Can I hook up a headphone amp to my integrated?

I took a look at the descriptions and specs on the GS-X, WA7 (although only the Fireflies version seems to be listed currently, that version including a DAC), and the LCD-3.

The GS-X seems quite promising, although I have no knowledge of its sonic quality. And, yes, it provides all of the functionality you would require, so you wouldn’t need a switchbox or splitters or y-adapters. You would connect the Manley to its RCA input, and you could connect the CD player to its XLR input via a simple RCA-to-XLR adapter. You could then connect its preamp output to the pre-in of the LM (which would utilize the LM just as a power amp), or alternatively you could connect its loop output to a line-in on the LM (choosing between those alternatives based on whichever sounds best). With the first alternative, though, you would have to have the headphone amp powered up in order to listen via speakers; I’m not certain but I suspect that wouldn’t be necessary with the second alternative (i.e., using the loop output).

The WA7 Fireflies doesn’t provide that kind of functionality, as you realize. And I’d also have some concern that its output power rating is spec’d at 1 watt into 32 ohms, which **might** mean that it can only deliver significantly less than 1 watt into the 110 ohm impedance of the LCD-3, for which amplifier power of 1 to 4 watts is recommended as being optimal.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al

Thanks Al. I didn't realize the GS-X was $2800. Saw $699 but that was only for 1/4?  Odd way to advertise. Would you do me a favor?  Can you look at the specs for the Woo Audio WA-2 and WA-22?  Those seem to also be preamps with headphone output and 4 line in inputs and cheaper than HeadAmp. Wondering your thoughts on those.  

Both the WA2 and the WA22 have very high 100K input impedances, so in that respect they would be good candidates for approaches 3 and 4 that I had defined. As you’ve most likely seen, the WA2 also provides switching among multiple unbalanced sources, so it would be suitable for approach 4 (no switchbox). I’m not sure that the WA22 would be suitable for approach 4, because it’s not clear if the selection it provides between its unbalanced input and its balanced input keeps those inputs fully independent (i.e., conceivably it may connect the signal on the RCA input directly to one of the two signal pins on the XLR connector, and just ground the other signal pin on the XLR connector when the RCA input is selected. Meaning that the unit may have been designed with the expectation that only one of the inputs would be connected).

Also, you would not be taking full advantage of the WA22’s balanced configuration, since your sources just provide unbalanced outputs. Unless, that is, you used a suitably chosen Jensen transformer (approximately $300) to convert the output of one of your sources (presumably phono) to a true balanced signal pair.

The one slight reservation I have about the WA2 is that the specs in its manual indicate that its power capability into 120 ohms (that being close to the 110 ohm impedance of the LCD-3) is 550 mw (0.55 watts), which falls short of the 1 to 4 watt rating that is stated as being "optimal" for the LCD-3. Although that isn’t a big shortfall, as 550 mw amounts to only about 2.6 db less than 1 watt. But it could conceivably be an issue on material having particularly wide dynamic range, such as some well engineered classical symphonic recordings. The WA22 is fine in that respect, btw (1600 mw into 120 ohms).

Hope that helps. Regards,
-- Al

Someone at work told me I could get a splitter and put on my phono stage output and run one set of interconnects to the integrated amp, and another to a headphone amp. Sounds like that might work, but not sure how much that might degrade the overall sound?

Yes, Mike, that was my approach no. 4, with splitters on the outputs of both the CD player and the phono stage. Given that both of those components have low output impedances, and given that both your integrated amp and the WA2 have very high input impedances, and given that the lengths of the cables that would be involved are not unusually long, I suspect it won’t degrade the sound at all.

My belief has long been that the bad rap splitters and y-adapters sometimes seem to get is not due to the splitters or y-adapters themselves, but in most cases to impedance issues and cable driving issues. In other words, to the inability of the component whose output is being split to drive both sets of cables and both destination components with good results. Neither of those factors will be a problem in this case.

Also, I would recommend this particular splitter.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al