More catching up, two parter

[tvrgeek]

Back in the day.... the old LH0001 buffer was a big deal for line drivers and headphones. Still have a pair somewhere. I am sure it is long since obsolete, but has devices like the LME49610 replaced this for headphone drivers, or is that domain pretty much still discrete? I am talking home, full size, not pocket amps. Or are buffers really necessary for , say some Grado 80's? (following the best component is the one left on the bench.)

Looks like THAT has taken over the line drivers and receivers. Still, something would have to drive a Jensen if one went that route. Any recomendations on a current top notch device to use as a transformer driver output device? What I am toying with is to modify one of the cheap Hong-Kong DAC's with a better analog stage and transformer output, integrated into one of my old CD players. I have too many projects, but always fun to have a few in planning.