internal and external sound card sources.

-Jeremy