Headphone amp setup suggestions

[deck360degree]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the world of hi-fi listening and have a question for you. I'm currently running a Technics SL-1500c, Pro-Ject Tube Box S2 Preamp with NOS amperex made for medicine tubes, into Edifier Airpulse a100 powered speakers. I have a pair of Dan Clark Noire X in my shopping cart but I'm currently missing a headphone jack. I have devised this plan in my head to run the pre-amp into an RCA a/b switch and use a for the speaker output and b for a headphone amp. Questions:

1. Does this make sense?
2. If so, is there a particular RCA a/b switch that I should use?
3. Is there a particular headphone amp that would work in this setup? I want to be able to listen critically but would love the option to really have these headphones rip.
4. I listen to mostly classic rock, hip-hop, punk, post-hardcore, and r&b (a little of everything else).

I’ve tried the Schitt magni and sennheiser 660s2s in this configuration and not only were they super quiet, but any additional gain made them sound really distorted. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

 

[rcstevensonaz]

EDIT: I notice this is a brand new account, that has only posed this question. And a post that has included multiple statements that might be intended to "inflame" responses from the ASR crowd. Such as type of music making a difference for a headphone amp, or wanting to spend under $1,000 when a few bucks is sufficient.

You could also get any of the very large number of headphone amps that pass along RCA input to RCA outputs. Just look for ones that either pass the signal at line-out level or can act as a preamplifier, depending on how (and where) you want to control volume for the headphones and speakers.

Merely as an example, I have both a TOPPING A30PRO and a Monolith THX 887 for my headphone amps. Both can pass along input to output. In my case, I have devices that pass line-level signal since I control headphone volume at the headphone amp and my speaker volume via a different preamp device (RME ADI-2 Pro).

Note: you can also run this in the opposite direction if the preamp for your speakers can pass RCA output to your headphone amp.

 

[deck360degree]

You could also get any of the very large number of headphone amps that pass along RCA input to RCA outputs. Just look for ones that either pass the signal at line-out level or can act as a preamplifier, depending on how (and where) you want to control volume for the headphones and speakers.

Merely as an example, I have both a TOPPING A30PRO and a Monolith THX 887 for my headphone amps. Both can pass along input to output. In my case, I have devices that pass line-level signal since I control headphone volume at the headphone amp and my speaker volume via a different preamp device (RME ADI-2 Pro).

Note: you can also run this in the opposite direction if the preamp for your speakers can pass RCA output to your headphone amp.

Thank you! I should also clarify that I’m hoping to listen to the record player through the headphones and use the tube box pre amp - so I’ll need to pass the RCA through the switch - then into an amp. I don’t really want to spend more than 1k on an amp and was hoping that folks that had far more experience would be able to let me know if they had a combo in a similar setup that absolutely ripped. Really appreciate your suggestions and will check them out!

 

[rcstevensonaz]

Let's use TOPPING A30PRO, which is a very highly rated headphone amp an an example. The same would be true for my Monolith THX 887, which I prefer for human-factor functionality (but is no longer on the market).

There is no need for A/B switch since that function is provided by the Headphone Amp. As you can see from attached photo, the headphone amp includes both input RCA and a pass-through output RCA connection.

Audio Chain: Turntable -> Phono PreAmp -> Headphone Amp -> Speaker Preamp / Amp -> Speakers



Note: I am not going to touch on what you perceive as the amount to spend on a headphone amp; that is entirely up to you. I'm simply showing one option that eliminates the need for an A/B switch, if you were so interested.

 

[deck360degree]

Let's use TOPPING A30PRO, which is a very highly rated headphone amp an an example. The same would be true for my Monolith THX 887, which I prefer for human-factor functionality (but is no longer on the market).

There is no need for A/B switch since that function is provided by the Headphone Amp. As you can see from attached photo, the headphone amp includes both input RCA and a pass-through output RCA connection.

Audio Chain: Turntable -> PreAmp -> Headphone Amp -> Speaker Amp -> Speakers

View attachment 509878

Note: I am not going to touch on what you perceive as the amount to spend on a headphone amp; that is entirely up to you. I'm simply showing one option that eliminates the need for an A/B switch, if you were so interested.

Got it! That’s super helpful - thank you. They are powered speakers so I guess in this case it would just eliminate the need for a speaker amp? In this config would I still preserve the “tube sound” from the pre?

 

[rcstevensonaz]

Got it! That’s super helpful - thank you. They are powered speakers so I guess in this case it would just eliminate the need for a speaker amp? In this config would I still preserve the “tube sound” from the pre?

You still need to control the volume of the speakers somewhere; which is why I updated to indicated Speaker Preamp / Amp in that chain. The example of the A30PRO is line-out level only, it will not control the volume of audio over the RCA pass through. However, there are also plenty of headphone amps with RCA output that can act as the volume control (e.g., RCA preamp vs RCA pass through).

And in this chain (or with any decently-built A/B switch box), the audio quality is not being affected by the devices or the cables.