Tube Preamp / Headphone amp question...

[cbj591]

Good afternoon,

Can someone gime me a brief description of the difference between the following.

Phono preamps

Regular Linestage

Headphone amp

Just from looking at schematics and threads. Turntables have a much difference impedence. That is why they cannot be used on a standard preamp input. Is that correct.

Can headphone amps and regular linstages be interchanged?

I am diving deeper into the tube world and am eager to keep building.


Thanks
Brian

[dsavitsk]

Originally Posted by cbj591

Phono preamps

Need lots of gain and an equalization stage, and must be able to drive a fairly easy load, usually 10K or higher.

Originally Posted by cbj591

Regular Linestage

Need little to no gain, and must be able to drive a fairly easy load, usually 10K or higher.

Originally Posted by cbj591

Headphone amp

Depending upon the headphones used, these need anywhere from unity to 10X gain, and they often must be able to drive loads as low as 16 to 32 ohms.

Originally Posted by cbj591

Can headphone amps and regular linstages be interchanged?

Many headphone amps will work as line stages. Most line stages, unless they are designed specifically to do so, cannot drive headphones very well.

[cbj591]

Perfect!


Thank you very much.
Brian