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Post by oldfogie on Mar 1, 2013 22:24:12 GMT
Have moved into a block of flats with very thin walls & the only way I can enjoy my music & dvd's is via headphones plugged into the back of my Samsung Smart tv - would it be worth investing in a headphone amp or would I be wasting my time? I currently have a pair of AT-AD700's but would upgrade them if an amp would improve things, Any advice would be welcome, thanks
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Post by Rabbit on Mar 1, 2013 22:30:00 GMT
Hasn't the Samsung got phono out connections for audio? One of my TV's is a Samsung and I connect it to some active monitors. The quality is superb.
Equally, the phono out could be connected to a headphone amp and that would improve the dynamic range available to you. ie: explosions would gain in dynamics without getting squashed as much.
The ad700 is a bit bass light but nice for speech. An amp might help it deliver a better dynamic range, but it is quite low impedance and easy to drive so your tv should sound ok with it.
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XTRProf
Fully Modded
Pssst ! Got any spare capacitors ?
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Post by XTRProf on Mar 2, 2013 0:26:03 GMT
Your music and dvd played thru a dvd or universal player and A/V goes to TV thru HDMI, right? Then just connect the RCA out from dvd player to the HA and, bingo, you have a HA connected to your system already. For better sound connect a good DAC to the coaxial or toslink of the player and the DAC out to a HA. Coaxial technically performs better than the Toslink but not necessarily closer to Live when heard and compared to Toslink. Your choice! So after all this preaching, yes, hearing thru a HA with lots of power similar to a Schitt Lyr does bring the fidelity of what you hear up at least 2 notches. It's no shitty boast I guarantee you!
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Post by Rabbit on Mar 2, 2013 9:08:00 GMT
Actually Chong, I'm not certain since the AD700 is a very easy drive. I reckon a TV could drive it straight, although being low impedance means that it could be demanding a lot of current so perhaps peaks could get squashed. We tend to assume that an amp makes all the difference, when for some headphones, I've found that they are so easily driven that the price of an amp outweighs the cost. I think that's what this guy is getting at. (Not like us bunch of purists!!) Some people hear no differences with an amp as well ...... While the AD700 is a lovely headphone btw, it has a tendency to show sibilance on spoken voice and it also has a slightly thin sounding bass. It doesn't goo particularly low for explosions either, so it's a difficult one with the amp since it doesn't really go that low in order to demand lots of current and so is quite undemanding tbh.
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XTRProf
Fully Modded
Pssst ! Got any spare capacitors ?
Posts: 5,689
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Post by XTRProf on Mar 2, 2013 10:37:04 GMT
Ian,
You are right. To rephrase, only have a HA when audiofool std. However, we must note that most tv headphone amps are just an op amp driving the HP to cut cost. It will not have the necessary current and voltage swing for optimum sound reproduction. That's a fact technically unless we go to the std of Frans' multi op amps based HA.
Btw, as the AT700 as heard by you is quite sibilant, having a hybrid tube HA will surely increase the enjoyment of the AT. Better still a full tube amp with sufficient power. So there is an "advantage" of using a HA tailoring the sound without an equaliser. Actually, if sound is not too critical to anyone, having a digital wireless HP like a Philips or Senn will be better for viewing DVD like in his case. Can lie at whatever angle and at whatever reasonable viewing distance without the wire troubling. Present KLEER digital wireless HPs are very good and close to 80% or more to any top wired HPs.
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Post by oldfogie on Mar 3, 2013 7:56:02 GMT
Many thanks for the input guys, I was hoping that would be the case, I used to have a Slee Solo & HD650's a few years ago until I sold them as I wasn't using them, wished I hadn't now...... Thanks again!
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