preamp as headphone amp?

[kb12]

Hello, I have a Carver C-2 preamp... it has a headphone jack. Would this preamp act as a headphone amp if I plugged my headphones into it? Or would I get better sound if I got an external headphone amp?

Thanks!

 

[JBL GUY]

I do not have the service info for your pre-amp handy do I can not comment in it.

But there are a lot of differing opinions on headphone amplifiers.

Here is a recent thread that discusses that question

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=348418

The actual answer based on this thread is Yes, No, Maybe!:yes:
.

 

[egg_on_toast]

Hello, I have a Carver C-2 preamp... it has a headphone jack. Would this preamp act as a headphone amp if I plugged my headphones into it? Or would I get better sound if I got an external headphone amp?

Thanks!

As JBL_guy has stated everyone has a different opinion on this. However a little bit of info for you I have just looked at the schematic for the Carver C2 and the headphone output is driven by a 4316 op-amp, two op-amp stages are used per channel to increase the current capability. You didn't state what headphones you wanted to use but the Carver will drive most headphones I would think whether it sounds as good as a headphone amplifier is going to be subjective, the question is does it sound any good to you ?

The other added bonus of the Carver is that you have the tone controls etc to do any fine tuning if need be.

 

[kb12]

Thanks a lot for your responses! I just got some Audio Technica M50s and I think they sound pretty good. I don't have much to compare them to though as they are my first good pair of headphones.

 

[Tube Radio]

If you wanted to improve the headphone amp in the carver you could check out Burson and see if they have a discrete component op amp that will work in place of your op amp.

 

[darth]

Using a Carver C-1 as a headphone amp right now. Drives my Senn HD 580's and Beyer DT-880's very well.

 

[DarkTiger892]

Using a Carver C-1 as a headphone amp right now. Drives my Senn HD 580's and Beyer DT-880's very well.

I'm using using my C-1 to drive my Ultrasone HFI-780s right now as well. (32 ohm). It sounds fantastic. Better than anything else I've plugged my headphones into. (pioneer/sansui/realistic receivers, iPod, zune, sound card).