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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
ghdprentice's avatar
ghdprentice
9,466 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. 

goofyfoot's avatar
goofyfoot OP
1,590 posts
 

@fatdaddy2 @ghdprentice I mentioned WOO Audio in my post. As far I know, everything they make is overpowering for a 32 ohm pair of headphones.

fatdaddy2
534 posts
 

@goofyfoot not so. Pretty much any amp will drive a 32Ohm HP properly. Suggest you call Woo to see which amp is most appropriate for your specifc hHP.

wharfy's avatar
wharfy
564 posts
 

Look at Quicksilver headphone amps, also. 

https://quicksilveraudio.com/products/headphone-amplifier/

David

goofyfoot's avatar
goofyfoot OP
1,590 posts
 

@fatdaddy2 @wharfy The primary objective for me is to straight wire the signal coming from my power amp to my headphone drivers. The headphone amp need be nothing more than a volume control. So from what I've seen on the WOO and Quicksilver websites, they both incorporate point to point wiring. So unlike the Schiit Lyr3, no transistors. It would seem that the difference in WOO models are the quality of parts and the amount of power output. Anyway, the smaller WOO amplifiers are more affordable and show up used. The Quicksilver retails new for $1,200.00, which is pretty remarkable. Thanks for the input!

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