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Nad M33 vs Hegel H390... old question with a bit of a twist (ethernet and headphones)

Hi, This is my first post and I am a relative audio amateur.
Here goes: I want to buy an integrated amp/streamer that has amazing sound and depth for mostly alt.indie and some alt.country and occasionally opera. Both of these amps seem to qualify *but* I want to run the system from an entirely *wired network*. Basically we are an ethernet only household and do not use wi-fi or bluetooth (except to sync watches etc). I can plug my iPad and phone into the network so using an app like BluOs is no problem.
Second, I do listen to headphones often. Just to be polite in the house... so even though I am leaning towards the Hegel H390, wondering how I would get around the lack of a headphone jack. When not listening to headphones, will be using the KLH model 5 speakers for now. Upgrades in the future.
So, the Hegel H390 qualifies on the wired front, but might not work on the headphone front. Many reports on this site express a preference for the H390 but nobody mentions the headphone problem.
The NAD M33 looks like you could just not install the wi-fi and bluetooth antennas and use ethernet into the BluOS. Then I can use the BluOS app on my ios devices. But would want to make sure that the wi-fi and bluetooth are actually switched off in the unit. And would I get the sound that I am hoping for...
If anyone has insights, please comment.
128x128atanarjuat99

Showing 2 responses by yyzsantabarbara

yyzsantabarbara
4,570 posts
 
@atanarjuat99 I have the same issue with my wired integrated amp which is the amazing sounding KRELL K-300i. It is wired streamed using CAT5. I am thinking of getting the ETHERegen to help out with the wired streaming or maybe just sell the unit since it is really redundant for me now.

Whatever the case I need a headphone amp in the same room as the KRELL for my Meze Empy. This is not a demanding headphone and I have used the $400 Topping A90 with good results. I gave that away so I am now looking at the Headamp GS-X mini ($1700) or the Broadway S ($1500) or the Broadway ($2300). You can get some excellent headphone amps for around $500. I may go back to the Topping A90.

The way I will get around the integrated not having a headphone amp is to use both the RCA and XLR outputs from my sources at the same time to connect to the headphone amp and also to my KRELL K-300i integrated. You cannot do this with all components, such as my AudioMirror Tubadour DAC but I can with my Magnum Dynalab tuner, Gustard X26 Pro Dac, and Benchmark DAC3B. I also need 15 foot XLR cables to connect to my integrated which is far from my rack. I use the very good Benchmark XLR that are low cost. I keep the RCA short.

You will get better headphone sound with the dedicated headphone amp instead of a throw-in headphone amp in an integrated.
yyzsantabarbara
4,570 posts
 
@atanarjuat99 Congrats on the Hegel. I was asking the same question at Head-fi.com then realized I do not want to connect the headphone amp to the integrated because of the volume control in both. 

This is what I would do in your  situation. Buy a cheap DAC around $200 (since using with only TV) and get 15 feet of optical cable (amazon). Hook up the DAC to your existing headphone amp and then snake that optical from the TV to your DAC. I have about 10 -15 feet of optical running from a computer to my DAC and it works well. I use it for TV sound when I watch streaming sports.
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