Headphone amp question

[fish99]

Hi,

Just wondering how important a headphone amp is for Grado phones. I've just ordered Grado SR80s, which are my first quality headphones. They are going to be used with a variety of devices including my PC, an MP3 player and eventually with a quality CD Player. So how badly will an amp be needed in those cases and how much will it improve the sound?

Also can anyone recommend a budget headphone amp to go with them? Super-fi have the Project Headbox Mk2 amp for £75, which is the sort of money I was aiming to pay, certainly no more than £120.

Cheers,
Simon

[alexs2]

You could do a search here for headphone amps,which will turn up quite a few in your price range,and more if you will accpet used/ex-dem.

The Creek comes in at the top of your range,but you should also be able to find used MF X-cans at around that level,as well as some others.

Also have a look at www.head-fi.org which although US based,will give you an idea of what exactly is out there.

[eviljohn2]

Why not try the BK Electronics HPA1? I think you'll struggle to find a better entry-level headphone amp and it's portable too.

[fish99]

Cheers lads, think I've found something.

[fish99]

Actually, a thought just occurred - plenty of regular hi-fi amps have headphone sockets, like Marantz PM4400 or Denon PMA225. Will the output from these headphone sockets be amplified, and how would it compare in terms of quality to the output from something like the MF X-Cans? My guess is it wouldn't be as good, but would it be somewhere near?

It's just that I'm also thinking of building a budget hi-fi seperates system, and if I could get a single amp to power both speakers and headphones, I can save some money.

[alexs2]

Originally Posted by fish99

Actually, a thought just occurred - plenty of regular hi-fi amps have headphone sockets, like Marantz PM4400 or Denon PMA225. Will the output from these headphone sockets be amplified, and how would it compare in terms of quality to the output from something like the MF X-Cans? My guess is it wouldn't be as good, but would it be somewhere near?

Generally it won't be as good,and how close it comes depends a lot on your 'phones,your ears and your expectations.

As a start,and sparing the expense of a good h/p amp,it can be a useful beginning,but it won't compare with even a £100 dedicated amp.

[fish99]

Okeydokey. Well there's a couple of MF X-Cans on ebay, one of which I'm the current highest bidder for @£50, so if I can get one of those for a reasonable amount (I suppose if they're £130 brand new then £70-80 would be a fair amount to pay) then I'll be sorted. Suppose some millionaire will outbid me though

[NicolasB]

You'd have got much better sound by spending £200 on headphones than you will from spending £80 on headphones and £120 on a headphone amp.

Still, I guess you're committed now. You might try a Rega Ear - my father used to have one of those, and reckoned it was good value at the price.

[fish99]

£200 headphones with no amp? Everyone is always saying you'll never get the best from high quality headphones without a quality headphone amp. The number of times I've read comments by someone who had great cans who said an amp made them far better.

Anyway, hopefully it'll be more like £80 on the headphones and £50 on the amp.

[NicolasB]

£200 headphones + £300 amp will very likely sound better than £200 headphones alone - the fact that I use a headphone amp that retails at well over £400 together with my Sennheiser HD650 'phones is not mere snobbery, there's a reason for it. But £200 headphones, even without an amp, will probably still sound better than £80 headphones + a £120 amp.

This will depend on what piece of non-dedicated hardware you're using to drive the 'phones, of course.

[fish99]

Ok, but remember if I get that X-Can for £50 I'll only have spent £130 And I suspect some of my devices, like my MP3 player won't have the power to drive decent phones at all.

Point taken though. Oh well, I'm sure it'll still sound great to me.

[Steve.J.Davies]

FWIW
I have had the Grado 80's running off the Creek headphone amp for some time now.
Sound good to me and have found no reason to change them.

[NicolasB]

Originally Posted by fish99

Ok, but remember if I get that X-Can for £50 I'll only have spent £130 And I suspect some of my devices, like my MP3 player won't have the power to drive decent phones at all.

Point taken though. Oh well, I'm sure it'll still sound great to me.

Well, it's certainly true that you can have problems with driving (say) high-end Sennheiser 'phones directly off anything that is designed to run off batteries: they do need a bit of "oomph".

Grado SR60 and SR80 'phones tend not to need a headphone amp as much as some higher-end ones, though.

If you do end up buying an X-Cans for £50 then a) well done, as they used to sell for £250 new, and b) you should look into replacing the valves with some decent ones. My father also owns an X-Cans V2, and was pleasantly surprised by how much difference changing the valves made.

[fish99]

Originally Posted by Steve.J.Davies

FWIW
I have had the Grado 80's running off the Creek headphone amp for some time now.
Sound good to me and have found no reason to change them.

Could you tell me maybe what you feel the amp does for the sound and what devices you use the amp + phones with?

Cheers,
Simon.

[Reano]

Originally Posted by fish99

Could you tell me maybe what you feel the amp does for the sound and what devices you use the amp + phones with?

Cheers,
Simon.

Mate go with the project headphones they will work well with the grado I have used that exact combination before,

Here are the amps I have had or still do, etc Creek11se, musical fidelity X-Can v3, Project Headbox, Graham Slee Solo v4, Sugden Headmax, Grace m902 and countless amp/CD headphone outs

In my opinion based on listening to Jazz, R&B and classics through Grado RS1 and Senn HD 650 with Stefan cable. Sound quality is in this order

CD/AMP out, Creek 11se, MF X-CAN v3, Project Headbox, Graham Slee, Sugden and then Grace. I also take into account practicality, build, sound and looks. The headbox is good enough for the Grado 80 and at the price is very good value.