Suggestions for Headphones and possibly Headphone amp

[kininigin]

I have recently moved in with my partner, which has meant my Hi-Fi has gone into storage :(. We are currently looking for a new home together, which will have a dedicated listening room but this could be quite awhile away before this happens!

So in the mean time, i'm thinking of getting some headphones ( i did have a pair of Grado 125's but god knows where they have gone :scratch: ) and maybe an amp if needed.

I will be listening to vinyl through my modded Technics. I have a couple of options amp wise. Option 1 is to use a Technics VC-4 and use the headphone output from that. I have no idea of the quality of this amp as i haven't used it yet! I think it's from the 80's but that's all i know about it. I bought it from a customer while i was working, with the intention of a second system which never happened. Option 2 is to use my Croft and also get a headphone amp.

So with a budget of say £2-300 would i be better off getting a set of HP and using the Technics VC-4? Or using the Croft and splitting the budget between HP and HP amp?

I mostly listen to Electronica/Dub/funk/Afrobeat/Hip-Hop with a smaller dose of rock/indie/acoustic.

So what way would you recommend and what HP and HP amp would suit budget and musical tastes?

[Sherwood]

Recently bought these on special Amazon deal https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NTPNGF4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Extremely pleased with them. Much better than my old Grados.

Geoff

[kininigin]

Recently bought these on special Amazon deal https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NTPNGF4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Extremely pleased with them. Much better than my old Grados.

Geoff

They look interesting, do you run them off a headphone amp? Which Grado's did they replace?

[Sherwood]

They look interesting, do you run them off a headphone amp? Which Grado's did they replace?

Run them off a Beresford Caiman SEG DAC. Grado 80s.

Geoff

[kininigin]

Run them off a Beresford Caiman SEG DAC. Grado 80s.

Geoff

Ahh ok, do you think when spending this sort of money on headphones that they need a separate headphone amp?

[Sherwood]

Ahh ok, do you think when spending this sort of money on headphones that they need a separate headphone amp?

The Beresford has an excellent headphone amp with adjustable gain. Yes, all good headphones benefit from a good headphone amp but there are plenty of inexpensive ones around.

[wee tee cee]

A SEG and maybe a pair of superlux cans 668b/330/440/660 depending what you want ie closed/open/semi open.

The THOMMAN site also sell velvet replacement pads-much comfier and sonically better than the pleather.

Have a read on head fi they are proper giant killers.

The SEG is superb as a HPA -adjustable gain is really handy.

If you get into cans add a Cappella later on

[wee tee cee]

OOPs reread the post....

Capella with the croft for phono section would be my preference-great HPA and Stan does an upgraded version.

[kininigin]

A SEG and maybe a pair of superlux cans 668b/330/440/660 depending what you want ie closed/open/semi open.

The THOMMAN site also sell velvet replacement pads-much comfier and sonically better than the pleather.

Have a read on head fi they are proper giant killers.

The SEG is superb as a HPA -adjustable gain is really handy.

If you get into cans add a Cappella later on

I did have a read about the Superlux and was intrigued enough to order a pair! Thanks for the heads up Tony. For the price of a couple of rounds of pints, i'm not going to be losing much if i don't like them. Next step will be to contact Stan about the Cappella as he always makes great products and it's at the right region price wise!

I have actually manage to get my speakers in the living room but it's not ideal soundwise by a long way! They have to go into corners and there is massive bass boom, even when taking the bass down 4db on the speakers! So headphones and amp still needed for more serious listening and speakers for background duty.