"Norman Schwartz" wrote in message
...

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
"Norman Schwartz" wrote in message
et

Volume is not a problem, in any way whatsoever, I can produce the
entire volume range from silence to more than too loud (without
distortion) at customary and normal settings . I don't have
schematics of the preamp, CD player(s) or the Creek headphone amp and
even if I did I wouldn't be able to interpret their significance to
the issue at hand.

...well you asked me....

Of course one can listen to a bunch of recordings
and then decide for yourself.

Now there's an idea.

My understanding is that the way this issue often comes up is that
someone
says something like: I'm going to buy some HD580 phones, and someone
else
says: Well if you do that, you're going to have to buy a good headphone
amp. I don't have any problem with the suggestion that there may be an
exposure to wanting a headphone amp for a number of technical and
non-technical reasons. But I do have a problem with stating it as a
global
requirement.

All of the above could well be the case, however for the cost of a 580 or
600 *plus* a more durable headphone cable *AND* a good headphone amp
(should
you encounter its need) I recommend buying the Stax SRS-3030 Classic
System
II (from audiocubes.com) for both lower cost and far better sound.

I did a little research and came up with the following:

Radio Shack part number 330-1109 3-Way Headphone Volume Booster. This
device runs off of 2 AA cells and provides 3 amplifier headphone jacks. I
ran some measurements on it and find that it has approximately 6 dB gain,
0.003% THD @ 1 KHz full output, approximately 90 dB SNR and frequency
response 20-20 KHz +0, - 0.3 dB. It sells for the princely sum of $22.95.

HD 580s routinely sell for $199, and can often be had for at least $25 less
than that. I've had my HD580s for a year and a half, use them several hours
daily and the headphone cable is still going strong. If you buy wisely, and
need more output than the headphone jack at hand will provide, you can get
the 580s, the 330-1109, and change from $200 (which is much less than $779).

http://www.audiocubes.com/product_in...roducts_id=129