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Headphone amp as pre amp

Hej

I'm considering to buy a tube pre amp and a tube power amp. Then I realized that my headphone amp, Feliks Audio Elise, has line out and should work as a pre amp. But what are the draw backs compared buying a pre amp?
http://feliksaudio.pl/en/products.php

Any suggestions of tube power amp, with EL84 or EL34 tubes. It has to be a Push-Pull as my speakers ar at 89dB sensibility. And if you have suggestions of a pre amp too I would be grateful.
Budget is aprox $4500 for both.

simna
ndevamp
55 posts
 
Using a headphone amp as a line preamp should present no problems and could make the circuit work better anyway. Since the load impedance of the headphone is removed for use as a line stage it’s circuit should then work with lower distortion.
For poweramps, try the classic Music Reference RM-10. It’s a powerful little push pull EL84 poweramp offering around 35w, that should drive 89dB speakers to reasonable levels.
avanti1960
1,500 posts
 
It can work well but is one line input sufficient?  

I am currently using a rogue audio RH-5 headphone amp / linestage preamp even though I have no interest in headphones.  It sounds amazing and has (4) inputs.  
mesch
3,527 posts
 
The Felixaudio headphone amp sure looks like a fine product. Have no experience with it. Only drawback I can see is that it only has a single input. On the web site you provided I did not find what the output impedance was, which would help in matching it to a amplifier. I would give it a try and purchase an amplifier. 
sckeaton's avatar
sckeaton
1 posts
 
The Bob Latino amps are excellent.
simna OP
165 posts
 
I send Feliks Audio a mail and this is their answer: "Yes it can work as a very good pre-amp, without any draw backs. It’s going to add the tube signature of Elise to any signal that you pass through it."

And yes, the drawback is just one line in.

The Music Reference RM-10 looks nice, but will 35w not be a little to hard on the EL84 tubes?

About ST-70 Bob Latino; Anyone know why keeping the input at the front? Nostalgia? It's just stupid. 


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