Headphone amplifier questions

[DelphiadEpopee]

Hi All

I have a Technics SL-1200MK2 & a Synthesis soprano tube amplfier. The soprano has no headphone out. I have a pair of Sennheiser HD599 which I use to listen to Maranntz CR610.

Question 1. Would the iFi Audio Zen CAN Headphone Amplifier be a good choice to allow me to listen to vinyl (Technics - soprano - iFi - headphones)? Any other suggestions? Elsewhere on this forum Jasonovich mentioned the XDUOO TA-66

Question 2. Would replacing my Sennheisers with the Grado SR325x be a good upgrade? Any other suggestions re upgrading the Sennheisers?

I suppose I'm just looking for assurance that all the components will complement each other and that there is no weak link or no component that is too 'good' for the rest

 

[VMAT4]

Hi All

I have a Technics SL-1200MK2 & a Synthesis soprano tube amplfier. The soprano has no headphone out. I have a pair of Sennheiser HD599 which I use to listen to Maranntz CR610.

Question 1. Would the iFi Audio Zen CAN Headphone Amplifier be a good choice to allow me to listen to vinyl (Technics - soprano - iFi - headphones)? Any other suggestions? Elsewhere on this forum Jasonovich mentioned the XDUOO TA-66

Question 2. Would replacing my Sennheisers with the Grado SR325x be a good upgrade? Any other suggestions re upgrading the Sennheisers?

I suppose I'm just looking for assurance that all the components will complement each other and that there is no weak link or no component that is too 'good' for the rest

You'd be hard pressed to beat the comfort of the phones you now have. I don't see a pre-out on the Soprano. How do you plan to connect the Zen CAN?

 

[davmol]

Hi All

I have a Technics SL-1200MK2 & a Synthesis soprano tube amplfier. The soprano has no headphone out. I have a pair of Sennheiser HD599 which I use to listen to Maranntz CR610.

Question 1. Would the iFi Audio Zen CAN Headphone Amplifier be a good choice to allow me to listen to vinyl (Technics - soprano - iFi - headphones)? Any other suggestions? Elsewhere on this forum Jasonovich mentioned the XDUOO TA-66

Question 2. Would replacing my Sennheisers with the Grado SR325x be a good upgrade? Any other suggestions re upgrading the Sennheisers?

I suppose I'm just looking for assurance that all the components will complement each other and that there is no weak link or no component that is too 'good' for the rest

As above, I don't see any outputs on the soprano, so assuming the technics deck has no in-built phono stage you'll need a headphone amp with one built in, for example the xDuoo MP-01 or Fosi Box X4, but these are probably jack of all trades and I'm not sure how good they are in respect of headphone power output. A better bet might be to get a separate phono stage of your choosing and then split the cable after the phono stage to run separately to your dedicated headphone amp and to the soprano line level inputs.