Heaphone amps

[Phil Lawton]

Idly considering buying a headphone amp.

I don't do a lot of headphone listening generally, only resorting to it either when a) my other half is engrossed in some televisual extravaganza which is outside my scope of excitement/interest or b) it's approaching the witching hour and I don't want to annoy the neighbours.

Whilst my Marantz performs faultlessly and effortlessly with 'phones output, I've read lots of good thing recently about the difference in quality gleaned from dedicated headphone amps.

What should I be looking for as an affordable-but-not-crap-entry-level-but-worth-the-effort/expense-try-it-out piece of hardware?

[CageyH]

I like my Graham Slee Solo Ultra Linear, but for the price, I think a Schitt Magni 3 will be hard to beat.

[CageyH]

Out of interest, what are the headphones?

[archiesdad]

I have a Lehmann h/amp rhinelander, base model but pretty good.

[Phil Lawton]

I like my Graham Slee Solo Ultra Linear, but for the price, I think a Schitt Magni 3 will be hard to beat.

Ooh…I’d forgotten the Slee models…I use Graham’s Reflex M phono stage, which is devastatingly impressive.

I’ll investigate

[Phil Lawton]

Out of interest, what are the headphones?

Sennheiser monitor headphones. They’re intended for studio use, which is exactly why I have them, but they double up as hifi ‘phones on the odd occasion I need them.

Very, very comfortable…I can pull late nights in the studio and forget I’m wearing them.

[Phil Lawton]

I have a Lehmann h/amp rhinelander, base model but pretty good.

Noted…I’ll check that out.

[Phil Lawton]

Any thumbs up for the valve-based examples, such as the Little Dot?

[Lawrence001]

I've got about 14 headphone amps, roughly half valve half SS. I recommend valve OTL amps for high impedance headphones, the little dot MkIII and MkIVSE are good but I sold mine and upgraded to Eufonika (I have several now). The Rega Ear is very nice if you prefer a warmer sound, I much prefer it to both the Graham Slee Solo Ultra Linear Diamond and the original version I owned before.

What model are the Sennies? They nearly all have a HD number except the momentums AFAIK.

[Phil Lawton]

That was a quick conclusion - just bought a Slee Novo from eBay.

Can always sell it on if I find I’m not enamoured.

[Phil Lawton]

What model are the Sennies? They nearly all have a HD number except the momentums AFAIK.

HD 280 Pro.

[oldson]

https://diyah.boards.net/

always found this forum great for headphone related advice

[oldson]

i had the 280 pro for many years until they finally fell apart (they were abused though).
now i have a bit of a collection of headphones.
imo, unless you have a (young) critical ear, you will not notice too much improvement by using a dedicated hp amp with the 280.
i think its more a requirement to have a dedicated headphone amp if your hp's are high impedence or something like planar magnetic.
for occasional use like yours, your most likely fine with what you have already. just my opinion of course.

[Lawrence001]

I think that's true in terms of power, but different amps have a different tonality so they can still sound better (although if you use a laptop for a source, you can EQ in the software and it's much cheaper).

An OTL valve amp wouldn't work very well with these so it's a good job you didn't buy one of them.

[diviy]

I use a MF Xcan amp changed the valves and a rock grotto power supply very nice to my ears and not stupid money
.