Integrated amp w/decent headphone out under $5k
Could use some help picking an integrated amp. Current Eastern Electric M520 24W EL34 doing a nice job driving my 95db efficient Omega CAMs. Would like to get to next level of tone and refinement and also drive my Hifiman HE1000 Stealth headphones (supposed to be easy to drive). Tried a SET separate but missed the bass definition and dynamics so I think I want to stay push/pull or warmer sounding solid state or hybrid. 10-25 watts should be plenty. Current leading candidate is LTA Z10… anything else I should look at?
@ghdprentice Exactly! I tried out a PS Audio BHK preamp thinking I could get both; impressed by the preamp, headphone out was thin and fatiguing - even though the reviews said it was good… LTA appears so far to be an exception from what I can see. Trying to simplify my system, but as a wise man once said “everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler”! I will check Woo however, just in case. |
For headphone listening I'd go with an amp designed as a headphone amp. Frankly, for many integrated speaker amps the headphone circuit is an afterthought. I'm quite fond of the Schiit headphone amps. While my Sundara phones aren't as fancy as yours, I'm listening to them while I type this response, using the just recently released Schiit Midgard headphone amp with their new "Halo" circuit that incudes the headphone drivers in the amp's feedback circuit. Have to say I'm impressed. And the price is a near giveaway. Schiit has a number of fancier models. And Hifiman has a number of their own dedicated headphone amps for you to consider. |
