Driving headphones with Cyrus III amp

[admin_exported]

Originally posted in hifi section

I am looking for an uncomplicated way of driving headphones on my home hi-fi setup. I have a Mission Cyrus III amp, which does not have a headphone socket. I am able to run them by a rather convoluted method by connecting the phones to my Philips CD recorder and setting it to record standby then use the recording level to control the volume. I presume the answer is to buy a headphone amp and coinnect it to the tape output on the Cyrus III. If so, can anybody recommend a good combination of phones and amp for listening primarily to jazz? My sources are vinyl and CD. I don't need portability.

I currently have a pair of Sennheiser HD205's. Somebody elsewhere accurately described these as instruments of torture. The clamping effect becomes very uncomfortable in very short time.

Grateful for any help I can get in sorting out this issue.

 

[quadpatch]

Oh I was looking at something the other day that could really suit you well if it fits in your price bracket. The combo is: the Sennheiser HD650 running from a Graham Slee solo headphone amp. I really want that combo one day, I've heard it's amazing! It costs about £640 and can be upgraded with a better power supply later too. The headphones are classic open back and extremely well liked by a lot of people, especially with that amp.

http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/sennheiser-hd650-graham-slee-solo-intro-prodid-4096.html

Is this the kind of thing you were looking for?

 

[eggontoast]

What is your budget for the two ?

The HD-650's are OK but in my experience, after actually owning a pair, they are a bit boring and uninvolving. They are OK if you like a warm sound but since you have a Cyrus amp I'm guessing you probably don't. The Beyerdynamic A1 & T1 make a really good combo albeit a trifle expensive which brings us back to the first question, how much.......

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the suggestions. I am a bit nervous about buying Sennheiser phones as I already own a pair of HD205's and they are like head clamps - so uncomfortable. Since posting I have taken the plunge and bought a pair of Beyer DT880's. They are far more comfortable and I think the sound will be great once they've burned in properly. They already sound better than the Senn's but to be fair, the HD205 is only a cheapo.

I just need to sort out the amp. Would the Graham Slee work well with these phones?