Some stereo preamps and integrated amps have headphone amps built in and some don’t (separate amps don’t have headphone jacks), so you could’ve bought an integrated amp without a built-in headphone amp and still been in the same position you’re in now. Generally speaking, headphone amps built into preamps and integrated amps are not very high quality, underpowered, and often just an afterthought, so if you’re at all concerned with performance and/or have good headphones you’ll likely want a separate headphone amp. Hope this helps.
Showing 2 responses by soix
Yeah, as @ghdprentice mentioned you need a dedicated headphone amp you can feed from your preamp. If you share your budget, what sound characteristics you’re looking for, and what headphones you’ll be using you’ll get some very helpful recommendations here. |