Headphone amp as preamp?

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My preamp is currently on the fritz and I won't be getting a new one
for awhile. Actually I won't be listening to a *lot* of music at all
for awhile, but in the meantime, can a headphone amp such as the
HeadRoom Little be used as a preamp in a pinch? I'd rig up or buy at
Radio Shack some connector that converts headphone plug to RCA.

[Walt]

wrote:

> My preamp is currently on the fritz and I won't be getting a new one
> for awhile. Actually I won't be listening to a *lot* of music at all
> for awhile, but in the meantime, can a headphone amp such as the
> HeadRoom Little be used as a preamp in a pinch? I'd rig up or buy at
> Radio Shack some connector that converts headphone plug to RCA.

Yeah, sort of. The output of a headphone amp is compatible with the
input of a power amp if you get the connectorology right.

Basically, a preamp has a) several input jacks, b) a method of switching
between those inputs, c) a volume control, d)(optional) tone controls,
e)(optional) a phono stage.

Your basic headphone amp has c) and not much else. So, if that's enough
for your purposes, it'll work fine. If your power amp has a volume
control or your source (CD player?) has an output volume control, you
can just plug right into the power amp and skip the headphone amp.

//Walt

[Spiderant]

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> My preamp is currently on the fritz and I won't be getting a new one
> for awhile. Actually I won't be listening to a *lot* of music at all
> for awhile, but in the meantime, can a headphone amp such as the
> HeadRoom Little be used as a preamp in a pinch? I'd rig up or buy at
> Radio Shack some connector that converts headphone plug to RCA.
>
I've been using a Musical Fidelity (X-Cans V3) headphone amp as a pre-amp
for over a year now, and it works and sounds great. I installed a couple of
RCA connectors and a switch on the back to make things easier (initially I
just used the headphone jack). My headphone amp is currently running
through a Yamaha AX-596 Integrated Amp (an excellent amp, btw, even without
using the X-Cans as a preamp). I also run it through an older NAD 3020,
where the improvement is more discernable.

Regards,

Roland Goetz.