Grado PS 500 - HiFi Headphones Forum - online headphone & earphone community forums

lowrider1987 · 02-08-2012, 12:07 PM

I recently purchased a pair of Grado PS 500 headphones and love the sound coming out of those cans. I pushing them with the Adcom GTP 500 pre amp and would like to know if I should consider a dedicated headphone amp or is the one in the Adcom sufficient, new at this and unsure if the components in the pre amp are not as good as a stand alone amp, thx

dalethorn · 02-08-2012, 01:40 PM

I can't be sure about the Adcom, but my test for whether a headphone amp is needed is this: Can you play the PS-500 with satisfaction on a digital music player or a laptop or desktop computer from their 1/8 inch miniplug/minijack outputs? Then, when using the Adcom preamp, is the sound better all around, or not better, or better in some ways and not others? Does the Adcom offer enough headroom for large dynamics in the music?

If the Adcom offers noticeable improvement all around as compared to playing from a computer minijack or digital music player, then a headphone amp would not likely improve it further unless it were either very expensive or perhaps a really good valve amp.

lowrider1987 · 02-08-2012, 01:45 PM

Thanks for the feedback. I'd have to say that there is a bit of a difference when I use the Adcom vs driving it out of my iphone.

02-08-2012, 12:07 PM	#1 (permalink)
lowrider1987 Headphone Newbie Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Brick NJ Posts: 2 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Grado PS 500 I recently purchased a pair of Grado PS 500 headphones and love the sound coming out of those cans. I pushing them with the Adcom GTP 500 pre amp and would like to know if I should consider a dedicated headphone amp or is the one in the Adcom sufficient, new at this and unsure if the components in the pre amp are not as good as a stand alone amp, thx

02-08-2012, 01:40 PM	#2 (permalink)
dalethorn 100+ Headphone Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 298 Thanks: 30 Thanked 58 Times in 55 Posts	Adcom preamp? I can't be sure about the Adcom, but my test for whether a headphone amp is needed is this: Can you play the PS-500 with satisfaction on a digital music player or a laptop or desktop computer from their 1/8 inch miniplug/minijack outputs? Then, when using the Adcom preamp, is the sound better all around, or not better, or better in some ways and not others? Does the Adcom offer enough headroom for large dynamics in the music? If the Adcom offers noticeable improvement all around as compared to playing from a computer minijack or digital music player, then a headphone amp would not likely improve it further unless it were either very expensive or perhaps a really good valve amp. __________________ Shure SRH-1840/SRH-940, Beyer DT-1350/DT-48A, Philips Fidelio L1, Grado PS-500, German Maestro 8.35D, VModa M-80, B&W P5.

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02-08-2012, 01:45 PM	#3 (permalink)
lowrider1987 Headphone Newbie Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Brick NJ Posts: 2 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Thanks for the feedback. I'd have to say that there is a bit of a difference when I use the Adcom vs driving it out of my iphone.