Wireless headphones

[BradfordBantam]

Hi

Just after a little advice please and some technical knowhow!

I'm after some wireless headphones - mainly for convienience around the house - which will generally connect to my Amazon Echo but I would also like to connect to my hifi setup (Marantz amp & CD player/Project turntable).

Connecting to Echo is no issue - done through bluetooth, but how do I get them to connect to my amp, for when I'm playing a record, or lsitening to a CD for example.

Also - I've 60%-or so hearing loss AND tinnitis in my left ear - so top of the range they don't need to be!

Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[MajorFubar]

An idea of your budget would be useful.

Problem is you seem to be wanting both a bluetooth connection and a way to connect them to your amp, which will require a cable connected to a baseunit. I don't know of any headphones which offer both. If the Amazon Echo had a line-out or headphone socket, that could be used to connect the Echo to the amp. But as far as I can see it's a dead-end product with no method of physically connecting it to any other device.

If you can get away with not using bluetooth, anything from the Sennheiser RS range is a sound bet (pun unintended). RS185 would be my first choice if you can reach to £300, RS175 at £189 if you can't stretch to £300, or RS165 (£149 ish...shop around) if you can't stretch to £189. Even the £89 RS120 still sound ok but are FM rather than digital. RS120 sit on the ears whereas the 165, 175 and 185 sit round them.

RS175 + 185 have digital and analogue inputs, RS120 + 165 have only analogue. Any of them will connect to the Recorder Out sockets on the back of your amp.

 

[BradfordBantam]

Thanks for your extensive reply! I'd be looking at up to the £149 mark so a couple of options for me to work with. Are the benefits of over ear vs on ear worth the extra £40 uplift to the RS175?

You are right - I am wanting a base that has a connecting socket and I've been unable to source - maybe I just have to make do with the streaming from Alexa and let the rest of the household listen in when I'm not streaming!

 

[MajorFubar]

Are the benefits of over ear vs on ear worth the extra £40 uplift to the RS175?

It is for me, because I hate on-ear headphones. As above, cheapest over-ears in their range are the RS165. Lowest street price is £139 at Superfi, which is £40 under RRP, so a good buy. But you might find the cheaper RS120's (list price £99, typically £60) have a better range due to using FM, which is analogue and so can suffer from hiss a bit, but it usually has a longer range than the digital headphones before the sound cuts out. Walls seem to be the digital models' nemesis, oh and proximity to wifi routers, whereas analogue FM headphones are less fussy of both.