I have a Sony STRDE945 and the sound on my Sennheiser HD650 is way better than with my JDS Labs Atom Amp. I'm not talking just a little i'm talking miles better. I have not tried out more headphone amps but I believe most headphone amp users have never plugged their headphones into a decent receiver to tell which one is better. You can pick up a good used STRDE945 for around $125. I have 2 of them I paid less than $100 for on ebay. The only problem is they take up way more space than a headphone amp.
This is the comment I've been looking for all week. I have been going bonkers thinking I apparently need a DAC for my new headphones I just ordered. (I'm getting the same as you have but from massdrop 6XX. and also have the Hifiman Sundara's in my cart as backup) The receiver I currently have is the Sony STR-DH790's. Came out about 4 years ago. Not exactly as old and awesome as yours. Could anyone help trying to figure this out? Audiophiles laugh at me because I don't think I need a DAC. But I could Spend $120 or so if needed
Nice informative video. I was blown away last year after I picked up a Sunsui G7500 and connected my Kef ls50 speakers to them. Then I connected my HD 600 and 650 and planars to the hp output...wow I couldn't agree more!
Nice video %100 agree with you. I'm using HD600 with Kenwood KR5600 since childhood and recently with Marantz PM5004, sound is amazing. IMO the only con with the vintage amps for headphone using is the noise you can hear when focusing.
So glad to find a UA-camr flying the flag for vintage audio! What you said also goes for the receiver manufacturers' amps of the same era - I get the best results from a Luxman L-113a I've owned since the mid-80. The Trio (Kenwood) KR-55L receiver, KA-60 amp and Technics SU-8044 amp come very close, while a Hitachi SR-2000L is a bit less detailed but slightly warmer-sounding. Even a budget JVC JA-S10 - though lacking in top-end detail - delivers great tone and rock-solid bass. I'm also using vintage planar headphones - a stereo-modded pair of Yamaha HP-50s and a pair of audio technica ATH-2s. They're not too hard to find on eBay - and they're very affordable!
An excellent presentation. I liked your 1979 cut off date which is when they started replacing the toroidal transformers with switching transformers to save weight and cost. Amp sound quality became worse after that.
Great video! Glad to see someone stand up for vintage gear! I have a 1977 marantz 2215b and a 2238b and everyone keeps telling me I need a headphone amp but what they don’t understand is how insane the build quality on 70s receives where, if my receivers can wake up the neighbors 5 streets over then I think they can handle some headphones
Found my old Harman Kardon HK3500 from 1991 and started using it to drive my HD6XX/HD650 and it sounds absolutely wonderful...I wish I had used it earlier, it would have saved me from not buying a headphone DAC and tube amp.
@@headkarma Thank you for such a great and informative video! I was really impressed with the way you conducted your topics. It's quite clear how knowledgeable you are about audio, very much a no-BS all facts kind of deal, I definitely look forward to more content from you!
Great video, I love this approach to the sound! I am on D7200 & Denon PMA-800 although its new the vintage spirit is there and the sound is total addiction. Its time I am going to check my dad's basement he has tons of stuff from 60s / 70s audio gear. Happy Listening 🙂
Great summary!!!! I have been preaching your sermon for years on Headfi and UA-cam. With the HE6, there is NO WAY to get better sound than a Vintage receiver other than MEGAbuck high end speaker separates from the likes of Pass, Bryston, Krell and a few others. My little 50w Marantz of roughly 100 bucks (before restoration) run CIRCLES around headphone (mini)amps costing 50x as much. Unbelieveable.....
I really enjoyed this video because everything you mentioned covered all the bases about why a vintage receiver is king for modern headphones. I own a JVC VR-5551 and it comes with their own proprietary S.E.A. graphic equalizer built into the unit. Only five bands of attenuation but good enough. I also bought a modern cheap a/v receiver and a Class A balanced headphone amp for a decent price as well. Everything you've said in this video is correct and concise. The JVC wins outright by default with its capability and features. The balanced headphone amp sounds exactly the same as the JVC with the loudness feature turned off and the modern a/v receiver sounds like crap with the op amps. I own a pair of Sennheiser HD 600's and 800's along with a pair of Monoprice M1060's (couldn't afford Audeze's at the time) and ALL of them sound fantastic on the JVC. Thanks for the video and your opinions, keep up the great work 👍
Would my Beyerdynamic DT-1990 pro 250Ohm headphones work well with a Luxman L-410 amp (1982). And does the Luxman have a resistor type headphone jack mmain amp step down? Thanks
Assuming that your Luxman uses a resistor, yes 250 ohms should sound excellent. Whether or not your specific Luxman uses a resistor or not, I don't know. Google your amp and see if the HP stage is covered in any online manuals or not. You can always ask over on Audiokarma too
@headkarma I found the schematics for luxman l-410. It shows a resistor on left and right just before the headphone jack. Should I assume it's a good sign?
Planars are low impedance as well, but still have low sensitivity and require more power. What you dont want to use on vintage receivers is low impedance high sensitivity headphones
Hello, this is a great review. Thank you. I own Sansui 881 like you. Last month, I bought a Focal Elegia headphone which is 35 ohm with a sensitivity of 105mm DB. I plugged them into Sansui 881 and the sound character of the Elegia has changed a lot in a better way. It is not a bass heavy headphone but when I plugged it to Sansui I can hear the sub bass easily, especially I turn on the loudness. And the bass is not disturbing the mids, now Elegia sounds very similar to my Bose 901 Series II speakers. The max volume that I am using is 8'o clock. As long as I stay at max 8'o clock level of volume, do you think my amp will break the headphone? Best
Recently, I have tried an interesting experiment. A few days ago, a good friend of mine decided to give me his old vintage Akai receiver AA-930. When I got it and started playing with it, I noticed that you can connect an external pre-amplifier directly to the inner power amplifier inside the receiver. I decided to try and connect my Topping L30ii and I was shocked that the sound signature changed drastically towards the signature of the Topping amplifier. The thing is, this way, you can drive high-demand headphones and still enjoy the sound signature of, for example, a modern IC amplifier combined with vintage transistors. I tried an OLT tubes amplifier as well. However, for some reason, the OLT gives high-gain volume and the volume controller becomes very sensitive. You touch it and it goes to an unbearable high volume. Have you tried something similar?
@@headkarma I assume that the AA-1150 and AA-930 share the same sound signature. Yes, it sounds great. The combination with the Topping L30 makes the signal much cleaner from background noises. The only drawback is that all the control buttons on the receiver become "useless" even the volume control. Thus, you lose control over the bass and the treble. However, the extension on both sides is noticeably enhanced.
@@headkarma Can you use a headphone that is 18Ohms on a vintage receiver? I am interested in buying a pair of Sennheiser model E815S headphones but i am not sure about the 18 Ohms requirement? I know most vintage headphones were 8 Ohms. And vintage receivers can handle up to 16Ohms. Thank you
@@SDsailor7 I have never tried an 18 ohm headphone on a vintage receiver, but my gut instinct says "No" Regular 32 ohm headphones get a bad case of impedance mismatch on my receivers, typically resulting in bass bloat, so I would assume that would be the case if you tried an even lower impedance headphone, but that is just speculation on my part. I'm curious to hear your findings.
@@headkarma normally what Ohms are the newer headphones ranges in ohms? I have a pair of Bose 25 that I haven't tested on my vintage receiver because the 1/4 in adapter won't fit the 3.5 on the headphones. I also have the KossAAA vintage headphones and those sound great on my receiver. I never thought about the newer headphones and the issues concerning Ohms. I am just begging to realize that it does.
Great informative video! I have a question, please. You might have talked about it during the video without me paying attention. Could vintage tube receivers provide good quality for vintage headphones (Such as Sennheiser HD 250 and HD 540) compared to modern OTL tube amplifiers? What about Bass and Treble extension? if so, do you have recommendations for such a receiver? I do have Creek cas4040, which is from the eighties but still provides enough power for my vintage headphones but I liked tube amplifiers more than solid states. Thank you in advance, Qusay
Glad I could help. You may want to consider a brighter receiver for the Aeolus,which is pretty warm. The Sansui 881 is pretty warm. My Sansui 5000a is much too warm.
Great video!! I just bought a nice Pioneer SX 636. Amazing with my old Realistic LAB 500 TT on vintage speakers or my newer Elac bookshelfs. I'm looking at AKG 240 600 ohm Austrian made version, probably 30+ years old. Open back, thinking maybe a good combo. Seems with your video a good combo. What do you think? Facepalm. Just watched your review and did not know they were referred to as sextet. Obviously these will be sweet. You are awesome, thank you!
There are a quite a few k240 models out there. Not all are sextetts. I would watch my sextetts review and check out the link to the sextett buying guide before pulling the trigger
@@headkarma your sextett video and buying guide is really good. They appear to be LP. All silver badges, no DF, Studio, Monitor etc on them. Under the cups they are white radiators so LP I think. Band doesn't have the holes is really all I see that isn't same though maybe for later production LP?
Tested PC-->DAC (Schiit Modi 3+/Audioengine D1) -->AMP ( Schiit Magni 3/Sony AX401)--> HD 820 Using only FLAC files The DAC brand performs almost equally. Schiit AMP drives the 820 like monster, sound is superb and volume get truly high. However, Sony AX401 performs equally, I little better I would say on audio clarity (doesnt add anything and the equalizer set to 0) but the volume is much higher than Schiit . One can say becouse is the entry level AMP and is solid state. I did tested a tube version, no much difference. Im happy using the AX401 as my AMP, will get on of these days a much more vintage one just to enjoy old high receivers as amps. The Schiit AMP allows me to listen clearly The Friends Of Mr. Cairo but the AX401 gives me more volume to even enjoy it more. So thanks @HeadKarma for a great advice.
So I am just getting a little confused here, you said that planars work great with vintage, but does that automatically remove the fact the planar is 50 ohms? Like the HE6. Or does this strictly just apply to dynamic drivers with lower impedance.
yes, low impedance dynamic driver headphones sound bloated in the bass dept. Planars typically do not. Many owners of the original HE6 used the speaker taps of vintage receivers to drive them. I used to own the an Audeze LCD2.1 as well as a HE500,and reviewed a few other planars and all sounded very good via headphone jack of old receivers.
I have a Sansui G-2000 and have been looking to get some headphones for it. Thanks for the Planar recommendation. I'm looking at the HIFIMAN Arya | Stealth Edition and the HIFIMAN Ananda Open-Back Planar Magnetic Headphones for my receiver. Edit: Looked into the Arya headphones and they are easier to drive so that might not be a good idea.
although planars will def work on a vintage receiver, they sound better on a dedicated HP amp. You're best bet for a vintage receiver is a dynamic driver HP between 250-600 ohms
@@headkarma Gotcha. I think I'm gonna go with beyerdynamic DT 990 Edition 600 Ohm Over-Ear-Stereo Headphones. Can't wait to jam out to some metal on some headphones for my vintage receiver. Thanks again!
@@GamingNiche do yourself a favor, skip the DT990 and grab an AKG K240 sextett, especially for metal. Check out the video I did on them. You can thank me later
Will a Sony str-de325 be enough to drive a pair of dt880 600 ohms? I'm planning on using that while I save for a lake people g103-s, amplifier! Btw: Normally I use my dt770 80 ohms with an ifi hip dac, but I tried the receiver and holy shit! Sounds way better:) which is kind of weird considering that the hip dac should be enough to drive them, and get the most out of them. Now I'm a bit worried though, the reciever have 80w per channel, so can this receiver break my headphones? I mean a bit scared if using it!
Hey Elliot, thats hard to say as im not familiar with that particular receiver. It looks to be a newer than a 60's or 70s model . TBH, the DT880 isnt too ineffiecient but it will def require more volume than your DT770. As far as damaging your DT770, I wouldnt worry about it unless you're over driving the headphones to the point of distortion.
Can you install amp tubes inside of vintage receivers? Can you control their ohm output? Can you connect them to a computer? If yes them I am completely sold.
Some of the older pre-1970 receivers used tubes. Fisher had some nice ones,but I've never owned one,so I dont know how it would sound with headphones. I suspect it would work very well. To control the ohm you would need an ohm step up/down adapter that would go into the jack.
Im very interested in doing this and taking the plunge into a 70s vintage stereo . I have 6xx headphones , im wondering how is the sound different in a vintage compared to todays headphone amps ?
The 6xx and its 300 ohm impedance, is a great match for a vintage receiver. It would be impossible to match the sound, not to mention the versatility of a vintage piece without dropping a significant amount more on a modern dedicated HP amp.
Very interesting information. I have an old Sony TA-AX22 that my father bought in 1982 (no idea if it was crap or not). The maximum output is 60 watt, I connected it directly to my pc using an aux->rca cable and it works. There's a bit of noise, in the comments is mentioned that it would be better to place a DAC in the middle (but I don't have a DAC). Do you think that my old amp would work well with a set of AKG-612 Pro headphones? Their impedance is 150 ohm. I tried the amp with a pair of crappy Sony headphones (impedance 32 ohm), they work but there is too much emphasis on the low frequencies.
Yes the bloated bass on the Sony headphones is due to impedance mismatch. Bloated bass is the common result. As far as the AKG K612 goes, im guessing it will sound much better than the Sony does. I havent heard your amp. but the deciding factor would be what resistor value Sony used in that model. Give them a try.
@@headkarma thanks...I have opened the chassis of the amplifier and I took a photo of the single op amp that there is on the PCB. Here it is ibb.co/bgM372k
I have a question I have been trying to find everywhere about vintage receivers. I have a NAD 3155 from 1985 (its basically a better 3120 that's from 1979, all analog). My question is, do these vintage amps have balanced audio coming from the headphone jack? I am asking because I will be replacing my AKG Sextett cable, and from what I hear, balanced is the best, but I would find it pointless if the amplifier didn't output balanced sound. Thanks!
@@MINECRAFTandSEB no. Some amps are balanced. Some amps have a balanced jack but puts out an unbalanced signal. They do that for convenience sake so you do not have to go buy a new cable. If you look in the rear of your NAD, if it were capable of being balanced it would have XLR inputs. All of my vintage gear is single ended only, but my Cayin IHA 6 and Violectric V550 can be used either single ended or balanced, depending upon what signal it's taking in from the dac
I had a sony reciever that was from the 90's which was just one step below flagship of that line, the only difference was 20 extra watts per channel. The receiver had the typical sony issue of cold solder joints and as such channels that would not work most of the times unless you smacked the top of it until those channels would click on. Typical garbage soldering job from sony of that era. Anyways while using it for speakers was frustrating to say the least the headphone out on it was truly something else and I have not heard another solid state amplifier drive headphones quite as well as that receiver did. It was a touch warm and highly dynamic and with a lot of headspace while being fast and with good bit of power or at least enough to drive my pair of HD 580's with authority. I kind of missed that as a headphone amp but it also dominated the desk and was beyond ridiculous as just a headphone amp. Thinking about it again makes me wanna go look up the specs and that model again just to get the headphone information and get a desktop friendly headphone amplifier that makes it's specs.
Depends on what type of audio out jack your computer has. Assuming it's 3.5mm, something like this would work www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/IPMB2R10--pro-co-ipmb2r-10-10-foot?mrkgadid=3274408774&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=gpla&mrkgbflag=0&mrkgcat=accessories&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=92700046938453139&lid=92700046938453139&ds_s_kwgid=58700005283136159&ds_s_inventory_feed_id=97700000007215323&dsproductgroupid=411460339091&product_id=IPMB2R10&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&device=m&network=g&matchtype=&adpos=largenumber&locationid=9004864&creative=249895767051&targetid=aud-842676327969%3Apla-411460339091&campaignid=1055581119&awsearchcpc=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA0eOPBhCGARIsAFIwTs7BkfEqcWc4uktShSXYz99p5NuRLb4i4aZXATwC59o_HmgvZiqZes4aApngEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Hello! Thank you for the video. Answered a few question I’ve had for a while. I currently own a McIntosh Mac4200 and i was curious if this receiver uses a resister or an op amp? Ik McIntosh has a very good reputation for high quality products but not too knowledgeable about this stuff. Thank you!
Its hard to say for 100% accuracy. The 4200 was built in 1986, so theres a pretty good chance it still used an in-line resistor. I have the 4100 and it uses a resistor. Your best bet is to call McIntosh in NY and ask them
One more question if you get a chance, do you recommend the same types of headphones on a mac4100? (For example high impedance or planar headphones). Reason why I ask is that the Mac 4200 owners manual says the headphone jack is designed for low impedance headphones.
@@MrEmanthedrummer oh....well that means its most likely an op amp. My 4100 drives 300 and 600 ohm headphones w/ a low sensitivity without breaking a sweat. There are plenty of great sounding low impedance/ high sensitivity headphones these days. Focal makes good stuff as does Meze. In 1986 there were very few planar headphones out, so I'd be hesitant to recommend a planar to you, even though planars have a low impedance generally, but require current to sound good, so i'd stick with dynamic driver headphones. If you want to run a little test you can grab 2 pairs of Beyerdynamic DT770 or DT990. Beyer offers these headphones in multiple impedances. You can grab a 32 ohm DT770 and a 250 ohm DT770 and see which performs the best out of your 4200. If you buy off of Amazon they have a liberal return policy so you can return one or both if you choose. I'm not a fan of the Beyer "house" sound, but AFAIK theyre the only company that offers the same headphone in various impedances.
Thanks for the really informative video. I’ve fallen down an internet rabbit hole trying to pair my Kenwood KA5500 amp with modern headphones, with most people advising me to buy a seperate headphone amp. I’m considering pairing either Fostex T60RP planar or Beyerdynamic DT 880 to listen to vinyl through my kenwood. What are your thoughts on those two? Any other headphones you would recommend with this amp? Many thanks
Thanks for the comment and question. I own the Beyer DT880 and used to own the Fostex. TBH I dont like either one, but thats just my personal preferences in play. Most will agree that the DT880 is too bright and soulless, meanwhile i found the Fostex to be too warm and bass heavy. Theyre like the total opposites of one another. The headphones that I own or have owned in the past that pair well with a vintage amp are Sennheiser- HD600/650/6xx Sennheiser-HD250 Sennheiser HD800 AKG K240 Sextetts, K240 DF Pretty much every headphone ZMF makes Beyer DT770/990/original T1 Pretty much most planars( but not all) and any dynamic headphone 250 ohms and higher will sound really good. Let me know what types of music you prefer and your budget I can try to narrow that list down a bit.
@@headkarma thanks very much for the reply. I mostly listen to rock music (prog, punk, metal, classic rock) and a little bit of jazz and soul/funk. Budget is around $300 to $400.
@@wademoore353 Grab yourself a pair of AKG K240 Sextetts (MP version) and a Sennheiser HD6xx, then take your wife or GF out for a nice dinner with whats left over. I reviewed the Sextetts on my UA-cam channel.
@@headkarma Hi! I recentley bought a pair of DT990 32Ohm heaphones. Using it with a '77 Toshiba SC/SY330 amplifier.It sounds good, though i'm not sure if I should change it to a higher impedence one DT990.What's your opinion, the 250Ohm or the 600Ohm version would be a better choice?
I have a vintage Carver AV100 receiver, circa 1980s. Do you know if they went the resistor route for the headphones? Also, I am considering the Sennheiser HD 599s, I think they are 120 ohm but not sure on that. Would they sound good on the Carver or is that a bad match?
Hey Dan, thanks for the question. I really have no experience with Carver gear, though the 1987 production date of that unit might be too late in the game for resistors to be used, but I'm just guessing. I believe the HD599 is 50 ohms with a very high sensitivity. Chances are if your Carver is using an opamp it will sound fine. However if it's using an inline resistor you may experience very over powering, boomy bass aka bass bloat.
Thanks for answering. Before the Carver I had a Pioneer SX-1010. I sold it and bought the Carver because the it was one of the earliest high powered AV receivers and I wanted to go that route. This was before center channels, sub outputs and Dolby Surround. They used a proprietary circuitry called Sonic Holography that actually sounds pretty cool on some music tracks that are recorded less than optimally. The Carver is a beast at 150W per channel and drives my Klipsch RP-160Ms effortlessly. I recently took it out of a box in the basement where it’s lived for 25 years, hooked up my Technics SL-1600 turntable and an old JVC CD player, bought the Klipsch and have been rediscovering my music library. Now I want to get a decent pair of headphones thus the question as to whether the HD 559s would work with the Carver. If not I may purchase a decent DAC/amp combo. Any recommendations?
@@Dano-MX5 SX 1010? Classic receiver! Are you wanting the 599 for any particular reason? Personally, for Sennheisers, I'd be looking at the HD6xx available from Drop or even better an old HD250, which is one of my very favorite headphones at any price. If your Carver is using a high value resistor it will drive both the 6xx and HD250 very easily, and will sound great as well. What genres of music do you listen to primarily? And what's your budget for HPs as well as DAC/amp? For a DAC/amp I like the Audio GD R2R-11, which has a very nice warm sound due to the R2R DAC inside, and the amp is fairly strong at its price point as well. If you want to buy separates, something from Schiit is a solid choice. They have huge name recognition within the hobby so if there comes a time to sell them, it will be quite easy.
I listen mostly to rock n roll, blues and Americana. I dabble in some jazz and classical music but my Apple Music library is 95% the first 3 categories. As far as headphones go I originally looked into the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Bluetooth. Great reviews on the sound but buggy software…and just like my cars I want physical buttons, not touch controls. I’m old school. Thus my research led me back to old school wired HPs. Since I will just be using them at home I prefer the open back over closed and truthfully assumed I’d need a DAC/amp. I was trying to not spend more than $300-$350 total. Right now the 599s are on Amazon for $119 and we’re originally $249. The 6xx would consume my budgeted amount and if they could run off my Carver that would be great. I suppose I could buy a cheap DAC/amp like the FX Audubon DAC X6. $60
@@Dano-MX5 I listen to a lot of the same music as you. You're going to want something with great mids. Take a look at my review of the AKG K240 sextetts, which can typically be had for around $100.00 used, which is the only way to buy the Sextetts as they've been discontinued for nearly fifty years. ua-cam.com/video/wDkEYORrJu8/v-deo.html I have headphones that retail for over $3000.00, yet my Sextetts still get headtime for me, in fact I like them so much I have 4 pairs!
so what about a dac? you still need one correct? to connect a computer to it you certainly dont want to aux --> rca. then you're dealing with onboard sound
Need a DAC? No. But youre correct,running off of the motherboard direct into an amp or receiver can be noisy. A DAC is always helpful. I will be posting a new video shortly on a wonderful DAC. Its silly expensive,but a real game changer if you already have end game headphones and amp and youre tired of chasing the perfect sound..
HeadKarma great, thanks for answering all my questions. this is a pretty unexplored topic on youtube. there’s certainly not a lot of people who consider using a vintage receiver as an amp. you can purchase speaker wire to rca for use with any speakers, use rca to aux cable for any computer, and have additional inputs (such as phono) all in one. i came across an older Realistic model today and it works like a charm. sounds fantastic (w a good dac). an old receiver (BESIDES MICA ORIGAIN) is the only way i know to have your computer audio alongside your turntable running through the same speakers / headphones. no other way to do it and keep a good consistent sound.
amen about vintage stuff driving bass better - my Pioneer SA-7500 has the most robust bass I've heard once I engage the tone control. One of the reasons I tell people to use analog EQ over software, there's no program that can drive up source bass like that, but a turn of the bass tone control and it punches your teeth out.
i m really liking the idea of vintage receivers lately. I cant say anything about the audio quality yet tho. But for example a Sony STRDE945 like stated below, i can straight up buy for 80 euros right now. And since in my overall setup i m currently planning, with all the digital stuff coming from my pc through a dac but i also want to explore old school media, like vinyl or tape or cds because those are super cheap nowadays so you can mess around with it. But the setup becomes SO MUCH more complicated if i want to be able to also listen to that stuff on my headphones. And i dont like if things become super complicated.
Theres really nothing complicated to it. Use RCA cables to connect gear to an input, any input really, except for PHONO. Phono needs to have a turntable connected to it, otherwise use AUX or any other input and you're golden.
@@headkarma yeah, i mean it gets complicated in a way if you want to use headphones (on modern solutions at least) When you re around reddits and stuff, they throw a batallion full of dacs and amps at you and they all cost like a shitton on money, its not even funny lol. Maybe some people are some secret millionaires but theres no chance i m paying like 1000 bucks for a fancy tube headphone amp. What sort of dac would you recommend tho?
@@headkarma do you think a zen dac2 would still be a good idea? Because based on how inexpensive those are, it will give me a lot of options. i can plug a vintage receiver onto its preamp outs and use the headphone amps of the vintage receiver and the ones of the zen dac and its balanced outputs at the same time. so that would be awesome aswell for comparisons in quality. or should i opt for something else?
@@MaybeTiberius depends upon your budget, headphones, musical tastes and personal preferences. If you have bright headphones and/or like a vinyl-like sound (Beyerdynamics, HD800, etc) a R2R DAC might be the best way to go. If you prefer a tight, clean, digital sound and/or have warm headphones, a delta sigma DAC might be your best bet. Generally speaking D/S DACs measure better than R2R DACs, but that isnt necessarily always a good thing. Tube amps and DACs inject something called 2nd order harmonics into the sound, which is where the tube magic comes from. When you have an amp or DAC that measures 0.0001 THD you will get a very clean sound devoid of distortion, but it also strips out the 2nd order harmonics as well. This is why vintage re4ceivers sound so good. They typically have a relatively high THD, along the lines of 0.1%
@@headkarma i do listen to a broad range of music. From all sorts of electronic genres, to different types of metal, to some low fi and jazz all the way to some old stuff, clapton, genesis, sting.. that sort of stuff. I m using a HD6xx (or will use, since its on the way) so not sure what dac to get for it yet. also any recommended receivers to go along with them, that are kind of available? Because i noticed some of the vintage stuff you find a shitton of for very cheap, and some are super rare and expensive
There's not much info out there on your amp, other than it's a 30 watt amp from the early 1970s. 0.1 THD is pretty standard for that era, which means it should have a 70's nice tube-like sound. Try poking around on Audiokarma.org for more info.
vintage receivers did not use opamps. An inline resistor was used, tapping off of the main amp, so the same amp driving your speakers is whats driving your headphones.
I appreciate this video greatly, as a newcomer to the hobby there's a lot of confusion/misinformation. I have a very nice Marantz 2238B paired with a Marantz 6350Q turntable which I absolutely love. I'm just getting into the headphone side of things, starting with some cheap Grado SR80x's. I do like them, but I also don't have anything better to compare them to. After watching this, I'm starting to think this is a poor pairing. Any recommendations on headphone pairing for the 2238? What about a DAC? Thanks!
Hi, and thanks for the comment. Yes, the Grado is low impedance, which doesnt match well with HP jack impedance output of your Marantz. Most likely the bass sounds boomy and bloated. Headphones you may want to consider that would work well with your receiver: Sennheiser HD600, 650, 6xx, HD800, HD540, HD250 ZMF-all of them Beyerdynamic- DT770, 880, 990( all 250 or 600 ohm versions) T1( 1st or 2nd gen) vintage AKG K240 sextetts, K240 DF
RE: the DAC, that depends on your personal preferences and headphones that you end up choosing. Essentially there are two different types of DACs. Delta Sigma and R2R DACs. Generally speaking, D/S DACs tend to be brighter and have a more digital sound with etched edges. R2R DACs tend to be warmer and more analog sounding, with rounded edges. If you choose a warm headphone, like the ZMFs or HD650 or HD600, you may want a D/S DAC to balance the sound out a bit. If you choose a brighter headphone, like the Beyer T1 or DT series, or HD800, those headphones are brighter sounding, so a R2R DAC might be best to, again, even out the sound. Now if you're a person who likes super warm or super bright, then choose accordingly.
What sound signatures would you get from Sony & Akai receivers? And are integrated amps also worth looking into? I have a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 880 Premiums (600Ω) powered by the Desktop Objective2 with ODAC Rev B & while they sound great, I've been convinced that vintage receivers are my end game. Also is going below 40W really that detrimental to power delivery? Thanks for this video, by the way. - Alice
Hi Alice. Thanks for the question. The Akai that I own and the Sony's Ive heard have been on the brighter side of things, which might not be the best match for an already bright headphone like the DT880. I'd prefer something warmer like a Sansui or a Marantz, but I prefer a warmer sound overall, so YMMV. I dont think there's anything inherently wrong with smaller amps or receivers driving headphones its just that my Marantz 2226b (26 wpc) gets trounced by all of my other larger receivers in sound quality. Finally theres nothing wrong with using a an integrated for headphones. They will drive your Beyers just as good as a receiver will, but I prefer the looks and lights of a receiver.
@@headkarma Thanks for the quick response, and yes I am looking for a warmer sound signature so the Marantz & Sansui receivers & integrated amplifiers are probably what I want. Receivers do look very pretty, but Australia suffers from a lack of used supply and we're in lockdown so I might just have to stick with an integrated amplifier despite receivers looking incredibly beautiful. Again, thanks for the quick response, Alice
Oh, and I almost forgot - what sound signature could I expect from vintage Yamaha receivers & integrated amplifiers? I wouldn't want to cross out brands that might be what I'm looking for
Hi. Im confused about what reciver should i get for my vintage Sharp HP 300, 8 ohm headphones. People on internet saying that it needs vintage reciver for best sound, now i hear from you that vintage recivers are not good for any hedphones under 32 ohm. I would appreciate any recommendation about recivers for Sharp HP 300.
I have never heard them,and a quick Google didnt reveal much either. Theres one comment on Head-Fi from 2012 where a member says they have very little bass and quite mid forward aka pyramid shape. Ive had a couple other vintage headphones that fit that sound description. Im going to guess that theyre sensitivity is rather low,coupled with the fact that theyre from the early 1970s,vintage receivers will probably be your best bet. When I said that low ohm headphones arent a good match for receivers I am referring to modern headphones that are designed to be plugged into a mobile phone. Unless youre into pyramid shape sounding headphones I wouldnt stress the receiver brand all that much. If you know theyre general sound that will help decide. If theyre warm look for a Pioneer,Kenwood,Sony,Akai or Onkyo. If theyre bright look for a Sansui or Marantz. Again you dont need a big receiver to drive headphones,so no reason to spend a lot of cash.
@@headkarma Thanks for explanation. I could get more or less all reciver brands you mentoned on my local craigslist. Details like pyramid shape sounding, warm look or bright look are dont play big role to me. Only thing i care to find reciver is old enough that have resistor instead built-in amp. If you have spare time please tell me if you like any reciver on this page www.olx.ba/pretraga?trazilica=+pojacalo&stanje=0&vrstapregleda=tabela&sort_order=desc&kanton=12
I sure wish I knew the impedance of my old receiver's headphone jack I have a 1989 Technics SA-GX100. No one can tell me--and I emailed the manufacturer. Right now, I am using 30 year-old Sony headphones. They sound good., but... Thanks
==== UPDATE ==== I got a Marantz 2254, simply superb as amp for my headphones. Now couple of dumb questions and totally out of respect of our expertise: 1. Can it handle 3-way speakers? Do I gain more with a 4-way 2. When to use MAIN or REMOTE speakers? anything to gain using both at the same time ( I imagine same x-way speakers)?
Ive used vintage receivers to drive huge floorstanders. The more important question is what ohms are your speakers? 4,6 or 8? On the rear of your Marantz it should say what min impedance it can handle. Music is 2 channel, unless its a 5.1 CD, in which case you would need a modern multi channel decoder. There is zero benefit to playing 2.0 music out of anything other than a single L/R set up. The only time you would use B or C speakers output is if you're connecting a powered sub woofer in addition to the main speakers.
@@headkarma Currently using 2-way 8 Ohms speakers. It can handle 4 to 8 Ohms My bad, Marantz is 2245, so it can only handles up to 45 W speakers. Not sure if purchase a 3-way or go with 4-way but my understanding is that I wont benefit a lot using 4-way.
Theyre all modern receivers. Pick which one you like the looks of. Theyre all going to be using an opamp, which isnt what you want for a good headphone stage.
@@Smallgreyball sure, but what are the HP section stats? Unless any of those receivers are using an in-line resistor as opposed to an op-amp to drive headphones I wouldnt be impressed. I own two modern AVRs, both were over $1K. A Yamaha and a NAD. Neither sound good via the HP stage, whereas all of my vintage receivers rock the hell out of HPs. If you can find a modern AVR that uses a resistor tapping off of the speaker amp thats the one I'd buy.
@@headkarma www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/yamaha-a-s701-tear-down-thoughts-about-the-internals-few-measurements.9459/ here is an in-depth review of YAMAHA A-S701. Yes, they did actually used the main amp signal with 470 omh resistors to feed the headphone out.
I found and serviced my Grandfathers old harmon kardon 730 . As you mentioned all of my headphones currently are low impedance and sound like trash. I have $300 what phones do you suggest ?
Thanks very much for the great info. I'm in a rabbit hole trying to sort out a headphone situation so I can listen to my turntable and not annoy my wife and neighbors in our small apartment. I have a 1973 Sony STR-7045 receiver that I inherited from my father, had a local guy clean it up for me, and I'm running our turntable through it. I think it's fairly low on wattage (30?). Trying to sort out a decent mid-priced set of headphones that will sound good through the Sony receiver. Any suggestions? Thanks again. Great video.
@@headkarmaThanks! I'm kind of all over the place--rock (classic and new), motown and stax soul, jazz, electronic, hiphop, avant-garde, classical, name it, really. So, I guess I'm trying to find something fairly general for now since I can't afford to get headphones per genre (not mention that I'd have to explain it to my wife--I already spend too much money on vinyl!)
@@jgladson6935 youre best bet would most likely be the Sennheiser HD6xx( or HD650...same headphone) from Drop. It was a warm sound, great mids, slightly boosted midbass for a bit of thump, and at 300 ohms its perfect for your old Sony.
@@headkarma thanks again! I have sennheiser pxc550 bluetooth for traveling and phone calls, and those have been great. I'll take a look at the HD6xx for the home stereo setup. Very much appreciated.
Hmmm. Good question. Ive never heard a 150 ohm headphone before. 250-600 ohms all sound great via a vintage receiver. Im guessing it would work,but I would suggest trying them out on any receiver before you buy it and get it home and all that you hear is a lot of bloated bass.
If I buy the HD6XX would there be any reason for me to buy the HD 600? I hear that the 600's has a greater emphasis on detail and neutrality than the 6xx/650 which is what I like.
The 600 is def more of a neutral sound vs. the 650,which has more of a mid bass emphasis,but I dont think the differences are so great that it warrants owning both. I personally do not like owning redundant sounding headphones. I like headphones that are quite different sounding from each other. If you buy the 6xx I would look into an AKG or perhaps Beyer for a vastly different sound signature. Assuming youre using a vintage receiver to drive them,the K240 sextett or DT880 or DT990(either 250 or 600 ohm) will sound very good.
@@headkarma Thanks a lot for your response! My concern about buying this headphones was that they will sound so similar. It's settled I am going to buy the HD600! And yes I am planning on powering them with a vintage receiver if I may ask which ones are the best for this headphones?
@@truthseekingtroll3575 The HD600 is a bit on the warm side. Its been many years since I owned it,but if its detail youre wanting,I dont tthink its that great for detail. Its a very good sounding headphone,but I kinda got bored of it rather quickly. IMO a bright receiver would work best. Something like a Yamaha,Sony,Pioneer,Akai or Onkyo would work best.
@@truthseekingtroll3575 I agree with HeadKarma on the HD600 pairing. They will sound great with anything but when I listened to my Yamaha AV with them some of the electronic music (newfangled stuff I'm not really into) blew me away.
As someone who really doesn't know a lot about audio, hi-fi equipment etc., is there a reason why you're specifically referring to vintage receivers and not vintage amplifiers in general? Wouldn't vintage amplifiers by the same manufacturers have the same quality with headphones as any vintage receivers, as long as the input is the same?
Seems to me that you give tons of information on vintage receivers , but not much information about where to buy Headphones that will sound good with them . Do you buy vintage headphones ? What brands can you buy today that sound good with an old receiver ? You show all the buttons of your receiver but I only see the cord to your headphones.
My bad, as I mentioned in the video, any high impedance headphones, 250-600 ohms, such as, ZMF Aeolus, Atticus, Verite open, Verite closed, Atrium, Eikon, Auteur, Auteur classic. Beyerdynamic DT770, DT880, DT990, T1- note: these come in various impedances. Sennheiser HD600, HD650, HD6xx, HD700, HD800, HD820, HD250, HD540 AKG K240 sextett, K240 DF, K340 There are others i'm forgetting, but thats a good start.
I have a Sony STRDE945 and the sound on my Sennheiser HD650 is way better than with my JDS Labs Atom Amp. I'm not talking just a little i'm talking miles better. I have not tried out more headphone amps but I believe most headphone amp users have never plugged their headphones into a decent receiver to tell which one is better. You can pick up a good used STRDE945 for around $125. I have 2 of them I paid less than $100 for on ebay. The only problem is they take up way more space than a headphone amp.
Can you help please?
I can buy a Sony Str-De 675 used, looks like its from the same series. Will it do justice to my hd600?
@@Smallgreyball Probably. Just don't pay over $80 for it.
This is the comment I've been looking for all week.
I have been going bonkers thinking I apparently need a DAC for my new headphones I just ordered.
(I'm getting the same as you have but from massdrop 6XX. and also have the Hifiman Sundara's in my cart as backup)
The receiver I currently have is the Sony STR-DH790's. Came out about 4 years ago. Not exactly as old and awesome as yours.
Could anyone help trying to figure this out?
Audiophiles laugh at me because I don't think I need a DAC. But I could Spend $120 or so if needed
Nice informative video.
I was blown away last year after I picked up a Sunsui G7500 and connected my Kef ls50 speakers to them. Then I connected my HD 600 and 650 and planars to the hp output...wow
I couldn't agree more!
hd600 and 650 are not planar headphones and rather dynamic
Nice video %100 agree with you. I'm using HD600 with Kenwood KR5600 since childhood and recently with Marantz PM5004, sound is amazing. IMO the only con with the vintage amps for headphone using is the noise you can hear when focusing.
So glad to find a UA-camr flying the flag for vintage audio! What you said also goes for the receiver manufacturers' amps of the same era - I get the best results from a Luxman L-113a I've owned since the mid-80. The Trio (Kenwood) KR-55L receiver, KA-60 amp and Technics SU-8044 amp come very close, while a Hitachi SR-2000L is a bit less detailed but slightly warmer-sounding. Even a budget JVC JA-S10 - though lacking in top-end detail - delivers great tone and rock-solid bass.
I'm also using vintage planar headphones - a stereo-modded pair of Yamaha HP-50s and a pair of audio technica ATH-2s. They're not too hard to find on eBay - and they're very affordable!
An excellent presentation. I liked your 1979 cut off date which is when they started replacing the toroidal transformers with switching transformers to save weight and cost. Amp sound quality became worse after that.
Great video! Glad to see someone stand up for vintage gear! I have a 1977 marantz 2215b and a 2238b and everyone keeps telling me I need a headphone amp but what they don’t understand is how insane the build quality on 70s receives where, if my receivers can wake up the neighbors 5 streets over then I think they can handle some headphones
Yeah lots of people just are not aware of how good the old beasts sound. And they Def can rock headphones
Found my old Harman Kardon HK3500 from 1991 and started using it to drive my HD6XX/HD650 and it sounds absolutely wonderful...I wish I had used it earlier, it would have saved me from not buying a headphone DAC and tube amp.
Glad I could help,and appreciate the feedback from you.
@@headkarma Thank you for such a great and informative video! I was really impressed with the way you conducted your topics. It's quite clear how knowledgeable you are about audio, very much a no-BS all facts kind of deal, I definitely look forward to more content from you!
Very informative... can't wait to learn more! I've subscribed
Great video, I love this approach to the sound! I am on D7200 & Denon PMA-800 although its new the vintage spirit is there and the sound is total addiction. Its time I am going to check my dad's basement he has tons of stuff from 60s / 70s audio gear. Happy Listening 🙂
Great summary!!!! I have been preaching your sermon for years on Headfi and UA-cam. With the HE6, there is NO WAY to get better sound than a Vintage receiver other than MEGAbuck high end speaker separates from the likes of Pass, Bryston, Krell and a few others. My little 50w Marantz of roughly 100 bucks (before restoration) run CIRCLES around headphone (mini)amps costing 50x as much. Unbelieveable.....
I own a sansui 771 and was just using it the other day as a headphone amp and was very impressed, and then I found this video, how interesting
The emotiva basx A-100 uses old school style headphone jack like vintage receivers it shares the speaker output.
I really enjoyed this video because everything you mentioned covered all the bases about why a vintage receiver is king for modern headphones. I own a JVC VR-5551 and it comes with their own proprietary S.E.A. graphic equalizer built into the unit. Only five bands of attenuation but good enough. I also bought a modern cheap a/v receiver and a Class A balanced headphone amp for a decent price as well.
Everything you've said in this video is correct and concise. The JVC wins outright by default with its capability and features. The balanced headphone amp sounds exactly the same as the JVC with the loudness feature turned off and the modern a/v receiver sounds like crap with the op amps.
I own a pair of Sennheiser HD 600's and 800's along with a pair of Monoprice M1060's (couldn't afford Audeze's at the time) and ALL of them sound fantastic on the JVC.
Thanks for the video and your opinions, keep up the great work 👍
Thanks for the feedback. Its appreciated!
Would my Beyerdynamic DT-1990 pro 250Ohm headphones work well with a Luxman L-410 amp (1982). And does the Luxman have a resistor type headphone jack mmain amp step down?
Thanks
Assuming that your Luxman uses a resistor, yes 250 ohms should sound excellent. Whether or not your specific Luxman uses a resistor or not, I don't know. Google your amp and see if the HP stage is covered in any online manuals or not. You can always ask over on Audiokarma too
@headkarma I found the schematics for luxman l-410. It shows a resistor on left and right just before the headphone jack.
Should I assume it's a good sign?
@@chrischurchus3448 yep!
Planars are low impedance as well, but still have low sensitivity and require more power. What you dont want to use on vintage receivers is low impedance high sensitivity headphones
Hello, this is a great review. Thank you.
I own Sansui 881 like you. Last month, I bought a Focal Elegia headphone which is 35 ohm with a sensitivity of 105mm DB.
I plugged them into Sansui 881 and the sound character of the Elegia has changed a lot in a better way. It is not a bass heavy headphone but when I plugged it to Sansui I can hear the sub bass easily, especially I turn on the loudness. And the bass is not disturbing the mids, now Elegia sounds very similar to my Bose 901 Series II speakers. The max volume that I am using is 8'o clock.
As long as I stay at max 8'o clock level of volume, do you think my amp will break the headphone?
Best
Hard to say honestly. Focals in general tend to suffer from driver failures, so I would proceed with caution
Great video. Thanks for all the info
Recently, I have tried an interesting experiment. A few days ago, a good friend of mine decided to give me his old vintage Akai receiver AA-930. When I got it and started playing with it, I noticed that you can connect an external pre-amplifier directly to the inner power amplifier inside the receiver. I decided to try and connect my Topping L30ii and I was shocked that the sound signature changed drastically towards the signature of the Topping amplifier. The thing is, this way, you can drive high-demand headphones and still enjoy the sound signature of, for example, a modern IC amplifier combined with vintage transistors. I tried an OLT tubes amplifier as well. However, for some reason, the OLT gives high-gain volume and the volume controller becomes very sensitive. You touch it and it goes to an unbearable high volume. Have you tried something similar?
I have not, but it sounds interesting.
I have an old Akai reciever as well, the AA-1150. It's one of my favs.
@@headkarma I assume that the AA-1150 and AA-930 share the same sound signature. Yes, it sounds great. The combination with the Topping L30 makes the signal much cleaner from background noises. The only drawback is that all the control buttons on the receiver become "useless" even the volume control. Thus, you lose control over the bass and the treble. However, the extension on both sides is noticeably enhanced.
@@headkarma Can you use a headphone that is 18Ohms on a vintage receiver? I am interested in buying a pair of Sennheiser model E815S headphones but i am not sure about the 18 Ohms requirement?
I know most vintage headphones were 8 Ohms. And vintage receivers can handle up to 16Ohms.
Thank you
@@SDsailor7 I have never tried an 18 ohm headphone on a vintage receiver, but my gut instinct says "No"
Regular 32 ohm headphones get a bad case of impedance mismatch on my receivers, typically resulting in bass bloat, so I would assume that would be the case if you tried an even lower impedance headphone, but that is just speculation on my part.
I'm curious to hear your findings.
@@headkarma normally what Ohms are the newer headphones ranges in ohms?
I have a pair of Bose 25 that I haven't tested on my vintage receiver because the 1/4 in adapter won't fit the 3.5 on the headphones. I also have the KossAAA vintage headphones and those sound great on my receiver. I never thought about the newer headphones and the issues concerning Ohms.
I am just begging to realize that it does.
Great informative video!
I have a question, please. You might have talked about it during the video without me paying attention. Could vintage tube receivers provide good quality for vintage headphones (Such as Sennheiser HD 250 and HD 540) compared to modern OTL tube amplifiers? What about Bass and Treble extension? if so, do you have recommendations for such a receiver?
I do have Creek cas4040, which is from the eighties but still provides enough power for my vintage headphones but I liked tube amplifiers more than solid states.
Thank you in advance,
Qusay
To be honest I've never listened to a vintage tube amp before, so I honestly don't know
Good stuff! Thanks for the video and info! Now it's time to find a Sansui, for my Aeolus. . .
Glad I could help. You may want to consider a brighter receiver for the Aeolus,which is pretty warm. The Sansui 881 is pretty warm. My Sansui 5000a is much too warm.
Will do. Thanks again!
Great video!! I just bought a nice Pioneer SX 636. Amazing with my old Realistic LAB 500 TT on vintage speakers or my newer Elac bookshelfs. I'm looking at AKG 240 600 ohm Austrian made version, probably 30+ years old. Open back, thinking maybe a good combo. Seems with your video a good combo. What do you think? Facepalm. Just watched your review and did not know they were referred to as sextet. Obviously these will be sweet. You are awesome, thank you!
There are a quite a few k240 models out there. Not all are sextetts.
I would watch my sextetts review and check out the link to the sextett buying guide before pulling the trigger
@@headkarma your sextett video and buying guide is really good. They appear to be LP. All silver badges, no DF, Studio, Monitor etc on them. Under the cups they are white radiators so LP I think. Band doesn't have the holes is really all I see that isn't same though maybe for later production LP?
@@scottpatrick541 yeah, def LP
Tested
PC-->DAC (Schiit Modi 3+/Audioengine D1) -->AMP ( Schiit Magni 3/Sony AX401)--> HD 820
Using only FLAC files
The DAC brand performs almost equally.
Schiit AMP drives the 820 like monster, sound is superb and volume get truly high. However, Sony AX401 performs equally, I little better I would say on audio clarity (doesnt add anything and the equalizer set to 0) but the volume is much higher than Schiit . One can say becouse is the entry level AMP and is solid state. I did tested a tube version, no much difference.
Im happy using the AX401 as my AMP, will get on of these days a much more vintage one just to enjoy old high receivers as amps.
The Schiit AMP allows me to listen clearly The Friends Of Mr. Cairo but the AX401 gives me more volume to even enjoy it more.
So thanks @HeadKarma for a great advice.
@headkarma or others, could you recommend a few vintage 70’s receivers that provide good value and would be fairly easy to source?
hard to say what receivers are easy to source. Your best bet is eBay or Craigslist.
Are you wanting to drive just headphones, or speakers as well?
So I am just getting a little confused here, you said that planars work great with vintage, but does that automatically remove the fact the planar is 50 ohms? Like the HE6.
Or does this strictly just apply to dynamic drivers with lower impedance.
yes, low impedance dynamic driver headphones sound bloated in the bass dept. Planars typically do not. Many owners of the original HE6 used the speaker taps of vintage receivers to drive them. I used to own the an Audeze LCD2.1 as well as a HE500,and reviewed a few other planars and all sounded very good via headphone jack of old receivers.
I have a Sansui G-2000 and have been looking to get some headphones for it. Thanks for the Planar recommendation. I'm looking at the HIFIMAN Arya | Stealth Edition and the HIFIMAN Ananda Open-Back Planar Magnetic Headphones for my receiver.
Edit: Looked into the Arya headphones and they are easier to drive so that might not be a good idea.
although planars will def work on a vintage receiver, they sound better on a dedicated HP amp. You're best bet for a vintage receiver is a dynamic driver HP between 250-600 ohms
@@headkarma Gotcha. I think I'm gonna go with beyerdynamic DT 990 Edition 600 Ohm Over-Ear-Stereo Headphones. Can't wait to jam out to some metal on some headphones for my vintage receiver. Thanks again!
@@GamingNiche do yourself a favor, skip the DT990 and grab an AKG K240 sextett, especially for metal.
Check out the video I did on them. You can thank me later
Will a Sony str-de325 be enough to drive a pair of dt880 600 ohms? I'm planning on using that while I save for a lake people g103-s, amplifier!
Btw: Normally I use my dt770 80 ohms with an ifi hip dac, but I tried the receiver and holy shit! Sounds way better:) which is kind of weird considering that the hip dac should be enough to drive them, and get the most out of them. Now I'm a bit worried though, the reciever have 80w per channel, so can this receiver break my headphones? I mean a bit scared if using it!
Hey Elliot, thats hard to say as im not familiar with that particular receiver. It looks to be a newer than a 60's or 70s model .
TBH, the DT880 isnt too ineffiecient but it will def require more volume than your DT770.
As far as damaging your DT770, I wouldnt worry about it unless you're over driving the headphones to the point of distortion.
Can you install amp tubes inside of vintage receivers? Can you control their ohm output? Can you connect them to a computer? If yes them I am completely sold.
Some of the older pre-1970 receivers used tubes. Fisher had some nice ones,but I've never owned one,so I dont know how it would sound with headphones. I suspect it would work very well.
To control the ohm you would need an ohm step up/down adapter that would go into the jack.
Im very interested in doing this and taking the plunge into a 70s vintage stereo . I have 6xx headphones , im wondering how is the sound different in a vintage compared to todays headphone amps ?
The 6xx and its 300 ohm impedance, is a great match for a vintage receiver. It would be impossible to match the sound, not to mention the versatility of a vintage piece without dropping a significant amount more on a modern dedicated HP amp.
Very interesting information. I have an old Sony TA-AX22 that my father bought in 1982 (no idea if it was crap or not). The maximum output is 60 watt, I connected it directly to my pc using an aux->rca cable and it works. There's a bit of noise, in the comments is mentioned that it would be better to place a DAC in the middle (but I don't have a DAC). Do you think that my old amp would work well with a set of AKG-612 Pro headphones? Their impedance is 150 ohm. I tried the amp with a pair of crappy Sony headphones (impedance 32 ohm), they work but there is too much emphasis on the low frequencies.
Yes the bloated bass on the Sony headphones is due to impedance mismatch. Bloated bass is the common result.
As far as the AKG K612 goes, im guessing it will sound much better than the Sony does. I havent heard your amp. but the deciding factor would be what resistor value Sony used in that model. Give them a try.
@@headkarma thanks...I have opened the chassis of the amplifier and I took a photo of the single op amp that there is on the PCB. Here it is ibb.co/bgM372k
I have a question I have been trying to find everywhere about vintage receivers. I have a NAD 3155 from 1985 (its basically a better 3120 that's from 1979, all analog). My question is, do these vintage amps have balanced audio coming from the headphone jack? I am asking because I will be replacing my AKG Sextett cable, and from what I hear, balanced is the best, but I would find it pointless if the amplifier didn't output balanced sound. Thanks!
Balanced would be a 4 pin XLR or 4.4 jack. Your NAD HP jack is a simple 6.3 SE jack, so I don't see how you would connect the Sextett to the NAD.
@@headkarma I thought 6.3 jacks could also be balanced? I am pretty sure I saw balanced jacks on those newer headphone amps
@@MINECRAFTandSEB no.
Some amps are balanced. Some amps have a balanced jack but puts out an unbalanced signal. They do that for convenience sake so you do not have to go buy a new cable.
If you look in the rear of your NAD, if it were capable of being balanced it would have XLR inputs. All of my vintage gear is single ended only, but my Cayin IHA 6 and Violectric V550 can be used either single ended or balanced, depending upon what signal it's taking in from the dac
@@headkarma oh okay, thank you very much for clearing that up. So basically the 1/4 inch aux jack is always an unbalanced signal?
@@MINECRAFTandSEB yes. RCA is unbalanced
I had a sony reciever that was from the 90's which was just one step below flagship of that line, the only difference was 20 extra watts per channel. The receiver had the typical sony issue of cold solder joints and as such channels that would not work most of the times unless you smacked the top of it until those channels would click on. Typical garbage soldering job from sony of that era.
Anyways while using it for speakers was frustrating to say the least the headphone out on it was truly something else and I have not heard another solid state amplifier drive headphones quite as well as that receiver did. It was a touch warm and highly dynamic and with a lot of headspace while being fast and with good bit of power or at least enough to drive my pair of HD 580's with authority. I kind of missed that as a headphone amp but it also dominated the desk and was beyond ridiculous as just a headphone amp. Thinking about it again makes me wanna go look up the specs and that model again just to get the headphone information and get a desktop friendly headphone amplifier that makes it's specs.
How can you hook up these old receivers to a computer?
Depends on what type of audio out jack your computer has. Assuming it's 3.5mm, something like this would work
www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/IPMB2R10--pro-co-ipmb2r-10-10-foot?mrkgadid=3274408774&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=gpla&mrkgbflag=0&mrkgcat=accessories&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=92700046938453139&lid=92700046938453139&ds_s_kwgid=58700005283136159&ds_s_inventory_feed_id=97700000007215323&dsproductgroupid=411460339091&product_id=IPMB2R10&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&device=m&network=g&matchtype=&adpos=largenumber&locationid=9004864&creative=249895767051&targetid=aud-842676327969%3Apla-411460339091&campaignid=1055581119&awsearchcpc=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA0eOPBhCGARIsAFIwTs7BkfEqcWc4uktShSXYz99p5NuRLb4i4aZXATwC59o_HmgvZiqZes4aApngEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Hello! Thank you for the video. Answered a few question I’ve had for a while. I currently own a McIntosh Mac4200 and i was curious if this receiver uses a resister or an op amp? Ik McIntosh has a very good reputation for high quality products but not too knowledgeable about this stuff. Thank you!
Its hard to say for 100% accuracy. The 4200 was built in 1986, so theres a pretty good chance it still used an in-line resistor. I have the 4100 and it uses a resistor.
Your best bet is to call McIntosh in NY and ask them
@@headkarma okay cool! I really appreciate the response!
One more question if you get a chance, do you recommend the same types of headphones on a mac4100? (For example high impedance or planar headphones). Reason why I ask is that the Mac 4200 owners manual says the headphone jack is designed for low impedance headphones.
@@MrEmanthedrummer oh....well that means its most likely an op amp. My 4100 drives 300 and 600 ohm headphones w/ a low sensitivity without breaking a sweat.
There are plenty of great sounding low impedance/ high sensitivity headphones these days. Focal makes good stuff as does Meze. In 1986 there were very few planar headphones out, so I'd be hesitant to recommend a planar to you, even though planars have a low impedance generally, but require current to sound good, so i'd stick with dynamic driver headphones.
If you want to run a little test you can grab 2 pairs of Beyerdynamic DT770 or DT990. Beyer offers these headphones in multiple impedances. You can grab a 32 ohm DT770 and a 250 ohm DT770 and see which performs the best out of your 4200. If you buy off of Amazon they have a liberal return policy so you can return one or both if you choose. I'm not a fan of the Beyer "house" sound, but AFAIK theyre the only company that offers the same headphone in various impedances.
Thanks for the really informative video. I’ve fallen down an internet rabbit hole trying to pair my Kenwood KA5500 amp with modern headphones, with most people advising me to buy a seperate headphone amp. I’m considering pairing either Fostex T60RP planar or Beyerdynamic DT 880 to listen to vinyl through my kenwood. What are your thoughts on those two? Any other headphones you would recommend with this amp? Many thanks
Thanks for the comment and question.
I own the Beyer DT880 and used to own the Fostex. TBH I dont like either one, but thats just my personal preferences in play. Most will agree that the DT880 is too bright and soulless, meanwhile i found the Fostex to be too warm and bass heavy. Theyre like the total opposites of one another.
The headphones that I own or have owned in the past that pair well with a vintage amp are
Sennheiser- HD600/650/6xx
Sennheiser-HD250
Sennheiser HD800
AKG K240 Sextetts, K240 DF
Pretty much every headphone ZMF makes
Beyer DT770/990/original T1
Pretty much most planars( but not all) and any dynamic headphone 250 ohms and higher will sound really good.
Let me know what types of music you prefer and your budget I can try to narrow that list down a bit.
@@headkarma thanks very much for the reply. I mostly listen to rock music (prog, punk, metal, classic rock) and a little bit of jazz and soul/funk. Budget is around $300 to $400.
@@wademoore353
Grab yourself a pair of AKG K240 Sextetts (MP version) and a Sennheiser HD6xx, then take your wife or GF out for a nice dinner with whats left over.
I reviewed the Sextetts on my UA-cam channel.
@@headkarma thank you for the suggestions! Cheers.
@@headkarma Hi! I recentley bought a pair of DT990 32Ohm heaphones. Using it with a '77 Toshiba SC/SY330 amplifier.It sounds good, though i'm not sure if I should change it to a higher impedence one DT990.What's your opinion, the 250Ohm or the 600Ohm version would be a better choice?
I have a vintage Carver AV100 receiver, circa 1980s. Do you know if they went the resistor route for the headphones? Also, I am considering the Sennheiser HD 599s, I think they are 120 ohm but not sure on that. Would they sound good on the Carver or is that a bad match?
Hey Dan, thanks for the question. I really have no experience with Carver gear, though the 1987 production date of that unit might be too late in the game for resistors to be used, but I'm just guessing.
I believe the HD599 is 50 ohms with a very high sensitivity. Chances are if your Carver is using an opamp it will sound fine. However if it's using an inline resistor you may experience very over powering, boomy bass aka bass bloat.
Thanks for answering. Before the Carver I had a Pioneer SX-1010. I sold it and bought the Carver because the it was one of the earliest high powered AV receivers and I wanted to go that route. This was before center channels, sub outputs and Dolby Surround. They used a proprietary circuitry called Sonic Holography that actually sounds pretty cool on some music tracks that are recorded less than optimally. The Carver is a beast at 150W per channel and drives my Klipsch RP-160Ms effortlessly. I recently took it out of a box in the basement where it’s lived for 25 years, hooked up my Technics SL-1600 turntable and an old JVC CD player, bought the Klipsch and have been rediscovering my music library. Now I want to get a decent pair of headphones thus the question as to whether the HD 559s would work with the Carver. If not I may purchase a decent DAC/amp combo. Any recommendations?
@@Dano-MX5 SX 1010? Classic receiver!
Are you wanting the 599 for any particular reason?
Personally, for Sennheisers, I'd be looking at the HD6xx available from Drop or even better an old HD250, which is one of my very favorite headphones at any price. If your Carver is using a high value resistor it will drive both the 6xx and HD250 very easily, and will sound great as well.
What genres of music do you listen to primarily? And what's your budget for HPs as well as DAC/amp?
For a DAC/amp I like the Audio GD R2R-11, which has a very nice warm sound due to the R2R DAC inside, and the amp is fairly strong at its price point as well.
If you want to buy separates, something from Schiit is a solid choice. They have huge name recognition within the hobby so if there comes a time to sell them, it will be quite easy.
I listen mostly to rock n roll, blues and Americana. I dabble in some jazz and classical music but my Apple Music library is 95% the first 3 categories. As far as headphones go I originally looked into the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Bluetooth. Great reviews on the sound but buggy software…and just like my cars I want physical buttons, not touch controls. I’m old school. Thus my research led me back to old school wired HPs. Since I will just be using them at home I prefer the open back over closed and truthfully assumed I’d need a DAC/amp. I was trying to not spend more than $300-$350 total. Right now the 599s are on Amazon for $119 and we’re originally $249. The 6xx would consume my budgeted amount and if they could run off my Carver that would be great. I suppose I could buy a cheap DAC/amp like the FX Audubon DAC X6. $60
@@Dano-MX5 I listen to a lot of the same music as you. You're going to want something with great mids. Take a look at my review of the AKG K240 sextetts, which can typically be had for around $100.00 used, which is the only way to buy the Sextetts as they've been discontinued for nearly fifty years.
ua-cam.com/video/wDkEYORrJu8/v-deo.html
I have headphones that retail for over $3000.00, yet my Sextetts still get headtime for me, in fact I like them so much I have 4 pairs!
so what about a dac? you still need one correct? to connect a computer to it you certainly dont want to aux --> rca. then you're dealing with onboard sound
Need a DAC? No. But youre correct,running off of the motherboard direct into an amp or receiver can be noisy.
A DAC is always helpful.
I will be posting a new video shortly on a wonderful DAC. Its silly expensive,but a real game changer if you already have end game headphones and amp and youre tired of chasing the perfect sound..
HeadKarma so what’s a fair price dac under $100 to pair w a receiver?
@@thestackcash01 best bet is a Schiit Modi 3. Its a bit above $100.00,and a clear step up in SQ from a computer motherboard
HeadKarma great, thanks for answering all my questions. this is a pretty unexplored topic on youtube. there’s certainly not a lot of people who consider using a vintage receiver as an amp. you can purchase speaker wire to rca for use with any speakers, use rca to aux cable for any computer, and have additional inputs (such as phono) all in one. i came across an older Realistic model today and it works like a charm. sounds fantastic (w a good dac). an old receiver (BESIDES MICA ORIGAIN) is the only way i know to have your computer audio alongside your turntable running through the same speakers / headphones. no other way to do it and keep a good consistent sound.
@@thestackcash01 You dont hear much about it mostly because there is no money in it for content creators,or the makers of the receivers themselves.
amen about vintage stuff driving bass better - my Pioneer SA-7500 has the most robust bass I've heard once I engage the tone control. One of the reasons I tell people to use analog EQ over software, there's no program that can drive up source bass like that, but a turn of the bass tone control and it punches your teeth out.
i m really liking the idea of vintage receivers lately. I cant say anything about the audio quality yet tho. But for example a Sony STRDE945 like stated below, i can straight up buy for 80 euros right now. And since in my overall setup i m currently planning, with all the digital stuff coming from my pc through a dac but i also want to explore old school media, like vinyl or tape or cds because those are super cheap nowadays so you can mess around with it. But the setup becomes SO MUCH more complicated if i want to be able to also listen to that stuff on my headphones. And i dont like if things become super complicated.
Theres really nothing complicated to it. Use RCA cables to connect gear to an input, any input really, except for PHONO. Phono needs to have a turntable connected to it, otherwise use AUX or any other input and you're golden.
@@headkarma yeah, i mean it gets complicated in a way if you want to use headphones (on modern solutions at least) When you re around reddits and stuff, they throw a batallion full of dacs and amps at you and they all cost like a shitton on money, its not even funny lol. Maybe some people are some secret millionaires but theres no chance i m paying like 1000 bucks for a fancy tube headphone amp. What sort of dac would you recommend tho?
@@headkarma do you think a zen dac2 would still be a good idea? Because based on how inexpensive those are, it will give me a lot of options. i can plug a vintage receiver onto its preamp outs and use the headphone amps of the vintage receiver and the ones of the zen dac and its balanced outputs at the same time. so that would be awesome aswell for comparisons in quality. or should i opt for something else?
@@MaybeTiberius depends upon your budget, headphones, musical tastes and personal preferences.
If you have bright headphones and/or like a vinyl-like sound (Beyerdynamics, HD800, etc) a R2R DAC might be the best way to go.
If you prefer a tight, clean, digital sound and/or have warm headphones, a delta sigma DAC might be your best bet.
Generally speaking D/S DACs measure better than R2R DACs, but that isnt necessarily always a good thing. Tube amps and DACs inject something called 2nd order harmonics into the sound, which is where the tube magic comes from. When you have an amp or DAC that measures 0.0001 THD you will get a very clean sound devoid of distortion, but it also strips out the 2nd order harmonics as well. This is why vintage re4ceivers sound so good. They typically have a relatively high THD, along the lines of 0.1%
@@headkarma i do listen to a broad range of music. From all sorts of electronic genres, to different types of metal, to some low fi and jazz all the way to some old stuff, clapton, genesis, sting.. that sort of stuff. I m using a HD6xx (or will use, since its on the way) so not sure what dac to get for it yet. also any recommended receivers to go along with them, that are kind of available? Because i noticed some of the vintage stuff you find a shitton of for very cheap, and some are super rare and expensive
I have a sony TA-1144 can you tell me about it . It was made in 1970
There's not much info out there on your amp, other than it's a 30 watt amp from the early 1970s. 0.1 THD is pretty standard for that era, which means it should have a 70's nice tube-like sound.
Try poking around on Audiokarma.org for more info.
Is there anyway to tell what kind of headphone amp is being used by any given receiver?
vintage receivers did not use opamps. An inline resistor was used, tapping off of the main amp, so the same amp driving your speakers is whats driving your headphones.
I appreciate this video greatly, as a newcomer to the hobby there's a lot of confusion/misinformation. I have a very nice Marantz 2238B paired with a Marantz 6350Q turntable which I absolutely love.
I'm just getting into the headphone side of things, starting with some cheap Grado SR80x's. I do like them, but I also don't have anything better to compare them to. After watching this, I'm starting to think this is a poor pairing.
Any recommendations on headphone pairing for the 2238? What about a DAC? Thanks!
Hi, and thanks for the comment. Yes, the Grado is low impedance, which doesnt match well with HP jack impedance output of your Marantz. Most likely the bass sounds boomy and bloated.
Headphones you may want to consider that would work well with your receiver:
Sennheiser HD600, 650, 6xx, HD800, HD540, HD250
ZMF-all of them
Beyerdynamic- DT770, 880, 990( all 250 or 600 ohm versions) T1( 1st or 2nd gen)
vintage AKG K240 sextetts, K240 DF
RE: the DAC, that depends on your personal preferences and headphones that you end up choosing.
Essentially there are two different types of DACs. Delta Sigma and R2R DACs. Generally speaking, D/S DACs tend to be brighter and have a more digital sound with etched edges.
R2R DACs tend to be warmer and more analog sounding, with rounded edges.
If you choose a warm headphone, like the ZMFs or HD650 or HD600, you may want a D/S DAC to balance the sound out a bit.
If you choose a brighter headphone, like the Beyer T1 or DT series, or HD800, those headphones are brighter sounding, so a R2R DAC might be best to, again, even out the sound.
Now if you're a person who likes super warm or super bright, then choose accordingly.
@@headkarma THANK YOU! For pointing me in the right direction (with both the Headphones and DAC)
What sound signatures would you get from Sony & Akai receivers? And are integrated amps also worth looking into? I have a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 880 Premiums (600Ω) powered by the Desktop Objective2 with ODAC Rev B & while they sound great, I've been convinced that vintage receivers are my end game.
Also is going below 40W really that detrimental to power delivery?
Thanks for this video, by the way.
- Alice
Hi Alice. Thanks for the question.
The Akai that I own and the Sony's Ive heard have been on the brighter side of things, which might not be the best match for an already bright headphone like the DT880.
I'd prefer something warmer like a Sansui or a Marantz, but I prefer a warmer sound overall, so YMMV.
I dont think there's anything inherently wrong with smaller amps or receivers driving headphones its just that my Marantz 2226b (26 wpc) gets trounced by all of my other larger receivers in sound quality.
Finally theres nothing wrong with using a an integrated for headphones. They will drive your Beyers just as good as a receiver will, but I prefer the looks and lights of a receiver.
@@headkarma Thanks for the quick response, and yes I am looking for a warmer sound signature so the Marantz & Sansui receivers & integrated amplifiers are probably what I want. Receivers do look very pretty, but Australia suffers from a lack of used supply and we're in lockdown so I might just have to stick with an integrated amplifier despite receivers looking incredibly beautiful. Again, thanks for the quick response,
Alice
Oh, and I almost forgot - what sound signature could I expect from vintage Yamaha receivers & integrated amplifiers? I wouldn't want to cross out brands that might be what I'm looking for
@@alicea8418 Are you a member of Head-Fi? If so drop me a PM there and I can connect you with a Sansui dude in Australia.
@@alicea8418 kinda the same as Akai and Sony, detailed and a bit on the bright side as is Pioneer.
Sansui and Marantz is where you want to look.
Hi. Im confused about what reciver should i get for my vintage Sharp HP 300, 8 ohm headphones. People on internet saying that it needs vintage reciver for best sound, now i hear from you that vintage recivers are not good for any hedphones under 32 ohm. I would appreciate any recommendation about recivers for Sharp HP 300.
I have never heard them,and a quick Google didnt reveal much either. Theres one comment on Head-Fi from 2012 where a member says they have very little bass and quite mid forward aka pyramid shape. Ive had a couple other vintage headphones that fit that sound description.
Im going to guess that theyre sensitivity is rather low,coupled with the fact that theyre from the early 1970s,vintage receivers will probably be your best bet. When I said that low ohm headphones arent a good match for receivers I am referring to modern headphones that are designed to be plugged into a mobile phone.
Unless youre into pyramid shape sounding headphones I wouldnt stress the receiver brand all that much.
If you know theyre general sound that will help decide.
If theyre warm look for a Pioneer,Kenwood,Sony,Akai or Onkyo.
If theyre bright look for a Sansui or Marantz.
Again you dont need a big receiver to drive headphones,so no reason to spend a lot of cash.
@@headkarma Thanks for explanation. I could get more or less all reciver brands you mentoned on my local craigslist. Details like pyramid shape sounding, warm look or bright look are dont play big role to me. Only thing i care to find reciver is old enough that have resistor instead built-in amp. If you have spare time please tell me if you like any reciver on this page www.olx.ba/pretraga?trazilica=+pojacalo&stanje=0&vrstapregleda=tabela&sort_order=desc&kanton=12
@@tvrtko84 I went through six pages on that site and did not see a single receiver from the 1970s.
Do you have access to eBay where you live?
I sure wish I knew the impedance of my old receiver's headphone jack I have a 1989 Technics SA-GX100. No one can tell me--and I emailed the manufacturer. Right now, I am using 30 year-old Sony headphones. They sound good., but... Thanks
==== UPDATE ====
I got a Marantz 2254, simply superb as amp for my headphones.
Now couple of dumb questions and totally out of respect of our expertise:
1. Can it handle 3-way speakers? Do I gain more with a 4-way
2. When to use MAIN or REMOTE speakers? anything to gain using both at the same time ( I imagine same x-way speakers)?
Ive used vintage receivers to drive huge floorstanders. The more important question is what ohms are your speakers? 4,6 or 8? On the rear of your Marantz it should say what min impedance it can handle.
Music is 2 channel, unless its a 5.1 CD, in which case you would need a modern multi channel decoder. There is zero benefit to playing 2.0 music out of anything other than a single L/R set up.
The only time you would use B or C speakers output is if you're connecting a powered sub woofer in addition to the main speakers.
@@headkarma Currently using 2-way 8 Ohms speakers. It can handle 4 to 8 Ohms
My bad, Marantz is 2245, so it can only handles up to 45 W speakers.
Not sure if purchase a 3-way or go with 4-way but my understanding is that I wont benefit a lot using 4-way.
What will you recomend for headphone use (the all cost the same here): 1) Pioneer vsx-d511-k, Pioneer vsx-418-s Yamaha RX-V357, JVC RX-5052S?
Theyre all modern receivers. Pick which one you like the looks of. Theyre all going to be using an opamp, which isnt what you want for a good headphone stage.
@@headkarma but Yamaha RX-V357 has 400 mwatts at 470 omhs at the rca output. Just like some models, which where praised in this comment section
@@Smallgreyball sure, but what are the HP section stats? Unless any of those receivers are using an in-line resistor as opposed to an op-amp to drive headphones I wouldnt be impressed.
I own two modern AVRs, both were over $1K. A Yamaha and a NAD. Neither sound good via the HP stage, whereas all of my vintage receivers rock the hell out of HPs.
If you can find a modern AVR that uses a resistor tapping off of the speaker amp thats the one I'd buy.
@@headkarma www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/yamaha-a-s701-tear-down-thoughts-about-the-internals-few-measurements.9459/
here is an in-depth review of YAMAHA A-S701.
Yes, they did actually used the main amp signal with 470 omh resistors to feed the headphone out.
@@Smallgreyball you should be golden with that AVR then!
I found and serviced my Grandfathers old harmon kardon 730 . As you mentioned all of my headphones currently are low impedance and sound like trash. I have $300 what phones do you suggest ?
Sennheiser 6xx for rock, blues, jazz, folk, etc...
Beyerdynamic DT770 or DT990 either 250 or 600 ohm for pop, hip/hop, EDM
or an AKG K240 sextett for rock & metal
Thanks very much for the great info. I'm in a rabbit hole trying to sort out a headphone situation so I can listen to my turntable and not annoy my wife and neighbors in our small apartment. I have a 1973 Sony STR-7045 receiver that I inherited from my father, had a local guy clean it up for me, and I'm running our turntable through it. I think it's fairly low on wattage (30?). Trying to sort out a decent mid-priced set of headphones that will sound good through the Sony receiver. Any suggestions? Thanks again. Great video.
What type of music do you enjoy? Do you like bright and detailed or warm and lush?
@@headkarmaThanks! I'm kind of all over the place--rock (classic and new), motown and stax soul, jazz, electronic, hiphop, avant-garde, classical, name it, really. So, I guess I'm trying to find something fairly general for now since I can't afford to get headphones per genre (not mention that I'd have to explain it to my wife--I already spend too much money on vinyl!)
That said, maybe more toward the warm/lush camp?
@@jgladson6935 youre best bet would most likely be the Sennheiser HD6xx( or HD650...same headphone) from Drop. It was a warm sound, great mids, slightly boosted midbass for a bit of thump, and at 300 ohms its perfect for your old Sony.
@@headkarma thanks again! I have sennheiser pxc550 bluetooth for traveling and phone calls, and those have been great. I'll take a look at the HD6xx for the home stereo setup. Very much appreciated.
hey... i have a sennheiser hd700 (150ohm) do you think i should invest my self on a good vintage amp?
Hmmm. Good question. Ive never heard a 150 ohm headphone before. 250-600 ohms all sound great via a vintage receiver. Im guessing it would work,but I would suggest trying them out on any receiver before you buy it and get it home and all that you hear is a lot of bloated bass.
If I buy the HD6XX would there be any reason for me to buy the HD 600? I hear that the 600's has a greater emphasis on detail and neutrality than the 6xx/650 which is what I like.
The 600 is def more of a neutral sound vs. the 650,which has more of a mid bass emphasis,but I dont think the differences are so great that it warrants owning both.
I personally do not like owning redundant sounding headphones. I like headphones that are quite different sounding from each other. If you buy the 6xx I would look into an AKG or perhaps Beyer for a vastly different sound signature.
Assuming youre using a vintage receiver to drive them,the K240 sextett or DT880 or DT990(either 250 or 600 ohm) will sound very good.
@@headkarma Thanks a lot for your response! My concern about buying this headphones was that they will sound so similar. It's settled I am going to buy the HD600! And yes I am planning on powering them with a vintage receiver if I may ask which ones are the best for this headphones?
@@truthseekingtroll3575 The HD600 is a bit on the warm side. Its been many years since I owned it,but if its detail youre wanting,I dont tthink its that great for detail. Its a very good sounding headphone,but I kinda got bored of it rather quickly.
IMO a bright receiver would work best. Something like a Yamaha,Sony,Pioneer,Akai or Onkyo would work best.
@@headkarma thanks.
@@truthseekingtroll3575 I agree with HeadKarma on the HD600 pairing. They will sound great with anything but when I listened to my Yamaha AV with them some of the electronic music (newfangled stuff I'm not really into) blew me away.
As someone who really doesn't know a lot about audio, hi-fi equipment etc., is there a reason why you're specifically referring to vintage receivers and not vintage amplifiers in general? Wouldn't vintage amplifiers by the same manufacturers have the same quality with headphones as any vintage receivers, as long as the input is the same?
You're correct. I prefer the looks of receivers over amps 🙂
What do you mean not the prettiest ? It looks good to me !
Agreed!
Nice 5570 I just got a 5580
Thanks
Seems to me that you give tons of information on vintage receivers , but not much information about where to buy Headphones that will sound good with them . Do you buy vintage headphones ? What brands can you buy today that sound good with an old receiver ? You show all the buttons of your receiver but I only see the cord to your headphones.
My bad, as I mentioned in the video, any high impedance headphones, 250-600 ohms, such as,
ZMF Aeolus, Atticus, Verite open, Verite closed, Atrium, Eikon, Auteur, Auteur classic.
Beyerdynamic DT770, DT880, DT990, T1- note: these come in various impedances.
Sennheiser HD600, HD650, HD6xx, HD700, HD800, HD820, HD250, HD540
AKG K240 sextett, K240 DF, K340
There are others i'm forgetting, but thats a good start.
@@headkarma Many , many thanks !
insert a simple passthrough box in a fake wood enclosure + VU meter
*- watch the hipster money roll in*