Columns Retired Columns & Blogs |
December 1, 2012 - 12:48pm
#1
Old Stax SR-7 headphones -how to amplify for computer audio use?
Loudspeakers Amplification | Digital Sources Analog Sources Featured | Accessories Music |
Columns Retired Columns & Blogs |
Loudspeakers Amplification Digital Sources | Analog Sources Accessories Featured | Music Columns Retired Columns | Show Reports | Features Latest News Community | Resources Subscriptions |
Try the Dragonfly driving the B&K. Connect the Stax energizer to the B&K and you'll be good to go. That's what I'd do.
Sorry, I got my details wrong in the original posting.
Any thoughts about integrating my Stax SR-5 Earspeakers w/SRD-7/SB Energiser into a computer audio system? I need for sure a usb DAC and a preamp. Would the B&K ST-140 Amplifier I have work well in this system?
Thank you for any advice you can lend.
MJC,
Sounds like you could either get a DAC and preamp or just opt for a nice USB soundcard to do both.
What's your budget? Lot's of options out there the better ones being by Prism, Apogee, Benchmark, Lavery, etc...
I am in the $600 price range at the moment. The AudioQuest Dragonfly USB DAC w/amp is getting mentioned by some people but portability is not really an issue for me - The Dragonfly is the size of a USB memory stick and I would think ideally suited for laptops, plus I don't know if it is a good match for use with a Stax electrostatic "ear speaker". I was looking at the NuForce Icon HDP headphone amp/USB DAC as well as the Schitt Bifrost DAC but we are talking more money here ... I think.
A headphone amp is not what you need. There is a reason Stax headphones don't plug directly into a standard 1/8" headphone jack. A headphone amp doesn't have enough output power to drive Stax headphones. That's why they have an energizer that is connected directly to speaker level connections.
You need:
1. A USB DAC to convert the signal from your PC to an analog signal.
2. An amplifier (not a headphone amp) with a volume control and at least several watts output to drive the Stax energizer.
Or: You could run the output from the Dragonfly directly into your ST-140. Connect the Stax energizer to the speaker connections on the B&K and use the analog volume control on the Dragonfly (through the computer) to control volume.
IMO, a Dragonfly is the most cost effective and probably among the best sounding of your alternatives.