Headphone amps in audio amps a largely an afterthought and really bad. You have nice headphones, so don’t starve them with an insufficient amp. This is a good one IMHO.
Preamp headphone amplifier
I just purchased a set of Sennheiser HD650 headphones and to start will be driving them with my Mark Levinson no.526 preamp built in headphone amplifier. Does anyone have experience with this or similar headphone amp and is it a good headphone amp or should I look into a dedicated headphone amp?
Thank you.
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I have a pair of Seinhauser HD 600 which are my go to headphones, and have owned the HD 660's, and love them both balanced, with my Hybrid tubed Schiit Mjolnir 2 headphone amp. I have been having fun with tube rolling with this amp. This Headphone Amp/Preamp amplifier has been discontinued but you may find one used at a reasonable price. I see that they now have the Mjolnir 3, which is solid state, but I don't have any experience with this new offering. The size of this unit may also be an issue (it's quite large!). |
@soix + 1 - and even if the built-in one is not 'really bad', it would likely still be noticeably inferior to a relatively inexpensive but good separate headphone amp, so I would suggest looking into one. |
So I received my Sennhieser HD650 headphones and man they sound fantastic just after a couple hours playing. Using the built in headphone amp in my Mark Levinson no.526 preamp and its no slouch. Needs a bit more power but very good and the heaphones aren’t even broke in yet. I have a dedicated Feliks Audio Echo MkII tube headphone amp on the way, i cant wait! I hear it pairs will with the Sennhiesers and is a great amp. |
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