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#1
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sub-$200 headphone amp for Grados
Please recommend a headphone amp for use with SR-series Grado
headphones. Budget is around $200. Creek OBH11 Headroom AirHead Headroom TotalAirHead or pro audio stuff from Rolls, Behringer, Samson Currently I'm using the headphone jack on my receiver (Onkyo SR500) which is rather "sterile" sounding. I want a deep and broad soundstage with detailed imaging. Earsplitting SPL is not so important. Most of my serious listening is classical and old jazz (Miles and Coltrane). My sources a Music Hall CD25 HDCD player (primary source) sound card (TB Santa Cruz) Pioneer DV563 SACD/DVDA player Sony turntable Onkyo cassette deck FM tuner in the receiver "Music Choice" on cable box thanks Sathyan |
#2
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sub-$200 headphone amp for Grados
"Sathyan Sundaram" wrote in message om... Please recommend a headphone amp for use with SR-series Grado headphones. Budget is around $200. Creek OBH11 Headroom AirHead Headroom TotalAirHead or pro audio stuff from Rolls, Behringer, Samson Currently I'm using the headphone jack on my receiver (Onkyo SR500) which is rather "sterile" sounding. I want a deep and broad soundstage with detailed imaging. I really don't think you're going to find that in headphones. |
#3
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sub-$200 headphone amp for Grados
"Sathyan Sundaram" wrote in message om... Please recommend a headphone amp for use with SR-series Grado headphones. By the way, which ones? I think those are both good and overrated at the same time. |
#4
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sub-$200 headphone amp for Grados
"jeffc" wrote in message
"Sathyan Sundaram" wrote in message om... Please recommend a headphone amp for use with SR-series Grado headphones. Budget is around $200. Creek OBH11 AFAIK this product is a pure amplifier, without any psychoacoustic processing. Headroom AirHead Headroom TotalAirHead According to their web site, these products include psychoacoustic processing that compensate for the fact that the shape of the human head modifies sound that reaches your ears through air, but headphones don't. or pro audio stuff from Rolls, Behringer, Samson AFAIK these products are pure amplifiers, without any psychoacoustic processing. Currently I'm using the headphone jack on my receiver (Onkyo SR500) which is rather "sterile" sounding. I want a deep and broad soundstage with detailed imaging. I really don't think you're going to find that in headphones. I think you vastly underestimate the sound quality that is possible with personal hearing devices. Given that the processing of the Headroom products claim to provide is well-founded scientifically, how do we reconcile that with the fact that so many people are so happy without them? I think that it's a matter of adaptation. The fact that many people's ears are highly adaptable and can extract listening pleasure from a variety of sonic circumstances is something that seems abundantly obvious. Others may not be so lucky. Others may be too impatient to wait for nature to take its course. |
#5
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sub-$200 headphone amp for Grados
Arny Krueger wrote: Headroom AirHead Headroom TotalAirHead According to their web site, these products include psychoacoustic processing that compensate for the fact that the shape of the human head modifies sound that reaches your ears through air, but headphones don't. Most, if not all of the Headroom models allow for the processing to be switched in and out. Having been a hardcore headphone user for many years, the first encounter I had with the headroom processing was unnerving. Over time, I gfrew to appreicate it, buyt not with all types of music, and it varies from headphone to headphone. Nexus 6 |
#6
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sub-$200 headphone amp for Grados
"Arny Krueger" wrote in message ...
"jeffc" wrote in message "Sathyan Sundaram" wrote in message om... Please recommend a headphone amp for use with SR-series Grado headphones. Budget is around $200. Creek OBH11 AFAIK this product is a pure amplifier, without any psychoacoustic processing. Headroom AirHead Headroom TotalAirHead According to their web site, these products include psychoacoustic processing that compensate for the fact that the shape of the human head modifies sound that reaches your ears through air, but headphones don't. I have the Little Headroom amp and it sounds fine with my Grado SR80 headphones and the older, discontinued Sennheisers I have. I will point out that at very, very low volume (I sometimes listen late at night, when my home is very quiet and I don't need much volume), the volume control isn't linear. But the OP may never listen at that low a level, so he may not notice this. Another minor annoyance: No power switch. I also have a cheap Sennheiser Dolby Pro Logic headphone amp that I'm not too crazy about either. Can't remember the model name/number. Sennheiser made two models like this, and I have the cheaper. Sounds very thin. Another alternative would be to shop for a used integrated amp or receiver that sounds good with headphones, then use that as a headphone amp. or pro audio stuff from Rolls, Behringer, Samson AFAIK these products are pure amplifiers, without any psychoacoustic processing. Currently I'm using the headphone jack on my receiver (Onkyo SR500) which is rather "sterile" sounding. I want a deep and broad soundstage with detailed imaging. I really don't think you're going to find that in headphones. I think you vastly underestimate the sound quality that is possible with personal hearing devices. While I agree that headphones can provide plenty of detail, perhaps the previous poster's point was that "deep and broad" is going to be difficult to achieve with tiny loudspeakers pressed against one's ears. Given that the processing of the Headroom products claim to provide is well-founded scientifically, how do we reconcile that with the fact that so many people are so happy without them? I think that it's a matter of adaptation. The fact that many people's ears are highly adaptable and can extract listening pleasure from a variety of sonic circumstances is something that seems abundantly obvious. Others may not be so lucky. Others may be too impatient to wait for nature to take its course. I really don't like the special psychoacoustic features on my Headroom amp, though I've tried them many times. I switch that stuff off. Reading about the psychoacoustic features, they made sense then, but in practice I dislike them. They do the reverse of providing a "deep and broad" soundstage. The fact that the OP's receiver is providing such a "sterile" sound could be an indication that that output is functioning properly and providing clean, uncolored sound. There are pricey tube headphone amps (which I haven't heard) that might provide some pleasing coloration or something to justify the high prices. Some headphone resources: headphone.com minidiscussion.com goodcans.com (or is it dot org?) headwize.com (or is it dot org?) head-fi.com (or is it dot org?) epinions.com audioreview.com audiogon.com Also search newsgroups and web sites via Google.com. BTW, to the OP: If you're going to buy via mail or web, and not from a local retailer, make sure to get return/refund privileges! |
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