[kaiteck]

hi guys, I'm planning to buy a new amp so please don't laugh because there's a probability that I'm going to ask a stupid question.
 
Will an amp that's capable of driving 600ohm headphone, destroy a 38ohm headphone/ 16ohm IEM?
 
Or Will an amp that's capable of driving 600ohm headphone, decrease overall SQ with 38ohm/ 16ohm IEM?
 
Thanks in advance :3

 

[MindsMirror]

The amount of power an amp delivers is determined by the volume control. If you have two different amps with different power capabilities, and you set their volume so that your headphone is equally loud, each amp would be delivering the same amount of power. The difference is that the more powerful amp could achieve a higher volume if you wanted it to. A powerful amp will not destroy a sensitive headphone unless you turn the volume up too high.
 
The power of the amp should not have an effect on sound quality, unless it has not enough power. There may be other factors though, like output impedance. An amp that is good for a 600 Ohm headphone is not necessarily also good for a 16 Ohm headphone.

 

[mindbomb]

The voltage determines the loudness, and that will determine the power usage. The specs of the amp that affect the voltage are the gain and output impedance. So you want a low gain value to have a low voltage, but you probably don't want high output impedance to lower voltage since that brings other problems.

 

[Ivabign]

An amplifier with lots of power (one that can drive a 600ohm headphone) will likely have more headroom and be able to reproduce transients better than an amplifier that has less power - it usually sounds better if we are talking good equipment - good clean power.