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I’m lost. Help me find my way

I’m adding a headphone setup to my all McIntosh system. It’s shown in the virtual systems section. In short, it’s a HT system and the processor/preamp doesn’t have a headphone jack. 
My local dealer, who I have worked with since 1977, is recommending the McIntosh MHA200 amp and the Grado RS1x HP’s. I’m a Mac guy all the way since my first real system back in 70’s. I know nothing about Grado although everything I’ve seen gives them high marks. I respect and trust my dealer and will probably go with it unless I find the Grado phones uncomfortable or poor sounding after trying them. 
But I would welcome any first hand knowledge of either of these products. Thanks in advance. 

jfrost27
tarayfield's avatar
tarayfield
4 posts
 

The Mac HP amp will not disappoint. Definitely audition a number of headphones, not only for SQ but for wearing comfort. Personal experience with the Grado Signature cans lead me elsewhere; they were not comfortable to wear for longer listening sessions. I ultimately opted for the Sennheiser HD800S. Very comfortable and the most open “out of head” soundstage of the “audiophile approved” headphones. The top Dan Clark Audio cans were also outstanding but a bit out of my price range. Have fun auditioning!

brauser
531 posts
 

AudioQuest Night Owl headphones. No physical or listening fatigue. May be worth an audition.

jfrost27 OP
41 posts
 

@tarayfield 

@brauser 

Thanks for the tips. I am auditioning the Grado line tomorrow. If not happy I will try the Sennheiser and Audioquest  recommendations. The trick will be finding locations for that. Not many hifi dealers here in Milwaukee, WI anymore. 

tarayfield's avatar
tarayfield
4 posts
 

Agreed, finding local dealers that stock and demo can be tough. Crutchfield could be a good option…

goofyfoot's avatar
goofyfoot
1,460 posts
 

So let me tell you what I did. I keep having panel issues with my Quad ESL's and was getting tired of only having one speaker while the other one went out for repairs. First off, for $300.00 I had my speaker tech make me a pair of headphones on his 3-D printer using the Aurorus Borealis driver. I did some pad swapping and can say that these headphones are much better sounding than what I expected. I also ordered a Grave Digger cable and that was a wonderful experience in itself. So I have my ASR Emitter II Exclusive amp with no headphone jack. I started looking at headphone amps and came to understand, that if I ran RCA inner-connect cables from the Tape Outs on my ASR Power Amp to a modest headphone amp, that a large majority of the signal would be coming from the ASR. In theory, a straight wire from the Tape Outs to a Headphone Jack is all that I needed. I just wasn't sure what type of headphone amp to buy since I didn't want to spend very much money. Anyway, after some comparisons online I found a preowned Schiit Lyr 3 and bought that. A $28,000 power amp and a $300.00 headphone amp, that's crazy. Well crazy or otherwise, I bought a Lin Lai Elite 6SN7 and an Akiko Tuning Stick for the Schiit and can say that I have no objections. Its obvious that the majority of what I'm hearing is from my ASR power amp but I'm also hearing character from the Lin Lai 6SN7. If you have Tape Outs on the back of your power amp, I'd suggest using them.

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