Headphone Amplifiers@kemela

With the growth of personal listening, manufacturers have produced more high-end headphones and In-Ear Montiors that have potentially very high sound quality. Just like speakers, the sound quality obtained is only as good as the signal and power you send to them.

Why you might need a Headphone Amplifer

The provision of a headphone socket in a receiver, integrated amplifier or preamplifier does not ensure compatibility with all types of headphones. In many commodity receivers, a resistor attenuated tap of the main amplifier drives the headphone socket with a higher output impedance than the headphones resulting in limited power output, higher noise levels, weak bass and a rolled-off treble. Manaufacturers have to decide how much of the cost of the product goes into a dedicated headphone amplifier that many users might not use.

Only some Hi-Fi integrated amplifiers have a dedicated headphone amplifier which will better drive a range of headphone and earbud types (except electrostatic headphones).

Headphone Amplifers with DACs

The DAC inside a laptop is not likely to be engineered for High Fidelity sound. The best result from headphones will be achieved with a headphone amplifier that includes a high quality DAC. For portable situations using IEMs or low impedance headphones, a transportable DAC with a decent headphone output will give great results especially if the transportable device has a well-designed long-lasting power feed.

We carry some very high-end DACs and pro-audio headphone amplifiers for serious headphone users. In digital only systems, as the headphone amplifier has a volume control, power amplifiers and speakers or powered speakers can be used without the need for a preamplifier.

Check your Headphone's Impedance

Low impendance headphones (under 20-30 Ω) have many turns of thicker wire in the driver's voicecoil lowering resistance and making them more efficient and easier to drive wth less demand on the amplifier powering them. (this extends battery life)

High impedance headphones (that can get as high as 600 Ω) use voicecoils with fewer turns of fine wire which lowers mass and inertia permitting a faster response and the ability to reproduce higher frequencies and transients but they require much more power.

Proof is in the listening

Bring your current cans along for a demo. We currently do not offer headphones for sale.

The investment needed in the headphone amplifier and DAC to hear the potential sound quality available is likely to exceed the cost of the headphones.