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Slowely Upping My Game

Hey Goner's,

A while back, out of necessity, I decided to venture into headphones. At this point in the journey, I'm running Audioquest RCA interconnects from the tape outs on my ASR Emitter II power amp to a Schiit Lyr 3 with a Linlai Elite 6SN7. Somewhat of a mismatch I know! The headphones I'm currently using are a modified version of the Aurorus Audio Borealis. 

About two months ago, I purchased a pair of HEDD Audio HEDDphone D1's that are still on Back Order. I'm hoping to get these at the end of this month, we'll see. In a couple of weeks, I'll purchase a pair of Audio Sensibility Statement SE copper interconnects to replace the Audioquest Colorado IC's.

So the D1's impedance is at 32 ohm's. Pretty much anything can drive them. Which brings me to wonder whether replacing the Schiit Lyr 3 with a more expensive headphone amplifier can be justified. Looking around at various OTL headphone amplifiers, leaves me with the impression that a Feliks or Woo Audio would make sense for headphones at 300 ohm's but would be overpowering for a pair of 32 ohm headphones. 

So the endgame is to maximize the fidelity that's coming from the power amplifier. To test the clarity of what I currently have, I placed a Herbie's titanium tube damper on the 6SN7and I do notice a slight difference. My hopes are high for the D1's but admittedly, this post may be premature, given that I haven't had a chance to hear them yet. Onward through the fog.

Thanks!

goofyfoot
kofibaffour
713 posts
 

you’re overworking your brain to be disappointed. the D1 is excellent but have realistic expectations or headphones or else you’d expect a 100/10 performance from a 7/10 headphone ( note, the highest rating I’d give to the best headphone I have head stock is 7.4/10 @goofyfoot 

Also imo one should always strive to use headphones with negligible output impedance. tube headphone amps are the antithesis of that. I do not like tube amps with anything. I want to head the work of the engineers who made the headphone not alter the tonal balance so I do not ever get to hear the headphone as it should be heard

goofyfoot's avatar
goofyfoot OP
1,575 posts
 

@kofibaffour Everything was valve powered up into the 1960’s. Tape machines, record cutters, microphones, etc… You're missing out on a lot of great music! Anyway, owning Quad 2905’s, I opted for the D1’s because I’m looking for fast transients in a driver headphone. The planars that I’ve listened to are too shouty and agressive for my ears. Come this fall, I plan to have both Quad speakers working. 

fatdaddy2
528 posts
 

Recommend you look into Woo headphone amps; a wide range of features at various price points.  I've been using mine for over 20 years with great satisfaction and no problems.

larsman's avatar
larsman
3,126 posts
 

Nothing BUT tube headphone amps for me. 'As it should be heard' is however I happen to like it, everybody's hearing being different and different headphone amps sounding different from each other. 

I've had a Lyr 3, and it's good value for money, but HP amps farther up the chain can offer dramatically different sound from that, so I'd say yes, it is definitely worth it to get better amplification. I've had the DNA Stratus and the Eddie Current Studio B headphone amps for years now, and even though they are underpowered for them, I still like the way my Susvaras sound through them, until I upgrade to a more appropriate one for them. 

ghdprentice's avatar
ghdprentice
9,403 posts
 

Great sounding headphone systems are built around great high powered electronics built for driving headphones. Also, the investment is much like that in a main system. Think 5 to 10 times more on electronics than on the headphones. 

I have had high end headphone system of fifty years... upgrading with the availability of equipment. I can say my current system far exceeds anything I thought was possible only a few years ago. And it requires massive power to get the most out of every set of headphones (see my Virtual Systems for my headphone system). 

Look to Woo for headphones amps. Virtually all are tubed and are incredibly good. I have the WA5, which can be used to power speakers. It completely takes charge of all of my flagship headphones... like Sennheiser, Focas, Ultrasond, Dennon... etc. They all start sounding much more similar because of the incredible power and natural nature of the amp. 

If you want a great sounding headphone system... concentrate on getting a great / powerful headphone amp. The Lyr3 is not it. 

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