Are Headphone amps worth the expense?

Good headphone amps are great if you do alot of headphone listening with a good set of phones. Headphone amps (lots of tubed models available, as well as solid state) are hooked up directly to the source component (cd player, dac, fm tuner, phono stage) or can be be placed on a tape loop monitor output on a an intergrated amp or receiver. It is pretty much a preamp and amp, with a headphone jack.

Inless your Mac tubeamp is an intergrated, you cannot connect a headphone amp. They do not get connected to speaker terminals (or headphone input jacks except for ipod like headamps).

I do say tape out in my post. If you use the line out, make sure you don't drive the preamplifier volume up to high. The headphone amp would distort too high a signal. It should be an unamplifiedoutput.

A good quality headphone amp with god headphones will blow away most receivers with a headphone Jack. Thi receivers or intergrateds with a phono stage. You really need to look high and low to find one as good as a standalone, but I have heard they are out there.