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"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
As to whether a particular combination of player and amplifier
"sounds better"
set up this way... "it depends". If the player and amp are properly
designed,
there should be no change in sound quality or character.

Even properly designed equipment produces noise. Proper gain staging
can optimize S/N ratio, and the optimal settings can vary widely
depending on the specifics of the equipment. I'm not too concerned
about distortion or excessive SPL when optimizing gain staging for
headphones, because I can easily detect and avoid these problems while
listening.