[KarlAgathon]

What are a few examples as to how I would know my receiver wouldnt be handling them correctly? One poster mentioned something about distortion. I am assuming I would hear that at higher volumes? My apologies, I dont have any experience with mid to high end headphones. This is totally new territory for me. Well, I have been using a pair of AKG 242 HDs for the last few weeks. Obviously not on the same level as the 650's though.

 

[Ypoknons]

It's difficult to say with any particular certainty, but usually receivers are fine with high impedance. I think you could do some more research on AV receivers on head-fi, as well as on dampening factor and output impedance (not as much an issue  with high impedance, but good to know). 

 

[PWilson]

IMO there's more to it than just a lack of distortion. My soundcard can drive my headphones fairly loud without distortion, but it's a thoroughly underwhelming affair.
 
My Cambridge integrated doesn't have enough juice for my AGK701 and Beyer BT880 (250). But it's great with all my Audio Technica stuff. Not sure how hard the Senns are to drive.

 

[yashu]

My NAD gear was utterly aweful with my Grado sr325s, but i wanted to keep it in the room because it made my DT880s, senns, and AKGs sing like wonderful wonderful lovely morning songbirds.
 
To be serious, the original k271s, the one made in austria, was hard to get dialied in on my other equipment, and I used it as a harsh revealing monitor off my Mackie mixer. Connected to my NAD gear, the sound was so good it almost brought a tear to my eye due to that and the song that i had playing at the time. I tested other phones and those were my results above. I was sad it couldn't do anything for grados except make them sound like shrill dog whistles, but in generneral, component audiophile equipment and speakers are subject to the much hated "synergy" more than headphone dedicated stuff. If you imagine the phones as little speakers, then you understand tha synergy rules certainly apply. I kept the NAD setup I own in the bedroom a bit longer to enjoy my k271s longer.
 
Now I have more than just basic production gear and speakers-system gear. I can continue my minimalistic purist approach to speakers, and back in the other room , I can enjoy the geaulty pleasures of headphones and all the modification I can do to their sound and not feel like i am not being true to the recording. The intimacy of how we listen leads us to make the sound our own, since we all have different ears, what is wrong with tuning for them?
 
Check if the reciever is using a resistor to step down the current, or, if it is a separate little stage with some cheap opamp, like a JAxxxx chip. Resistor is what you want to see... this means you are basicall tapping into the main speaker outs. A separate section, there are so many ways for mondern companies to do it wrong these days and put it in as an afterthought. (NAD actually is known for having a fairly good headphone port, and I know Onkyo in the 80s used a resistor. Most probably did until everything moved to being made in china, Not the problem, but just giving a time frame reference)

 

[pp312]

Quote:

I have a $400 Yamaha 5.1 receiver.  Some headphones it handles better than others.  I'm not sure why.  Some of my experiences with it have been counterintuitive.  I wasn't impressed with how it handled my Grados but it handled the 600 ohm T1s just fine.  Go figure.

We don't have to figure long. The general rule is that higher impedance headphones are less affected by the output impedance of various HP jacks. In that sense the Senn HD650 is one of the easier phones to drive and the Grado one of the hardest. The important point here is not the output power of the receiver but the quality of the sound--that is, the brand and model. Most top brands like NAD, Marantz, Rotel etc will sound as good as a mid-price dedicated HP amp, though with HT amps that's less reliable than with the equivalent stereo amps.
 
So you've left out the most important bit of info--the make and model of your receiver. Please fill us in.