Rega Planar 1+ built in phono stage wanting to add headphone amp - Advice required pls

[Rhbmcse]

Hi,
I have a RP1+ (so built in phono stage) this then feeds a SONOS PORT. I'd like to incorporate a nice valve headphone amp into the equation. I have a few questions.

In order to get the best quality and undisturbed Analog path from the RP1+ I'm guessing I need to intercept the signal at the RCA plugs before it reaches the SONOS PORT - i.e. split it and then take the split RCA off to my headphone amp ? The PORT does have an output for traditional amp which I'm not using.

Would the phono stage be OK to feed into a headphone amp (signal strength wise)

or

Should I take the OUT from the port and feed the headphone amp (or will this then be degraded by the PORTs inner wizardry / will the output be too loud for a headphone amp).

Therein lies the first question - which is likely to give the better quality.

The second and third questions - recommendations please for a set of wired headphones and of course, headphone amp.

Fourth question as a side note really - I had been considering a pair of Sony XM-5s but they are of course BT rather than cabled. Is cabled noticeably better as the reviews seem to indicate that these are a superb pair of cans but again I'd be interrupting the pure Analog path with BT which I guess I'm not that keen to do. It seems a waste getting a valve headphone amp to then fire the signal over BT.

AS always - I appreciate your input.

Rob.

 

[Gray]

Some real purist types wouldn't feed the RP1+ output simultaneously to two inputs.
But, short of constant reconnection, the alternative of a signal switcher is (theoretically) hardly any more desirable.

The RP1+ line output might well be quite similar in level to that from the Sonos - you'll be in a position to experiment to find out - as well as any (unlikely) paired versus direct input difference.

If the gain of your headphones amp is anything like the ones I've tried, you won't need to worry about too little input signal - you'll still be able to deafen yourself.

Again, you can decide whether any Sonos passthrough compromises what you hear.
In any case, ideally only a fixed (rather than variable) signal should feed the headphone amp input - so that you're only dealing with a single volume control.

When it comes to headphones, I'd stick to wired.
Recommendations are a bit meaningless since the sound is so variable and very personal.

As for headphone amps, I could mention a great one I own and another even better one that I've tried for around £200 and £600 respectively, but with them there's not a valve in sight, so no good for you.