Headphone amps revisited...

John,

What is your entire system and which other headphone amps did you try?

dave

I don't have any Naim (yet; I'm planning to upgrade from my old CD player to either a CD5 with Epona PSU or perhaps a secondhand CD3.5).

Source is LP12/Lingo/Akito/Asaka on Phase 3 Mana, Amps are Arcam 10 with DAVE module as preamp plus 3 channel power amp (for music and the third channel for AV centre) and a lesser 2 channel amp (for AV rears), on Phase 5 Mana, Audio Physic Virgo loudspeakers (on loan, amazing speakers with a very 'intrusive' optimal location (i.e. half way into the room) - I'm considering buying them as I've never heard any speaker at any price to rival them :-) plus a pair of very powerful REL stentor subs running in stereo (which integrate very well with the rest of the system).

I listened to Creek, MF, wanted to try the Naim Headline (not having heard about it before, but someone on this group recommended it). The dealer I tried was very helpful but he told me that headphone amps don't shift in sufficient quantities to have a more comprehensive range.

...I also tried something really quite cheap (and a bit nasty) - might have been by QED, but not sure. It was a tiny little box, but didn't offer any improvement over the three amps' headphone jacks that I dem'd on. I think that product was designed for people who have a real low end amp without any headphone jack at all (as opposed to higher end gear where the jack's have been omitted for minimalist reasons, a la Naim, etc.)

John,

Thanks for the info. I'm always looking at ways to improve the sound of my headphones. I have a CDS2/52 and a hicapped headline with the HD 600s but am curious about listening to other headphones and amps just to see what each component is doing. Very happy with my set up but sometimes I miss the tonally dark colorations of the grados, although these did present numerous problems with the headline in my experience. The grados are more of the power rock headphones wheras the HD 600s are perhaps more neutral.

dave

Hi,

Thas for the information. Stax, eh? Hmmm. Sometimes the naim headline (even with a hicap) can be a harsh at higher volumes. After all, it's just a tiny integrated sans power supply so it can't do much but deggrade the signal coming out of the 52. But this is only a problem with the crapiest recordings on the highest volumes. I thought of trying a supercap but I think that although it would improve the sound, the limiting factor is probably the headline and not the hicap. But this is just a guess.

Dave

Hi,
Just borrowed some Grado Rs 2s from my dealer to see how they matched up to my HD 600s. Previously I owned SR 125s and SR 225s, both of which had compatability problems with my naim headline. I had always prefered the up front sound of grados to the senheisers but because of repeated problems switched brands and had no trouble since. While I initially found the Senns to be a bit remote and hyper-detailed, going from CDX to CDX?XPS and then CDS 2 solved this. So now that I have been more than happy with them, I decided to see what the top of the line grados sounded like.

Man was I shocked at the difference. Even on the loudest rock I found the HD 600s completely outperformed the RS 2s, making them sound pinched, artificial, VERY BRIGHT, and just rather plain in comparison. The HD 600s even had more drive, more bass, and more swagger than the RS 2s. I guess this is just down to their superior transparency letting the CDS 2 work its magic. It took my the best part of about five minutes and three tracks before I just put the Grados back in their box and decided it was a TKO in favor of the Senns. I hear AKGs are pretty good, but my dealer doesn't have any.

I had expected the Grados to be warmer and "groovier" but instead they sounded distorted and stiff. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised.

davee

Re the comments re Grado Rs - could this be a run-in issue?

(I've not heard them myself).

chesrs, Martin

John,

If the HD600s are like most other top Sennies, then the cables are detachable from the headphones.

It is worth asking Sennheisser about whether they do longer cables. Might be the most expensive approach, but certainly the best.

Andrew

Andrew Randle
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Ross

I've always wondered about these things, but never encountered anyone buying/using them.

Once you've gotten over your udnerwhelm-ment shock, could you provide any more detail, please? Such as Strengths, Weaknesses, any situations where they might be good (air travel/noisy environments such as underground commuter trains), what you reckon that they're worth (subjectively, of course), and the story behind moulding the things to fit yer lugs?

Rico - musichead

...despite Vuk's protestations to the contrary, I was very impressed with the sound of the X-Cans v2 (apparently an enormous leap over the v1, although I never heard that) compared to preamp headphone outputs and I prefered its sound to the Creek, which was also good.

At the money (£150 or so), I don't think you'll get a better headphone preamp. I use it with HD600s, which remain the second best headphones I've ever heard (after the Orpheus, but maybe my memory is rose-tinted - I did hear it in 1993, after all)...

I don't think you'll be disappointed. It's a much 'airier', less 'in-head' sound than a standard headphone output, and it's easy to listen for long periods of time (unlike most headphone outs).

John