Denon D2000 and Crack

[karl]

I am interested in how the Denon 'phones might work with an essentially unmodified Crack. I believe the headphones are 106 dB sensitive and are 25 Ohm.

I am not interested in building a Smack.

Regards,

Karl

[porcupunctis]

The Crack is designed for headphones with 200 ohms impedance or higher.  My understanding is that with a 25 ohm load, the amp will work very hard and produce little volume.  This is a bad combination.

If the Smack and SEX are out due to price, consider building a Quickie and modifying it for headphones.  You can get one of those up and running for way less than the Crack and it will have surprisingly good sound.  A lot of Quickies have been set up this way. 

[Jim R.]

Karl,

Even with the high-current mod (if BH even decides it's safe and publishes the modifications) the Denons are still not going to be a very good match for the Crack -- based on specs alone (I have no actual experience with this setup.)

Your best options are Smack and s.e.x. 2.1 for the Denons.

-- Jim

[Doc B.]

Folks, please use a little care in posting, unless you are sure of what you are saying. It's a bit confusing with three different headphone amps, and stating misinformation will only increase the confusion.

The S.E.X. amp will work with just about any headphone. It's the Crack that we recommend for headphones of 200 ohms and above. And volume is not really a problem in the case of Crack driving 25 ohm headphones. If the Denons are of typical sensitivity the Crack will drive them louder than you will want to listen. The issue with a 25 ohm headphone will be that the impedance mismatch usually results in less than optimal bass.

I get that everyone wants the Crack kit because it is the cheapest. But we have made kits specifically for those headphones that don't play well with the Crack and naturally those will be the kits we recommend. Either S.E.X. or Smack will work great with the Denons. I would lean towards the Smack myself.

[gh0st]

x2 that's some good advice

I plugged my 50ohm LCD-2 into my Crack, just for grins, and the bass was indeed...suboptimal.

600ohm DT770 on the other hand? Shockingly good.

[porcupunctis]

Doc, in addition to loss of bass, won't the reduced load of the low impedance phones create other problems for the amp?  This was always my understanding but maybe that needs updating. 

[Doc B.]

My general advice to folks is don't worry too much about the amp. Tube amps are very resilient and no harm will come to Crack from hooking up low impedance headphones. It's those solid state amps that act like a fuse when the sound gets bad. Crack will work with 25 ohm cans, it will just not sound as good as it will with the kind of headphones it was designed to sound good with.

As Mike LaFevre says, "Are you asking if it will make sound? Yes. Will it sound good to you? Maybe not..."

[porcupunctis]

Thanks Doc.  I tell my students that if you aren't making mistakes you aren't learning anything.  That's true for me as well. 

So my updated advice to Karl:  Check out the SEX or Smack amps.  The Smack will be optimized and dedicated to your headphones while the SEX will have the option of driving a set of high efficiency speakers.  If price is the issue, consider a modified Quickie. 

On the other hand, you can get the Crack and some reasonably priced high-impedance headphones for a decent overall price as well.  I'm using the Beyerdynamics DT770 pros with a stock Crack right now and I can't find anything to complain about.  The sound is Scary-Good and the combined cost is less than almost any single piece of good audio gear.

One thing I do know for sure:  There is no such thing as "buyer's remorse" with any of the Bottlehead products.  They are timeless, solid, and phenomenal sounding.  So you can make your choice based on price, looks, or any other preference and you will not be disappointed.