daytona, I hadn't heard of astell and kern before, and after looking at their website, I'm not sure what you're proposing. Headphones are not part of my listening, except while traveling with a laptop and stuck bored in a motel room.

has a optical dac input for your tv , preamp for volume etc etc + headphones if required + portable for laptop in a motel



http://www.scottnangle.co.uk/page_27.html