2. amps-preamps
  3. 1370481999

Preamp for headphone use

First of all, I am a newbie who knows just enough to get myself in trouble.

I recently purchased a set of Sennheiser HD 800 headphones. The wife doesn't care for "loud" music, so for now I want to pursue the audiophile hobby via cans. I wish to drastically upgrade my gear here, and am looking for suggestions.

Does anyone have any strong recommendations regarding a preamp with a superior headphone output section? I must admit I have a soft spot for McIntosh, and have contemplated their C2300 preamp. I like the "tube sound" and for whatever reason I find their gear attractive. I'm open to any suggestions though. Almost 100% of my listening to music is via vinyl records.

I'm currently using an Integra line of Onkyo as my "reciever", I wish to upgrade from Old Milwaukee. Thanks in advice for any thoughts!
brad34695
rdavwhitaker
173 posts
 
If your budget will accommodate things like McIntosh equipment, perhaps it has room for you to consider getting a dedicated headphone amp that you can either pair with a good preamp or even, in the short run, plug into the tape monitor output of your receiver. The tricky part is that HD 800s are supposed to be sort of hard to drive, so I'm not sure what headphone amp to suggest. Schiit (pronounced just like you'd think -- if you go to their website you'll see they have a pronounced sense of humor) offers a range of excellent headphone amps for different applications -- you might call them and ask which one they would recommend for the 800s. I have a pair of the 700s paired with the Schiit Valhalla and the combination works beautifully.

Other possibilities that come immediately to mind include Fosgate's new headphone amp, which is supposed to be exemplary, and Bryston's, which is supposed to be able to handle any load and has outputs for both balanced and single-ended connections.

Others might be able to offer up their specific experience with the 800s and a particular headphone amp.
rlwainwright
1,904 posts
 
Go to http://www.head-fi.org/ , you'll get TONS of options and opinions...

-RW-
mik971
153 posts
 
I think a small but noticable upgrade from "Old Milwaukee" would be "Meister Brau"...
theduke
372 posts
 
I think the opposite. "Old Milwaukee" is a step up from "Meister Brau".
As for preamps with a quality headphone section, find a Audible Illusions L1 linestage.
donjr
1,335 posts
 
I'll second a Schiit headphone amp. I have the Lyr and it has no problem with AKG 702's. Another avenue would be the Cary SLI-80 which is very popular with headphone fans and also is a great integrated to run speakers with. You get the beautiful glowing tubes that you can use with speakers when your wife is not home. Some people buy the Cary strictly to use as a headphone amp. It's a beautiful looking tube integrated IMHO. In most cases, the headphone aspect of anything but a dedicated headphone amp is an after thought. From what I've read that's not the case with the Cary. They appear used occasionally on this website.
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