I'm hoping someone can help me understand- headphones and tube sound.*

Okay, I'm sort of a dummy with some of this stuff so please bear with me if this is a dumb question.

I am looking to get a nice pair of cans to listen to my records without disturbing the people in my house. I've pretty much settled on Sennheiser HD650s. That is the easy part (I think).

My rig is all analog and all tube. AR-XA turntable to Dynaco PAS-3x pre to Dynaco ST-70 amp to AR-2ax speakers. The PAS doesn't have a headphone jack so I need to get an external headphone amp. Okay, that makes sense. I sort of want to stay all tube, so I'm looking at something like the Schiit Valhalla 2 or Bottlehead Crack.

I believe both of these amps (and the headphones) are, for the most part, pretty neutral sounding, which is what I want. My question, then, is will some of that PAS tubeness come through? Will a tube headphone amp add on even more tube coloring?

Also, I'm assuming that I can use the PAS' TAPE OUT output to connect the headphone amp, right?

I will be forever grateful for any help you can provide as this is driving my bananas.

 

It seems a shame to buy another stage of amplification where it really is not necessary. I am sure others on here will have a better solution.
See if one of the major online dealers have what you need or can at least point you in the direction. It seems to me that you could use something that essentially takes your 'speaker out' from your power amp and offers some resistance to reduce hum/hiss and to keep you from blowing up your headphones and ears. I hope that makes sense. I honestly do not know if 'tape out' says enough power to drive headphones. Plus you would still need a way to control the volume. It is not a dumb question. It is one of the more interesting questions that I have seen in awhile.

 

The TAPE OUT would just run to a headphone amp, which would be the driving force of the cans, right? And I think most, if not all, would have a volume knob on the amp.

But I'm not sure which is why I'm here. I keep looking and looking and am perhaps suffering from information overload at this point.

 

I have a PAS3, that I bought from another member to use as a backup for my main tube preamp.

Yes you can use the tape out to the input of your headphone amp.

 

You might want to wonder over to head-fi.org.

There's a wealth of information there on headphones and headphone amplifier's.

Yes, a pair of 650's would be a good choice.

 

THANK YOU! I have been trying to figure this out without being able to find a definitive answer. So, now my other question remains: will the tube-iness of the PAS coupled with either a Valhalla or Crack make it TOO tubey?

 

Yes. The tape-out is just another line level output; tape-in is just another line level input. Connect the tape-out to your headphone amp - whichever one you buy - and you're good to go.

 

If you dont want to bother people, dont get open headphones.
Just ask my wife. Lol

 

"Tube-iness" is not compounding, unless your gear is too colored, warm, veiled, etc. to begin with. The Valhalla 2 is mostly neutral. If you like the sound of your Dynaco phono stage you will hear it. The Bottlehead Crack is (depending on the build) warmer and more dynamic. Can't really go wrong with either for the HD650s. The Crack has the benefit of being upgrade-able down the road with a better pot, caps, etc.

I am listening to my 650s on the Vallhala 2 as I type this. Blissful experience every day, I've owned the pairing for months now. I wrote more about the amp here: Schiit Valhalla 2—Does it live up to its name?

 

This is what I've been after. In my head, it seemed to make sense that it would be compoundable, so it is good to hear otherwise. Would the Schiit Magni, being SS, still carry over that PAS tube warmth?

 

All of the Schiit head-amps are reasonably transparent (you will hear your upstream gear and the recording). In this case they all have slight characters of their own but the tonal balance from your phono cartridge and pre will carry over, yes. The Valhalla 2 is the sweet spot in their line-up for the Senns. The Magni 3 and Vali 2 are great on a budget or for working better with a greater variety of phones. Avoid the Lyr.

 

Look at the schematic for any 1970s tube or transistor amp (Sony, Marantz, Pioneer class) with a headphone jack installed. They didn't have a separate output stage for headphones. They ran them off the speaker outputs with a resistive voltage driver to ground. Get good hefty like 2W resistors, 100 ohm between the speaker output and the headphone jack and 47 ohm from there to ground. Find a way to switch between the speakers and headphone jack. Enjoy, probably for less than $10.

 

There is this thing, the "Can Opener" ! which does just what @R. Totale mentioned, ready to go, connect to your speaker outs. $79.95.

Can Opener

 

All things being equal, a SS headphone amp like the Magni 3 (which will drive the 650 just fine) would be more neutral and allow your amp's natural sound characteristics to come through.

BTW love Derek Sanderson!

 

neutral sounding -

Tubes by nature are not really that neutral sounding. But that is not a bad thing < neutral = boring >. Which is where "tube rolling" comes in, and why you want tubes over solid state to begin with, to adjust the sound so you are satisfied. Also the design of the headphone amp will determine how much tube sound you get, for instance an OTL design will allow the tube to control the soundscape more than some other designs.

 

Has anybody tried this thing? It seems like a great accessory for my Rega Brio-R and Fisher X-100.