I am in the process of selling off my main/big system as we speak and am concentrating on my phono based headphone system as my only source of receiving my tunes. This system is tube based and I am using a couple of carts that dip down to .24mv output which puts more of a strain on tube based phono stages, am getting great results with two of the three tube phonos with one being all tube and one tube with a built in SUT. With your Pass being solid state I don't see any issues for you and you should be able to listen without any annoying noise generated from your phono. Enjoy the music |
Thanks, do you have any suggestions for headphone/amp combos that work well with vinyl? |
There's really no difference listening between digital and analog with headphones. A source is a source and the amp and headphones (if they're decent) will deliver whatever comes from the source.
What's your budget?
Do you currently have speakers? What do you like most about them? That would help in terms of pointing you towards a specific sound signature, do you like things really neutral, a little warm, or do you prefer more "analytical"? Are you a basshead, a midrange freak?
Other things to consider are comfort and build, open or closed back (will you be listening around other people?) and sensitivity matching the headphones to the amp.
Why the preference for tubes? If you want quiet, in general solid state will be more quiet, but there are some quiet tube headphone amps out there. |
@tyan42, don't get me started. Like everything else audio, do your DD and follow the sound. enjoy the music |
I use a Woo WA5 and a WA22 headphone amp. The WA5 is awesome, and mates well with my Manley Chinook and VPI Prime, and works amazing as an integrated amp too. Every headphone I own sound amazing on it.
The WA22 is great as a headphone only amp but it needs a balanced source and balanced headphone cables.
No noise issues with either one. |
I suppose my budget is flexible, but I’d like to spend no more than 2K on both amp and headphones. I like the tube sound as I use a VAC and Harbeth monitors. I’m flexible though, but I’ve always preferred tubes. |
You owe it to yourself to try a Stax setup. Not cheap--especially good tube options--and could be too revealing of surface noise. But the immersive clarity can't be beat. True, digital sounds great--better than on speakers--but vinyl is even more beguiling. |
The only tubed headphone amp I've owned is the one in my preamp, so I won't make any recommendations there, other than to say I would give the Schiit Mjolnir 2 some consideration. I owned the first one and it did a lot of things right.
If you like the Harbeth sound, you might like Hifiman, Audeze, or Sony MDR-Z1R headphones. They are all close to neutral with nice detail, good mids, and maybe a little on the "warm" side.
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Echo Audio in Portland has a pair of Sennheiser HD 800 headphones for sale for 700 bucks. They won't last long. There are more analytical than Harbeth speakers but are very nice headphones and very comfortable. |
Blue Hawaii SE with Philips metal base EL34 + Stax 007 mkI
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Doing some research spending the money on the headphones themselves seems to be what most do. Considering I already am using a phono stage which will be doing most of my amplifying, I can get by with a cheaper option headphone amp. |
With your budget at $2,000.00 you could get the Yamamoto HA-2 headphone amp direct from Yamamoto and a pair of Audeze LCD2F headphones and live happily ever after, if you buy the headphones on the used market you will have enough left over for a set of the Moon Audio Silver Dragon cables and still wind up under budget. Enjoy the music |
Your phono stage has nothing to do with amplifying your headphones. Don't underestimate the importance of the headphone amp. An affordable set of headphones like Focal Elex or even $200 Sennheiser HD6XX with a good amp can sound a lot better than more expensive headphones with a cheap grainy amp. |
Schitt headphone amps have a pretty good reputation and value for money. I was thinking of pairing them with something like one of the better Audeze or Hifiman headphones. |
