So I’ve been playing around with the Grados that Angie got me last weekend. They’re very clear and revealing. Too clear.
Despite being low-impedance, they still need a fair bit of power to drive properly–just not as much as similarly-sized ‘phones.
So anyway, here’s the problem: the jack on my preamp is weaker than the ones on each of the power amps. This is not surprising: the amps are of an older vintage, when things were built more durably, and they’re probably a bit better than the preamp overall, anyway. The preamp, by the way, sounds a lot less muddy than the Grados-iPod combination.
But the power amps are bridged right now–that is, each is mono and drives a single speaker. If I want clear sound through the speakers, they have to stay this way. But if I want super-clear headphone sound, I should un-bridge one of the amps and use that. Note that un-bridging is not trivial: it takes about 15 minutes and can cause a great electrical fire if I screw up and turn on the power.
Of course, there is a third option, described in my last post: buy a headphone amp. The headRoom amps look (and, so far as I know, sound) great, but if I’m going to spend $400+ on one, I should probably match it with 1) another iPod dock, since the dock audio is more level than the headphone output; 2) Grado reference-series ‘phones, probably, or the high-end Sennheisers; and 3) a better power supply. In short, we’re pushing $1,500 or so.
And a fourth: continue to use the B&O Form 1 ‘phones, which have enough fidelity to squash an elephant (or something) and are small enough not to require all this power.
And a fifth: use the iPod earbuds. They’re fashionable and convenient and don’t muss the hair, but they sound…OK. for headphones that come with a device, the iPod buds are amazing, but the bar for that segment’s set extremely low.
Maybe it’s time to give the B&Os a second chance.