Not a bad idea. I do have an old Denon integrated I could use off the GD to power the Miccas. Interested to hear other solutions though.
Actually if you wanted to you could get an rca switcher (like this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0056DQT1A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_DpQuDb9VSYH8G?tag=hififorums-20) and just route the audio either to your headphone amp or a separate speaker amp, but that’s a clunkier setup
If you wanted to take an interesting solution, what about just buying a makie big knob passive and an Onkyo M-5010. You would connect your dac to the makie and switch between the headphone amp and the power amp. You could use the big knob passive to control the volume of the speaker amp and the headphone amp. Not really desk friendly though. You could swap the power amp out for something like a parasound zamp v3 though.
RCA switcher is a killer idea for this situation. Right out of the DAC, into the RCA switch, then over to the existing Matrix for headphones, or I can hook up my old Denon for the speakers. Neat.
Before I go that way, anyone think of other solutions? Are there really no switch based headphone/speaker desktop style amps?
The limitation of having to keep the headphones plugged in really limits you alot on your choices
Which is odd – tough to imagine that playing headphones and speakers from the same unit is an edge case.
There you go. A real statement piece
It’s the fact that you need the headphones to stay plugged in. Most manufactures design that either plugging in headphones silences the speakers and routes audio to the headphones, or have it where the line or pre outs are always on and having the headphones plugged does not do anything and the headphones still play music. Since you have your headphones plugged in all the time and don’t want to unplug them, either they will divert audio to them instead of the speakers or still be on when the speakers are playing. Most manufacturers don’t want to integrate a separate switch to control this, and those that do tend to be in the higher end price range
The Emotiva would be a great speaker and headphone amp for $250. The only issue is that it does not have a DAC and it is pretty basic as far as features go, but it does look really great and it is built like a tank.
EDIT: Emotiva BasX A-100 is what I meant to say as “MON” stated.
Agree with this for sure, the emotiva a100 basx is a solid speaker/headphone amp. Taking the jumpers out on the headphone out can really give you a great speaker amp with a headphone amp with gobs of power.
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Thanks for clarifying what amp I meant to say. LOL. It was in my head when I was typing it!
I have heard from a lot of people that this is the end of the line for headphone amps due to how much power it can give with the jumpers off, but I personally do not own a set of cans that needs the power.
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I personally wouldn’t say its anything like endgame or something of the sort, but it is a crap ton of power for a headphone (8.5 ish watts at 50 ohms). There are better sounding headphone amps, but many of them just can’t touch this power output for headphones, but then again, do they need to lol? Still nice to have on hand though. The ability to power whatever
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As far as sound signature goes it may not be for everyone, but if you wanted something that could power everything you threw at it without having to make any other purchases down the road, this would be the way to go.
Does the Emotiva have switchable headphone/speaker output?
No. It would output to the headphones as long as they are plugged in
No, you just unplug the headphones you are using and the speakers automatically switch on and then speakers switch off as soon as you plug headphones in.
Really looking to get away from that, so a switch is key.
Got it. You could get the Micca Origen G2 DAC/Amp and it has a physical switch to let you change between headphones and speakers. Worked great for me when I had them, but you would still need a separate speaker amp.
my SMSL M6 can switch between headphones(single ended) and preout (RCA) without plugging hf out
you would just need an amp for the speakers
It´s my actual workstation setup for 2.1 until THX 789 (+SMSL SU-8) arrives end of sept
it drove my HD600 with no problem before I gave it away
it drives my DT 1990s and 660s with ease
volume control comes back to 30/60 every time you switch between hf and pre out
display goes off after a few seconds
you can leave it on running all the time - no heat
sound is transparent - not the most modern DAC in the world but does his job without any problems
- moment wait a second! why did I ordered the 789? and why would I add the SMSL SU-8?
Thanks for the suggestion. Seems like my best options are to either get a speaker amp with an output selector switch, or get an RCA switcher and either use my old Denon integrated or buy a new speaker amp. The DAC i have is okay, and a new one doesn’t seem to help my situation too much.