Many Questions Need Help


Ok, first and foremost i like headphones first, then speaker listening.  Let's assume i own nothing at this moment.  I have 3 options to achieve where i want to get to.  I want something that will drive my HD 650 headphones and drive some easy-to-drive speakers, this is the end goal, i did fail to mention it needs to be tubes.  My budget for this not counting speakers, is going to be $1000.

 

1.  Headphone amp that can be used as a preamp also, problem here is not a ton of choices, Little Dot Mark 2, is not a great preamp, but Little Dot Mark 3, works as a preamp, butt ugly amp IMO.  This route only needs a decent amp and use the headphone amp as a preamp.

 

2. Get a tube preamp and a good integrated amp with a headphone jack, the problem with this approach is finding an integrated amp with a good headphone jack is not easy, most amps make the headphone jack any good.  Emotiva A2M has a very good headphone jack and speaker hookup, this is an option.

 

3  Last one but a more expensive way, but a good headphone amp, and a separate amp and tube preamp.

 

All ideas and feedback are welcome.

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Showing 2 responses by ghdprentice

You have a challenging question.

 

First, integrated amps tend to have terrible headphone jacks. They are afterthought features… often even on very expensive ones. 
 

Sennheiser HD 650 headphones require a lot of power to sound great… so definitely a separate headphone amp. But headphone amps vary wildly in current. To get the current some of my headphones need required me import an amp from Germany a number of years ago. 
 

The Red Dot amps I have seen and heard are very low powered amps and are not good matches for Sennheiser. 
 

Since you like headphones the most, I recommend you concentrate all your effort and funds to creating that system first. If you want the finest sound for the money then it is as much research and effort that a main system will require. 
 

I have owned a dozen headphone amps over the last fifteen years or so. The very best in my opinion is Woo. 
 

Sennheiser, Denon, and many others tend to be hard to drive… but extremely good sounding.

 

Focal and UltraSonde and some others tend to be very easy to drive. 
 

Hopefully this is helpful. My systems are shown under my user ID.