[neil27]

I was wondering what the best headphone amp would be for around £20 - £30. just looking for something decent that sounds warm and clean.

Also.. i will be attaching this to a cambridge audio a3i amp.. would i connect a headphone amp to the tape out outputs?

Thanks

[tudj]

I don't think you have much choice in that price range, the FiiO E5 has had good reviews and is £20

You might be better off trying to find an amp used, but even at that price you'd be hard pushed.

I would also wonder if headphone amps at this price range are any better than the output of a hifi amp.

[neil27]

Im not looking for anything too great.. im mainly getting it because my amplifier doesnt have a headphone output, and i wanted to add one.

Thanks.. that E5 looks quite nice.. and i could use it with my mp3 player aswell. could i leave it plugged into a usbport for constant power?

[bigtings]

the Fiio E5 is good i have one ..but i recently purchased a amb mini3 for £60...there was a big difference . but as they say you get what you pay for..try to up your budget a bit more, and get a second hand portable amp...

[neil27]

Well im not looking for a portable amp to be honest. i want it to be plugged into my cambridge audio amp that doesnt have a headphone output.

[denniswaugh]

Hi,

The B-Tech 928 will do the job and can be had for around £30 from here:

Analogue Seduction.

[neil27]

Originally Posted by denniswaugh

Hi,

The B-Tech 928 will do the job and can be had for around £30 from here:

Analogue Seduction.

That amp looks great. might go for it... one thing though. im new to headphone amps.. how do i conect it to my main amplifier. tape out? and will this mute the speakers conected?

[neil27]

basicly .. if i press the mute button on my intergrated amp (cambridge a3i) will it mute the tape out if the headphone amp is connected?


Thanks for any replies on this!

[Steven]

Not sure why you expect a significant change in sound quality with a £30 budget - all you are getting is a bog standard amp. I've said many a time its source > headphones > quality of recording > amp > interconnects

I base that opinion on owning a RSA Tomahawk and having a demo of a GS Novo for 2 weeks. At that budget the headphones are merely drawing out the inherent good qualities in the source and headphones and adding that sparkle

I take it you mean everything out of a receiver, and not speakers out of a headphone amp... in which case there should not be any conflict because they on separate outputs so are independent

[neil27]

Originally Posted by LFC_SL

Not sure why you expect a significant change in sound quality with a £30 budget - all you are getting is a bog standard amp. I've said many a time its source > headphones > quality of recording > amp > interconnects

I base that opinion on owning a RSA Tomahawk and having a demo of a GS Novo for 2 weeks. At that budget the headphones are merely drawing out the inherent good qualities in the source and headphones and adding that sparkle

I take it you mean everything out of a receiver, and not speakers out of a headphone amp... in which case there should not be any conflict because they on separate outputs so are independent

I did not expect anything amazing.. i just wanted an ok headphone output for my amplifier that doesnt have one.

So, are you saying that if i press mute on my intergrtated amp, the tape out will still be active and only the speaker stage would be muted?

[neil27]

Hi,

Thanks for everyone who replyed.. i understand how im going to hook up a headphone amp.

Just wanted to ask is the B-Tech 928 the best you can do for £30-40.. im actually thinking i may want somthing a little better than the b-tech now as i plan to purchase some grado sr-80's so i want somthing decent to drive them nothing too expensive though...

So is the B-Tech 928 a good choice, any others at around this price?

Thanks again!

:
I noticed the BTech on amazon for 18.99

http://www.amazon.co.uk/B-TECH-BT928.../dp/B0016N5Q1S

Pretty good, no?.. anybetter for around £30?

[Drubbing]

I wouldn't expect too much - you're adding an amp to an amp. THe cheaper the headphone amp, the poorer the signal will be if piggybacking through another component. I've tried doing this and the resulting volume and signal were not good.

Dedicated headphone amps are dedicated for a reason - to drive headphones. While not all need this, your lack of a headphone out is obviously a problem.

Also, Grado's don't need an amp, although the top end ones deserve one. They'll all like one though, but not necessary to drive them to good levels. I have the Alessandro MS1, which is sold here in Aus, and is basically a tweaked SR125 made by grado, looks like a grado etc, a step up from the SR80.

With phones like these source will be more important than an amp, but a piggybacked setup such as what your doing to incorporate a headphone out won't do them any favours.

[neil27]

Originally Posted by Drubbing

I wouldn't expect too much - you're adding an amp to an amp. THe cheaper the headphone amp, the poorer the signal will be if piggybacking through another component. I've tried doing this and the resulting volume and signal were not good.

Dedicated headphone amps are dedicated for a reason - to drive headphones. While not all need this, your lack of a headphone out is obviously a problem.

Also, Grado's don't need an amp, although the top end ones deserve one. They'll all like one though, but not necessary to drive them to good levels. I have the Alessandro MS1, which is sold here in Aus, and is basically a tweaked SR125 made by grado, looks like a grado etc, a step up from the SR80.

With phones like these source will be more important than an amp, but a piggybacked setup such as what your doing to incorporate a headphone out won't do them any favours.

Yeah i get what youre saying, but isnt it normal for headphone amps to plug into tape outs?..

How else would you set up a headphone output in this kind of situation? im sure alot of people dont have a headphone out on their intergrated amp..?

Headphone amp into tape out of amplifier is the only sensible way.. is it not???

Also would appreciate some recomendations for cheaper HP amps, if you know any! thanks

[Drubbing]

I'm really only into headphone audio, so not up on all the ancillaries for a comprehensive audio set up.

All the HP crowd I talk to use their HP amps either with a CDP (not all have headphone outs) or in my case, the Cambridge DACmagic is USB'd to my Mac, and my amp is RCA'd to the DAC. Close to CD quality off MP3s, IMHO.

But that's not really what you're looking for.

[Tony Roma]

Originally Posted by neil27

Yeah i get what youre saying, but isnt it normal for headphone amps to plug into tape outs?..

How else would you set up a headphone output in this kind of situation? im sure alot of people dont have a headphone out on their intergrated amp..?

Headphone amp into tape out of amplifier is the only sensible way.. is it not???

Also would appreciate some recomendations for cheaper HP amps, if you know any! thanks

I dont know about cheaper amps but i have my Graham slee voyager plugged into the tape outputs and it sounds marvellous

[deksawyer]

I've a rather nice valve headphone amp for sale in the classifieds, used from the tape outs from my Cyrus 1 (which doesn't need to be switched on BTW) it sounds very musical.

Not a lot of time to use it these days, so it's for sale. Shame on me!!

http://www.avforums.com/forums/ampli...re-valves.html

A wee bit flexible on the price as well....

D.