Would my home theatre receiver be able to drive Sennheiser HD 650s?
Dec 11, 2016 at 12:43 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 33

Snoochers

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I have an Onkyo TX-NR636 home theatre receiver. I spoke to them on the phone today and I was informed that the headphone jack has an output impedance of 32 ohms and 2.4 volts. My understanding was that you want about a 1:8 ratio of output to headphone impedance. The HD 650s have an impedance of 300, which seems about right in terms of impedance, but I am not sure about the voltage. Would my Onkyo receiver be good enough to push the HD 650s?
 
Dec 11, 2016 at 1:45 AM Post #2 of 33
Im no expert on your specific receiver,however I own a NAD T758 that I use to drive my center and rears only....

For giggles one day I plugged in some of my headphones into the jack just to see what would happen....

It "drove" some of my headphones,but not properly...heck it couldnt even come close to my $99.00 Magni Uber 2 in terms of volume,bass control,sound stage etc...

Unless your receiver is an exception to the rule(and no offense meant at all,I doubt at 400.00usd it is) typically modern receivers cannot drive anything well above the most simple to drive headphones,and the HD650 isnt an excessively easy headphone to drive.

Vintage(pre-1980) receivers are a totally different story,but of course they dont do 7.1/9.1 decoding and all the others bells and whistles that modern receivers have.

Back then all receivers did was play music,and they did it well.Today most modern receiver makers try to cram so much under one chassis that usually the headphone jack is nothing but an afterthought,otherwise the headphone amp market wouldnt be exploding as much as it is.
 
Dec 11, 2016 at 1:51 AM Post #3 of 33
Guess you will just have to plug the 300-Ohm HD650 into the Onkyo's headphone jack and find out.
The Onkyo should drive them decently.
I plug my 250-Ohm and 600-Ohm Beyers into my Yamaha RX-V671 A/V receiver.
 
Dec 11, 2016 at 1:54 AM Post #4 of 33
  Guess you will just have to plug the 300-Ohm HD650 into the Onkyo's headphone jack and find out.
The Onkyo should drive them decently.
I plug my 250-Ohm and 600-Ohm Beyers into my Yamaha RX-V671 A/V receiver.


Oh I have no doubt he will hear music from the Onkyo,but I highly doubt it will be anywhere near good sounding,let alone optimal
 
Dec 11, 2016 at 1:57 AM Post #5 of 33
 
Oh I have no doubt he will hear music from the Onkyo,but I highly doubt it will be anywhere near good sounding,let alone optimal

 
Usually receivers use the same amplifier(s) to drive both the speakers and the headphones and speakers use much bigger diaphragms.
 
Dec 11, 2016 at 1:59 AM Post #6 of 33
   
Usually receivers use the same amplifier(s) to drive both the speakers and the headphones and speakers use much bigger diaphragms.


I maybe mistaken but I thought that most companies stopped doing that years ago.

For reference my Sansui 881 (1974) is my main headphone amp....I drive everything and anything out of that beast.
My 2014 NAD cant push much besides my X1s and my sons Grado 80e
 
Dec 11, 2016 at 2:11 AM Post #7 of 33
This apparently has been argued more than once here

http://www.head-fi.org/t/528400/dedicated-headphone-amp-vs-stereo-receiver
 
Dec 11, 2016 at 2:55 AM Post #8 of 33
  I maybe mistaken but I thought that most companies stopped doing that years ago.

 
I'm not the expert, but I can't see receiver manufacturers increasing manufacturing costs by adding a separate and dedicated headphone amplifier.
 
But I just check the manual for Yamaha's RX-A780 receiver, it claim the headphone jack will work with headphones that are 16-Ohm or greater.
So i guess i have to do more digging on this subject.
 
Dec 11, 2016 at 10:32 AM Post #9 of 33
Hmmm..... unfortunately I'm debating about buying these and I can't simply plug them in to see... I was hoping the information I provided regarding impedance and voltage would be sufficient! If the headphone jack can't push these, then how can I plug them into my avr??
 
Dec 11, 2016 at 11:45 AM Post #10 of 33
Hmmm..... unfortunately I'm debating about buying these and I can't simply plug them in to see... I was hoping the information I provided regarding impedance and voltage would be sufficient! If the headphone jack can't push these, then how can I plug them into my avr??

 
I'm guessing the Onkyo will at least decently drive the HD650.
 
Dec 11, 2016 at 12:15 PM Post #11 of 33
There is a reason this thread has over 1100 pages...were not all just hipsters who want our gear to look retro!

http://www.head-fi.org/t/537704/calling-all-vintage-integrated-receiver-owners

I know at least one member of that thread uses a vintage receiver to drive HD650s,and im assuming most of us over there have modern A/V equipment as well,as do I.The simple fact is that the majority of modern receivers cannot do many headphones justice.

Yes it will work
Yes you will get sound
Yes you might even like what you hear(doubt it)

At the end of the day I dont own your receiver,nor do I own an HD650,so I cannot tell you 100% yes or no,but im pretty close to telling you for 100% certainty it wont sound the way it will sound from a proper headphone amp or an old receiver



 
 
Dec 11, 2016 at 12:20 PM Post #12 of 33
Shouldn't the electrical information I provide make it quite clear regarding whether or not it will drive well? This spreadsheet suggests that the HD640s only require about 2.2 volts.
 
Dec 11, 2016 at 12:34 PM Post #13 of 33
I am not a tech guy who can look at spec sheets and say "yay or nay"

I have limited experience with the HD650.Years back i was debating between an HD600 and 650 and I had a much easier time driving the HD600 than the HD650 with various amps the shop carried,due mainly to that mid bass hump that the 650 has.It mostly sounded muddy without some decent power pushing it,whereas the HD600 didnt struggle at all,so I ended up buying the 600.

The HD600 isnt hard to drive,so by logic either should be the 650,but in my experience with it the bass hump needs more umph behind it for it not to get bogged down.

EDIT: I would try asking in the vintage receiver thread I provided above or the HD650 thread for a more definitive answer.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/197776/sennheiser-hd650-impressions-thread
 
Dec 11, 2016 at 3:37 PM Post #15 of 33
  Shouldn't the electrical information I provide make it quite clear regarding whether or not it will drive well? This spreadsheet suggests that the HD640s only require about 2.2 volts.

 
If you find the Onkyo does not drive the HD650 well enough, what you you budget for a separate DAC and head amp?
What sources are currently feeding audio into the Onkyo?
 

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