[Protek67]

I am in the midst of a stereo journey and find myself drawn to the headphone experience. What got me caught up in this journey was the need to first get a set of quality PC speakers for my friend who is blind, and second get a legit audio set up for my new desk set up. Of course I couldn't do some off the shelf PC speaker solution so I have combined the two and made this my new hobby.

I find myself looking for a combination headphone amp and speaker amp which will allow my friend to unplug his headphones and relax to the sound of whole room audio. My first attempt at this was an SMSL SA-160 which was promising for the first week. I had it connected to a pair of bookshelf speakers and quite enjoyed it, however when I got my Blue Lola's the amp decided to fade in and out between the speaker output and the headphone jack even a day after removing the headphones. I had hoped this was simply a small quirk however it did not get better or stay the same rather it got worse. My time frame is measured in days but that was enough to let me know the product was faulty. I followed this unreviewed product with an unreviewed tube amp/pre-amp/headphone amp which has been a complete failure.

Summary: I need a SS stereo amp capable of powering a pair of bookshelves as well as a pair of headphones. I just can't justify a $400 pair of audioengine powered bookshelves when my setup cost less than that.

 

[Oscar-HiFi]

The lower end Marantz amps have excellent headphone amps built in, I really enjoy my PM-5005 with speakers and headphones alike.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I am in the midst of a stereo journey and find myself drawn to the headphone experience. What got me caught up in this journey was the need to first get a set of quality PC speakers for my friend who is blind, and second get a legit audio set up for my new desk set up. Of course I couldn't do some off the shelf PC speaker solution so I have combined the two and made this my new hobby.

I find myself looking for a combination headphone amp and speaker amp which will allow my friend to unplug his headphones and relax to the sound of whole room audio. My first attempt at this was an SMSL SA-160 which was promising for the first week. I had it connected to a pair of bookshelf speakers and quite enjoyed it, however when I got my Blue Lola's the amp decided to fade in and out between the speaker output and the headphone jack even a day after removing the headphones. I had hoped this was simply a small quirk however it did not get better or stay the same rather it got worse. My time frame is measured in days but that was enough to let me know the product was faulty. I followed this unreviewed product with an unreviewed tube amp/pre-amp/headphone amp which has been a complete failure.

Summary: I need a SS stereo amp capable of powering a pair of bookshelves as well as a pair of headphones. I just can't justify a $400 pair of audioengine powered bookshelves when my setup cost less than that.

Easiest, simplest solution: Marantz PM5005 with high impedance headphones.

The reality is that speaker gear with headphone outputs, while they've gotten better and Marantz has always been decent, all have very high output impedance. Chances are you'll either bloat the bass or make them sound like tin cans, depending on the headphone. Even Marantz isn't immune from that - HD600 was OK with all of them, Grado SR225 sucked. This is why people using desktop setups use powered speakers: they're typically designed for nearfield use especially studio monitors, they have amps built in so they can avoid having either a too large speaker amp or a smaller one with connectivity limitations, and the headphone amp that can drive practically every headphone other than electrostats will drive their headphones well and run a preamp signal to the powered speakers.

 

[canthearyou]

This: http://emotiva.com/product/a-100/

Or this: http://www.schiit.com/products/ragnarok

 

[Hooster]

This: http://emotiva.com/product/a-100/

Or this: http://www.schiit.com/products/ragnarok

Emotiva looks OK. On the other hand, Ragnarock seems way over budget.

 

[thedesigner2011]

The Emotiva BasX A-100 is an excellent amp, I use them with my Ascend Sierra 2's and the HD6xx. Sound is deep and full across the frequency range, sound separation and bass impact put my old class D amp to shame. Same goes for the HD6xx, the headphone section is clean, very low noise floor and makes the 6xx come alive. I played with the Jotunheim for a while and they were good with the 6xx, but I vastly prefer the Emotiva to the Jot. I have also played with the Ragnarok but not with the Sierra 2, just the HD6xx. The Ragnarok is very good at what it does, I just didn't experience anything that made it seem worth triple the price of the Jot.

Just my two cents, and I am using a desk setup, but I think the fact that I use the BasX A-100 with Sierra 2's speaks for itself. That being said, I might in the future swap to an amp with more power in the event I want to move the Sierra 2's off the desk and into a deidcated listening space.