[Centauri]

I came across a 1977 Marantz 2216 receiver/amp at a thrift store a few days ago for $25 and have been plotting some sort of use for it. The closest I've come is supplanting a dedicated headphone amp with it, pairing a proper DAC.

Is there any reason to not do this?
 
My thought was that as long as the DAC is doing the brunt of the actual work, and the amp is supplying sufficient power to the headphones (which it most certainly is), there really isn't a downside. But I don't know crap about headphone amps, let alone the abilities of 35 yr old receivers, so I wanted to ask.
 
Thanks folks.

 

[scottiebabie]

short answer issss Nope - aint no logical nor scientific reason but perhaps psychological reason(s) cos we all know dedicated headamps sounds best.
 
seriously though, plug her in & do some listening. if youre not happy, u can always spend more money

 

[Spareribs]

Old receivers can be great. Go for it brotha!
 
However, they can also suck too. Let me explain:
 
My 1971 Marantz receiver that I bought from Craigslist has a clean and good headphone out. I later got an 80s Sansui receiver and as a speaker amp, it is really good. The headphone jack is muddy and just ok. After a  while, I hated it and wanted to throw it out in the trash but I still keep it around because the speaker output is actually pretty good. 
 
Your milage may vary.

 

[MezzoBello]

Normally integrated amp sound better for music listening.
Better go for int amp w/ headphone output unless you want the decode part for watching movie.