2. amps-preamps
  3. 1277019512

great headphone amplification in vintage gear?

I am currently powering some Denon AH-D7000 headphones with an old Luxman L480 integrated and to my ears, it sounds noticeably better than a dedicated Headphone amp Musical Hall 25! The Luxman has a little more hiss than the MH but only noticeable when music is quiet, still it is so much more musical to my ears!
So I was wondering if there is other vintage preamps, amplifiers, integrated amps or receivers known for having great headphone amplification out there?
Thanks!
csacred
macrojack
1,292 posts
 
Dave - You'll probably have this question answered before Audiogon prints this response, but just in case, here goes.
Receivers of that era often had provision for multiple speaker connections with some means of selecting the speakers you want to power - or no speakers at all. Look for a "speakers off" position, select it, and use your phones.
mapman's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
mapman
15,679 posts
 
Tandberg. I'd be willing to bet Nakamichi would do quite well also, as does NAD, and 70's vintage Sony, Onkyo, and Nikko.
italian
123 posts
 
Thanks to you all for your responses. They were very helpful. The 820 does have the ability to shut off the speakers but I will contact yamaha to get their take. Again many thanks. Dave.
zavato's avatar
zavato
903 posts
 
I seem to recall a Mac unit, either from the 70's or 80's that boasted that's its headphone section was powerful enough to drive some speakers.
intermediatic's avatar
intermediatic
57 posts
 
Ah, Mapman mentions Nakamichi … Well, I had a Peachtree Nova, which I thought had quite a good headphone amp in it (its best feature actually… and certainly no worse than the W4S uDac) and I move up to a vintage Nakamichi System One with a Nak 610 as my preamp. I was fully expecting it would be a disappointment and … it blew the Nova away. So there is a vote for the Nak.
More to discover