plaidplatypus
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Is it possible for a single-ended headphone amp (Luxman P-1) to power a SRD-7/SB to drive a SR-Lambda?
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krmathis
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Quote:
Very unlikely.
Since its headphone jacks probably don't have high output watt output to drive the Stax combo. In short you need speaker taps to hook up the SRD-7.
| Originally Posted by plaidplatypus /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is it possible for a single-ended headphone amp (Luxman P-1) to power a SRD-7/SB to drive a SR-Lambda? |
Very unlikely.
Since its headphone jacks probably don't have high output watt output to drive the Stax combo. In short you need speaker taps to hook up the SRD-7.
plaidplatypus
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Luxman P-1 [P-1] - $2,400.00 : TTVJ, Todd The Vinyl Junkie
It can only put 4 Watts per channel into 8 Ohms. How much power does the SRD-7/SB require?
It can only put 4 Watts per channel into 8 Ohms. How much power does the SRD-7/SB require?
Tachikoma
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Thats enough, actually. A friend of mine ran his SR-Xs from a Dynalow, so that should be plenty.
krmathis
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Then I probably have retract my previous answer.
Cause the P-1 is more powerful (higher wattage) than most headphone amplifiers, and 4 watts should be enough for the Stax system.
| Originally Posted by plaidplatypus /img/forum/go_quote.gif Luxman P-1 [P-1] - $2,400.00 : TTVJ, Todd The Vinyl Junkie It can only put 4 Watts per channel into 8 Ohms. How much power does the SRD-7/SB require? |
Then I probably have retract my previous answer.
Cause the P-1 is more powerful (higher wattage) than most headphone amplifiers, and 4 watts should be enough for the Stax system.
scompton
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I curious what the Luxman was designed to drive. 4 watts out of a headphone jack will kill most headphones.
Duggeh
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4 watts into 8 ohms is nominally 2 watts into 16 ohms, 1 into 32, 0.5 into 64 etc. Most headphones start at 32 and move up to 300.
Theres only one headphone I can think of which has an impedance of around 4-ohms and isn't a 70's paper cone job.
Theres only one headphone I can think of which has an impedance of around 4-ohms and isn't a 70's paper cone job.
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My Eddie Current ZDT on order puts out 8 watts into 8 ohm from the speaker out, but the headphone out I believe is 3 watts into 32 ohm and 300 mw into 300 ohm - perfect for my SRD-7 Pro, K1000, Grado RS-1 and HD800 on order. And, with the 4-pin XLR in the front I can plug in my HD600 and D2000 or K1000 for the balanced transformer driven output. I can't wait!
| Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Then I probably have retract my previous answer. Cause the P-1 is more powerful (higher wattage) than most headphone amplifiers, and 4 watts should be enough for the Stax system. |
My Eddie Current ZDT on order puts out 8 watts into 8 ohm from the speaker out, but the headphone out I believe is 3 watts into 32 ohm and 300 mw into 300 ohm - perfect for my SRD-7 Pro, K1000, Grado RS-1 and HD800 on order. And, with the 4-pin XLR in the front I can plug in my HD600 and D2000 or K1000 for the balanced transformer driven output. I can't wait!
Duckman
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Silimar questions might have been asked somewhere in this thread, but you know...
Has anyone had stellar success powering their earspeakers with their home stereo amps + transformer? And if so, what were they? Are some combinations well known to be particularly effective?
I'm contemplating a stax setup on a budget, but wonder whether it would be more cost effective using say a budget NAD amp (C315BEE: 40 watts) with a transformer box, than to purchase one of the better regarded Stax amps second hand... thinking on the level of SRM-T1W or SRM-1 MkII; and whether it would involve any serious sacrifice in sound quality.
Cheers,
Dave
Has anyone had stellar success powering their earspeakers with their home stereo amps + transformer? And if so, what were they? Are some combinations well known to be particularly effective?
I'm contemplating a stax setup on a budget, but wonder whether it would be more cost effective using say a budget NAD amp (C315BEE: 40 watts) with a transformer box, than to purchase one of the better regarded Stax amps second hand... thinking on the level of SRM-T1W or SRM-1 MkII; and whether it would involve any serious sacrifice in sound quality.
Cheers,
Dave
scompton
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I've been using a NAD 3155 for a while. I recently bought a Realistic STA-2200 but I haven't tried it yet. It's too big for the table I have my gear on.
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The direct drive amps with anything but O2 will have better detail and refinement, and still enough power. The speaker amp and transformer has more power to drive the difficult to drive O2 Mk1 and Mk2. I also kinda like the HE60 on the transformers, as it adds some bass punch to them.
I have had good results with small desktop headphone amps that have speaker outs - see my public profile "about me" for links to reviews of the ones below. If these below can drive the transformers well, I see no reason why the 40 watt NAD shouldn't do well too.
Travagans Red and Green: 5 watt/ch very good driving Stax transformer, even a pro bias one with O2 Mk1 and Mk2, but less volume with O2 than an 8-watt or 12-watt amp. Have also tried driving my SR-Lambda and SR-5NB and it was very good. Opamp rollable to tune the sound, stock is still very nice with O2 or Lambda. Not as good with book shelf HT speakers and really needs a 90+ dB/mw speaker to shine. Very good with dynamic headphones as well.
Nuforce Icon: Decent DAC on the level of the DAC in 3MOVE or XM5 or Predator, with 2 line-in. It's 12 watts gives enough power to the Stax O2. Mids are slightly more forward than Travagans and the cables with banana plugs means having to affix female banana jacks on the SRD-7 transformer. Much better as a speaker amp than as a dynamic headphone amp - plenty of power for HD600 via headphone amp but not as much detail as the speaker out or pre-amp out.
Qinpu A-3: Just reviewed tube hybrid. Again better speaker out than headphone out, but the headphone out is actually a pre-amp out that can drive headphones (high impedance better than low impedance). The 8.5 watt/ch speaker out with SRD-7 Pro sounded very good with O2 Mk1 vs the maxed GES, albeit with less detail and refinement than GES but better power and dynamics.
| Originally Posted by Duckman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Silimar questions might have been asked somewhere in this thread, but you know... Has anyone had stellar success powering their earspeakers with their home stereo amps + transformer? And if so, what were they? Are some combinations well known to be particularly effective? I'm contemplating a stax setup on a budget, but wonder whether it would be more cost effective using say a budget NAD amp (C315BEE: 40 watts) with a transformer box, than to purchase one of the better regarded Stax amps second hand... thinking on the level of SRM-T1W or SRM-1 MkII; and whether it would involve any serious sacrifice in sound quality. Cheers, Dave |
The direct drive amps with anything but O2 will have better detail and refinement, and still enough power. The speaker amp and transformer has more power to drive the difficult to drive O2 Mk1 and Mk2. I also kinda like the HE60 on the transformers, as it adds some bass punch to them.
I have had good results with small desktop headphone amps that have speaker outs - see my public profile "about me" for links to reviews of the ones below. If these below can drive the transformers well, I see no reason why the 40 watt NAD shouldn't do well too.
Travagans Red and Green: 5 watt/ch very good driving Stax transformer, even a pro bias one with O2 Mk1 and Mk2, but less volume with O2 than an 8-watt or 12-watt amp. Have also tried driving my SR-Lambda and SR-5NB and it was very good. Opamp rollable to tune the sound, stock is still very nice with O2 or Lambda. Not as good with book shelf HT speakers and really needs a 90+ dB/mw speaker to shine. Very good with dynamic headphones as well.
Nuforce Icon: Decent DAC on the level of the DAC in 3MOVE or XM5 or Predator, with 2 line-in. It's 12 watts gives enough power to the Stax O2. Mids are slightly more forward than Travagans and the cables with banana plugs means having to affix female banana jacks on the SRD-7 transformer. Much better as a speaker amp than as a dynamic headphone amp - plenty of power for HD600 via headphone amp but not as much detail as the speaker out or pre-amp out.
Qinpu A-3: Just reviewed tube hybrid. Again better speaker out than headphone out, but the headphone out is actually a pre-amp out that can drive headphones (high impedance better than low impedance). The 8.5 watt/ch speaker out with SRD-7 Pro sounded very good with O2 Mk1 vs the maxed GES, albeit with less detail and refinement than GES but better power and dynamics.
plaidplatypus
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I think the Gilmore designed amps are better than any transformer + amp combo I've heard but on a budget a SRM-1/MK-2 is good. If you are thinking about Pro biased earspeakers the SRM-313 is OK. The SRM-007t my favorite STAX brand amp for the Lambda earspeakers. I could sell you my T-amp cheap, it's powerful enough for a transformer and SR-Lambda. I've also tried an EL-84 amp that I like but the bass is a bit heavy. The NAD gear I've heard hasn't made me excited but didn't offend me.
Oublie
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Excellent starting point, I actually prefer the sound of an srd7 with a NAD 3020 amp over the sound of an srm1 mk2 but thats just me. The t1 amps are on another level with everything but the Omega's and Sigmas.
I started with an energizer and a NAD amp and was very happy with that setup. From what i've learned through experience if i had to do it again, I would get either a t1 amp or an srd7 with a decent t amp (10w is plenty) until you are ready for omegas.
At that point keep the srd7 MkII and get the omegas as they need the extra drive then finally get a 717 or gilmore design and live a life of headphone bliss.
| Originally Posted by Duckman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Silimar questions might have been asked somewhere in this thread, but you know... Has anyone had stellar success powering their earspeakers with their home stereo amps + transformer? And if so, what were they? Are some combinations well known to be particularly effective? I'm contemplating a stax setup on a budget, but wonder whether it would be more cost effective using say a budget NAD amp (C315BEE: 40 watts) with a transformer box, than to purchase one of the better regarded Stax amps second hand... thinking on the level of SRM-T1W or SRM-1 MkII; and whether it would involve any serious sacrifice in sound quality. Cheers, Dave |
Excellent starting point, I actually prefer the sound of an srd7 with a NAD 3020 amp over the sound of an srm1 mk2 but thats just me. The t1 amps are on another level with everything but the Omega's and Sigmas.
I started with an energizer and a NAD amp and was very happy with that setup. From what i've learned through experience if i had to do it again, I would get either a t1 amp or an srd7 with a decent t amp (10w is plenty) until you are ready for omegas.
At that point keep the srd7 MkII and get the omegas as they need the extra drive then finally get a 717 or gilmore design and live a life of headphone bliss.
mark_h
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My T1 is perfectly adequate with my O2's insofar as I have absolutely no complaints about any part of the sound signature and have no intention of upgrading to anything short of a blue Hawaii The T series of amps were in fact used with the Omega's and produced up until the mid to late 90's.
Oublie
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Opinions vary but i find that the T1 series lacks the dynamics and control with the omegas and in fact i prefer them with my srd7. A T1 series is exactly as you say adequate it doesn't do anything wrong as such it's just that the omegas are capable of more as i have found with using an srd 7 with them.
| Originally Posted by mark_h /img/forum/go_quote.gif My T1 is perfectly adequate with my O2's insofar as I have absolutely no complaints about any part of the sound signature and have no intention of upgrading to anything short of a blue Hawaii The T series of amps were in fact used with the Omega's and produced up until the mid to late 90's. |
Opinions vary but i find that the T1 series lacks the dynamics and control with the omegas and in fact i prefer them with my srd7. A T1 series is exactly as you say adequate it doesn't do anything wrong as such it's just that the omegas are capable of more as i have found with using an srd 7 with them.
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