davstev
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2014
- Posts
- 17
- Likes
- 4
I had an eye and ear opening experience last evening.
I should preface by saying that I am mostly a speaker guy, although I do have many different headphones that I listen to sometimes. Although I read reviews like everyone else, it can be confusing, and I don't have the opportunity to try things out very often. I've recently been into acquiring a few 600 ohm high impedance vintage AKG headphones. This would be: K240 sextett, K240df, and K241, with a pair of K340's on the way. I also bought a nice Schiit Valhalla 2, based on reviews and supposedly being good at driving these hard-to-drive headphones.
Plugging any of these headphones into the Schiit Valhalla 2 on the high gain setting, and with some nice matched Amperex Bugle Boys, I get good sound. Is it great sound? Not sure. I wouldn't say "great". Definitely approaching great sound, but not quite there. Always felt that something might be lacking. The bass on the DF's is famously light, and so it is with the Schiit as the amp. And i need to turn the volume up, way up to at least 1 o'clock to get normal volume on these, and more like 3 o'clock if I want it to be "starting to get a bit loud", and there's no "loud" exactly, unless the volume knob is maxed out, which feels wrong.
So I was thinking yesterday, maybe I need an even more powerful amp, and started looking into this, with a bit of a pit in my stomach about always chasing something better, more expensive, better reviewed, but not knowing for sure if it's the thing that will really be the best, and caught in a cycle of buying and selling, which is time consuming.
Then it occurred to me- why don't I plug the DF's into the headphone jack on my Accuphase P300 150wpc power amp? Just to see if headphone jacks on receviers and amps are as poor as they say (I have done this in the past with other amp/headphone combos and been dispoointed) But that's when it all changed, this time was different.
Astonishingly good sound. Powerful, incredibly detailed, ample bass, dreamy soundstage and loads of headroom. Everything I could ever have wanted in a headphone amplifer, and truly amazing audiophile performance. I think that they AKG's are meant to be paired with old-school powerful outputs, as in a studio setting, Duh. Why didn't I think of this before?!
All this to say, there are times when chasing a highly reviewed headphone amplifier and/or $200 NOS tubes is not the right way to go. Not all receivers or power amps will give outstanding performance, many will suck. But in my case, it's a perfect match. And of course, there are doubtless many incredible dedicated headphone amp/headphone combinations out there. But if you have a nice amp, receiver or power amp, look into this, perhaps especially if you have high impedance headphones.
I should preface by saying that I am mostly a speaker guy, although I do have many different headphones that I listen to sometimes. Although I read reviews like everyone else, it can be confusing, and I don't have the opportunity to try things out very often. I've recently been into acquiring a few 600 ohm high impedance vintage AKG headphones. This would be: K240 sextett, K240df, and K241, with a pair of K340's on the way. I also bought a nice Schiit Valhalla 2, based on reviews and supposedly being good at driving these hard-to-drive headphones.
Plugging any of these headphones into the Schiit Valhalla 2 on the high gain setting, and with some nice matched Amperex Bugle Boys, I get good sound. Is it great sound? Not sure. I wouldn't say "great". Definitely approaching great sound, but not quite there. Always felt that something might be lacking. The bass on the DF's is famously light, and so it is with the Schiit as the amp. And i need to turn the volume up, way up to at least 1 o'clock to get normal volume on these, and more like 3 o'clock if I want it to be "starting to get a bit loud", and there's no "loud" exactly, unless the volume knob is maxed out, which feels wrong.
So I was thinking yesterday, maybe I need an even more powerful amp, and started looking into this, with a bit of a pit in my stomach about always chasing something better, more expensive, better reviewed, but not knowing for sure if it's the thing that will really be the best, and caught in a cycle of buying and selling, which is time consuming.
Then it occurred to me- why don't I plug the DF's into the headphone jack on my Accuphase P300 150wpc power amp? Just to see if headphone jacks on receviers and amps are as poor as they say (I have done this in the past with other amp/headphone combos and been dispoointed) But that's when it all changed, this time was different.
Astonishingly good sound. Powerful, incredibly detailed, ample bass, dreamy soundstage and loads of headroom. Everything I could ever have wanted in a headphone amplifer, and truly amazing audiophile performance. I think that they AKG's are meant to be paired with old-school powerful outputs, as in a studio setting, Duh. Why didn't I think of this before?!
All this to say, there are times when chasing a highly reviewed headphone amplifier and/or $200 NOS tubes is not the right way to go. Not all receivers or power amps will give outstanding performance, many will suck. But in my case, it's a perfect match. And of course, there are doubtless many incredible dedicated headphone amp/headphone combinations out there. But if you have a nice amp, receiver or power amp, look into this, perhaps especially if you have high impedance headphones.
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