Headphone Amps

[admin_exported]

I've heard a lot about Headphone Amps recently, Can you point me in the right direction towards selecting one about £200.00 .Thanks.

 

[rich51080]

Gimore lite. You will have to order from USA - but with shipping and customs it will set you back 180 pounds approx. Do not bother with creek as it is crap in comparison IMHO. Also avoid musical fidelity as they are vastly overated and you can do better with your money.

Link for Gilmore lite http://www.headamp.com/home_amps/index.htm

Also check out Meier as they are highly regarded and do actually improve the sound drastically

Link is here http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de/ the Cordietta i think is a great amp from what I have read.

Amazing with Grado/Alessandro from personal experience

I own the Gilmore and it is awesome. Very open sound and great for detailed seperation. Amaing with Rock music.

Do not be put off from buying from USA. I purchased my Gilmore and received my amp with 10 days.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that ,with the Headamp would I need a separate power supply? I'm also looking to upgrade my Grado P60's any ideas? Many Thanks.

 

[Andrew Everard]

FWIW have personally found both the Creek and the Musical Fidelity to be very good indeed.

 

[Thaiman]

Agree with Andrew here, I am using X-can V2....very smooth.....lovely.

 

[rich51080]

Im not saying Musical Fidelity and Creek are bad, but I think you can invest it on a better amp specifically the two i mentioned.

I own the Gilmore Lite and it destroys the Musical Fidelity Xcan in all apsects in my opinion.

Check out www.headfi.org and check the forums as this is a specialist headphone site. The cordietta and Gilmore are highly regarded. What hifi should definately review both items.!!

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, Why don't you at the magazine review some Headphone amps , come to think of it I can't say I've ever seen a test review. I'm interested in purchasing one and have heard mixed reviews so far.The only one I've tried at home so far is the PRO-JECT and I wasn't that impressed with it.I've heard that GILMORE LITE and MEIR make good ones from one of the posts on here, I've also heard from you that Creek are also good so maybe a review could clarify things a bit more, what do you think? Thanks.

 

[Thaiman]

[quote user="Mr.P."]Why don't you at the magazine review some Headphone amps , come to think of it I can't say I've ever seen a test review[/quote]

The Mag did reviews headphone amps a few times. That's how I designed on the X-can!

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, What issue in particular or were the reviews spread out? Can you name a few I could check out , or was the X-can that good? Thanks.

 

[Thaiman]

I wouldn't like to guess the issue numbers! What it's all come down to, P, is that you have £200 to spend on a head phone amp therefore the choice are quite limited and Andrew rightly point to the Creek and MF as both are good for the price (very similar sound, I think)
The market for Headphone amp are generally target midrange to Hi-End buyer so the obvious step up from MF & Creek would be Graham Slee which cost around £500ish and I can confirm that they were review in What Hi-Fi? Sound & Vision Ultimate Guide 2004! Oh and don't forget Rich's recommendation, because no one here ever heard of them doesn't mean they are not good.

 

[hifikrazy]

This may be a dumb question, but is there any difference between using a headphone amp, or using the headphone jacks of a normal hi-fi amp?

 

[Thaiman]

[quote user="hifikrazy"]
This may be a dumb question, but is there any difference between using a headphone amp, or using the headphone jacks of a normal hi-fi amp?
[/quote]

Firstly, Can't you sleep last night?!!

and yes, it's a dumb question unless you haven't heard one before!

 

[hifikrazy]

Simple explanation is that I don't live in the UK.

So can you spare a clever answer for my dumb question? Somebody I know is looking for one and I was just trying to gather some knowledge in this area. And no, I haven't heard one before.

 

[gregory]

i would upgrade the headphones and see how you get on with the headphone input on the amp.i have used the mf amp and found it bland and i like valves.at present i am using a rega ear amp it's ok but nothing special.just my humble opinion but i think you have to spend a bit of money to get good quality sound from a headphone amp with good cans,no doubt other members here on the forum can enlighten you on the benefits of a good amp but it depends on how long you listen to headphones.also play it loud for to long and you run the risk of hearing problems.why not try headwize or head-fi org they have a wealth of info on all things amps and phones.hope this helps,gregory.

 

[Thaiman]

The sound quality from dedicate headphone amp is certainly better but if you listen to your can less than 10 hours a week then I wouldn't bother!
Many expensive amps doesn't have a phone output and that is where the headphone amp company are targetting, hence the price!

 

[Anonymous]

Hifikrazy:

"This may be a dumb question, but is there any difference between using a headphone amp, or using the headphone jacks of a normal hi-fi amp?"

Not if you're lucky enough to have a very good head amp section included in your regular amp, like the sugden headmaster, apparently. I suspect this usually is not the case, hence the need for a dedicated headphone amp.

To Mr P.

"Hi,
What issue in particular or were the reviews spread out? Can you name a
few I could check out , or was the X-can that good? Thanks.

See First tests, January 2004. Know this because I ripped it out of the magazine to go and buy one myself.

-->X-can V3: 4stars, Creek OBH-21(SE) (&Graham Slee & Sugden headmaster): 5 stars