zydeco Posted May 17, 2013 Posted May 17, 2013 Why is it that the pre-/power amplifier model common for speakers hasn’t taken off for head-phones? It seems, to this new headphone user, that it’s all about integrated amplifiers or DAC / amplifier combinations – I’ve not found any dedicated power amplifiers for headphones. Is this just a result of the importance of desk space? Or the fact that headphones aren’t too hard to drive? Or fact that input switching isn’t as important as most users have a single, digital, source? (The reason for the question is that, ultimately, my pre-amp has a extra set of outputs that I'd like to route to a headphone power amplifier to drive some HD-800) Zydeco
Jventer Posted May 17, 2013 Posted May 17, 2013 My understanding is that you can drive the headphones from a preamp and in some circumstances from the speaker terminals of a "poweramp" With regards to your question I think it is a cost issue, but I actually could not figure it out and so, after looking at all the options I just bit the bullet and bought a headphone amp
davewantsmoore Posted May 17, 2013 Posted May 17, 2013 Convenience / 'input switch not as important' ... rather than a performance consideration. you can drive the headphones from a preamp and in some circumstances from the speaker terminals of a "poweramp" +1
firefly0071 Posted May 17, 2013 Posted May 17, 2013 Headphone amps are relatively small compared to amps in general. My preference was a headphone amp.
GregWormald Posted May 18, 2013 Posted May 18, 2013 Why is it that the pre-/power amplifier model common for speakers hasn’t taken off for head-phones? It seems, to this new headphone user, that it’s all about integrated amplifiers or DAC / amplifier combinations – I’ve not found any dedicated power amplifiers for headphones. Is this just a result of the importance of desk space? Or the fact that headphones aren’t too hard to drive? Or fact that input switching isn’t as important as most users have a single, digital, source? (The reason for the question is that, ultimately, my pre-amp has a extra set of outputs that I'd like to route to a headphone power amplifier to drive some HD-800) Zydeco On your pre-amp--if the extra set of outputs is actually a "pre-out" that is meant to drive a power amp, it is likely to be fine just driving the headphones. This is assuming you can readily turn off your power amp/speakers. I went for integrated headphone amps because I can't do the above, and I wanted a cross-feed circuit, and I wanted a pocketable unit. Greg
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