Powerful Headphone Amp with high current.

[reasons]

Hello All,

I’m looking for an amp that is high power and high current to drive some difficult planars. I am looking to spend under $1500. I have gotten some information on another forum that low current is causing from my setup to underperform.

Any support or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[tifune]

Which planars and what are the power requirements?

 

[reasons]

Which planars and what are the power requirements?

Abyss Diana TC

 

[solderdude]

Topping LA90 ?

70ohm does not require much current though you will need max 200mA to blow your ears out.
These are not 'difficult to drive' nor do they require much current.
You do have to have enough gain and output voltage swing (about 13V)

 

[tifune]

Abyss Diana TC

Those look to be 90dB/mW at 32 ohm. If that's accurate, Qudelix gets you to around 115dB. It's hard to think you'd want more than that, but if it's needed I'd augment with Topping NX7 followed by Centrance Ampersand (if NX7 still isn't enough) or Cayin C9 (if Ampersand still isn't enough, which is hard to believe)

For headphones, I basically only look at portable options as I don't see any reason to be chained to a desk with all the solutions available these days.

Edit: @solderdude is correct w 69ohm, seems like I was looking at some kind of cache on duckduckgo. My recommendation still stands, though

 

[Jimbob54]

Topping LA90 ?

70ohm does not require much current though you will need max 200mA to blow your ears out.

A speaker amp? Never thought I would see the day..

 

[solderdude]

The A90 would be more than enough but most Abyss owners like to drive these from power amps.
Nothing we can say will change their minds so proposed the LA90 most hate Topping/SMSL/ChiFi anyway.

There are plenty of people driving insensitive (planar) headphones from power amps believing it sounds better... and the believing part is powerful.

 

[reasons]

Those look to be 90dB/mW at 32 ohm. If that's accurate, Qudelix gets you to around 115dB. It's hard to think you'd want more than that, but if it's needed I'd augment with Topping NX7 followed by Centrance Ampersand (if NX7 still isn't enough) or Cayin C9 (if Ampersand still isn't enough, which is hard to believe)

For headphones, I basically only look at portable options as I don't see any reason to be chained to a desk with all the solutions available these days.

Edit: @solderdude is correct w 69ohm, seems like I was looking at some kind of cache on duckduckgo. My recommendation still stands, though

Looking for a desktop solution as it will be connected to PC and other gear and tend to do cable routing so I can enjoy the headphones with minimal to no cables to manage.

 

[tifune]

A speaker amp? Never thought I would see the day..

Some absolute maniacs out there

Speaker Amp to Headphone Adapter Cable - Listen to headphones from speaker amp binding posts.

www.zynsonix.com

 

[reasons]

The A90 would be more than enough but most Abyss owners like to drive these from power amps.

That’s what I’ve been hearing, any recommendations?

 

[solderdude]

Any power amp between 20W/8ohm and 70W/8ohm (or 40W/4ohm - 150W/4ohm) will do.
Aside from some picky tube amps and some class-D amps and bridged amps all other amps will have no trouble driving 70ohm.
These headphones are rather insensitive so a somewhat higher noise level (found in speaker amps) is not an issue.
You will have to make/buy a speaker-tap to TRS/XLR4-pin adapter.

You should realize when the headphone is on your head and you are listening at insane loud levels it will never draw more than 3W peaks. Above that ears will start to hurt and listening becomes an unpleasant experience.
This is reached using a 30W/8ohm (or 60W/4ohm) amp.
In reality, playing quite loud, you will not even reach 1W peaks (0.3W nominal)

 

[muslhead]

Schiit's ragnarok 2 integrated amp will do everything you want (no dac).
No special cables needed as it can push (up to) 24w to the balanced headphone in addition to xlr and rca outs.

 

[Snoopy]

I can't imagine you would need more than a $500 amp .. something like a Topping A90, singxer SA1, jotenheim 2

 

[Katji]

Some absolute maniacs out there

That Japanese guy whose pics went viral, the stack of headphone stuff strapped together - he would get the Absolute Maniac Head-Fi award.

 

[reasons]

Any other recommendations?

 

[solderdude]

Any power amp between 20W/8ohm and 70W/8ohm (or 40W/4ohm - 150W/4ohm) will do.
Aside from some picky tube amps and some class-D amps (that might not like high impedances and may screw up frequency response) and bridged amps (you might short when using TRS plugs) all other amps will have no trouble driving 70ohm.

I have gotten some information on another forum that low current is causing from my setup to under perform.

Needless to say the information you got was incorrect. Current draw will not be higher than 200mA so even if the used power amp can provide 10A it will never, ever flow.
Current/power is not 'pushed' it is drawn and determined by the impedance (resistance even in this case) and as the impedance is quite high (70 ohm is high for a planar) there simply can not be a high current.

 

[DVDdoug]

I have gotten some information on another forum that low current is causing from my setup to underperform.

Yeah... Whoever is telling you that doesn't understand basic electronics...

Resistance (or impedance) is "the resistance to current flow". With higher impedance (and the same voltage) you get less current.

Ohm's Law defines the relationship between voltage, resistance and current, and it says Current= Voltage / Resistance.

If you want more current into your headphones you need more voltage.

Most "things" put-out a "voltage", and the current depends on the load. With no load the voltage is still there but no current flows. Here in the U.S. we have 120 VAC at the power outlet at all times, but the current depends on what's plugged-in.

Power (Watts) can be calculated as Voltage X Current. So if you cut the resistance (or impedance) in half you get double the current and double the power (as long as the voltage 'holds up"). Or if you double the voltage you also double the current for 4 times the power (and that's +6dB assuming the same headphones).

Now if the impedance is too low, say you connect a 2-Ohm load to an amplifier that's rated for 4 or 8-Ohms. Then you'll be "current limited". The voltage will drop, you'll get excess current, the amplifier might overhead and burn-up or go into thermal protection, etc.

Something similar can happen with headphone amps and low impedance headphones, but usually the voltage just drops and you won't get the "expected" current... The total wattage is a lot lower and the headphone amp is unlikely to burn-up.

...If you plug two toasters into a home outlet you get excess current, a circuit breaker blows cutting-off the voltage until the breaker is reset.

 

[reasons]

Yeah... Whoever is telling you that doesn't understand basic electronics...

Resistance (or impedance) is "the resistance to current flow". With higher impedance (and the same voltage) you get less current.

Ohm's Law defines the relationship between voltage, resistance and it says Current= Voltage / Resistance.

If you want more current into your headphones you need more voltage.

Most "things" put-out a "voltage", and the current depends on the load. With no load the voltage is still there but no current flows. Here in the U.S. we have 120 VAC at the power outlet at all times, but the current depends on what's plugged-in.

Power (Watts) can be calculated as Voltage X Current. So if you cut the resistance (or impedance) in half you get double the current and double the power (as long as the voltage 'holds up"). Or if you double the voltage you also double the current for 4 times the power (and that's +6dB assuming the same headphones).

Now if the impedance is too low, say you connect a 2-Ohm load to an amplifier that's rated for 4 or 8-Ohms. Then you'll be "current limited". The voltage will drop, you'll get excess current, the amplifier might overhead and burn-up or go into thermal protection, etc.

Something similar can happen with headphone amps and low impedance headphones, but usually the voltage just drops and you won't get the "expected" current... The total wattage is a lot lower and the headphone amp is unlikely to burn-up.

...If you plug two toasters into a home outlet you get excess current, a circuit breaker blows, cutting-off the voltage until the breaker is reset.

The person taking about this stuff has info cited from the owners of Abyss. I’m not super technical so reading through this information and cross referencing it to actual equipment has been tough.

 

[solderdude]

The person taking about this stuff has info cited from the owners of Abyss

Can you post a link to the statements from that person ?
I suspect the person talking about this stuff (and/or the owners) are spreading misinformation based on sighted observations and perhaps lack of technical knowledge or has financial gain.

As I mentioned earlier.. there will never be high currents. Also not with peaks. There simply can't be with a 70ohm impedance. Technically NOT possible so also NOT needed.

 

[reasons]

Link to postLink to postCan you post a link to the statements from that person ?
I suspect the person talking about this stuff (and/or the owners) are spreading misinformation based on sighted observations and perhaps lack of technical knowledge or has financial gain.

As I mentioned earlier.. there will never be high currents. Also not with peaks. There simply can't be with a 70ohm impedance. Technically NOT possible so also NOT needed.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/diana-the-second-release-by-abyss-headphones.777618/post-16866150, I believe this is what they were citing. Joe from abyss said a vioelectric v281 didn’t have enough current to power the Diana TC. And he considered it obsolete junk basically. As you can see thereafter, outrage ensues.