Vendetta Research SCP-2B & Threshold SL10 for low output mc

[stakkallapelli]

Hi,

Pardon this general question for informational purposes only but has anyone compared or have experience listening to John Curl's Vendetta Research SCP-2 series phono preamps and the integrated phono section on a Threshold Sl10. Both units garnered very favorable reviews over the years and i currently use the Threshold SL10 which is a great unit to experience and one which i doubt parting with anytime soon but wanted to get people's experience with the Vendetta Research and Threshold on vinyl reproductions with low output mc cartridges like the ZYX Airy series.

p.s. For context, currently using the SL10 with a Threshold S/500 amplifier.

 

[reched]

Any idea how you use standard headphones with the SL 10 pre amp? No jack.

 

[NTK]

Any idea how you use standard headphones with the SL 10 pre amp? No jack.

Welcome to ASR!

Preamps are not designed with the required output capacity to drive most headphones. You will need a headphone amplifier. (Feed the output of the preamp to the input of the headphone amp. You can use y-adapters to split the preamp output if necessary. However, most headphone amps also have output connectors which act as signal pass-through so you can just insert them between the preamp and the power amp.)

You can find a good selection of them by searching the Review Index → Audio Electronics, and use the advanced search function to search for device type containing "headphone amp". Any of the recommended ones should work well with the vast majority of headphones.

 

[reched]

Thanks. I also have a pair of Stax SR X 3's but I know how to hook them up to the amp. Just a noticeable channel imbalance that might beat me into going back to regular head phones.