I have question that may be stupid but here goes, since the 950 has no headphone input, can you add a headphone amp to the 950 in order to use a set of phones??? I ask because I live in an apartment and like to play music loud and late....

Pick up a good used pre-amp with headphone jack off ebay. Something like the NAD 1130. Very clean headphone output that matches up well with both high and low impedance headphones. They can be had for as low as $50. It'll also provide you with an excellent phono stage if you are still into vinyl.

Jeff Mackwood

Jeff's idea is excellent -- there are also purpose-made headphone amps, but good ones start closer to $200 and shoot way on up. A good quality used stereo pre-amp with headphone jack would be cheaper and very comparable to those headphone amps (albeit a bit bigger). When you go to connect it, you may want to keep one thing in mind: both the zone 2 output and the tape output are pure analog outputs -- they will not pass a digital input. You'll want to toss in analog interconnects for any source you plan to listen to with headphones.

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gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

Great, Thanks guys for the info. I was going to fust get a dedicated headphone amp but I think the preamp is the way to go, again, many thanks....

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DN

a newbie question... how would I connect a headphone amp to the 950? That is which output would I use?
Thanks

You have several options, actually. Some headphone amps include a pass-through (line input and output), which would allow you to connect the headphone amp between the 950 and the left and right channels of your amp. Most people, however, do one of two things: connect the headphone amp to the tape output or connect it to the zone 2 output. Both outputs require that you have stereo analog cables connected from the sources you want to listen to through headphones, even if you normally use a digital connection for them (thinking specifically of DVD and CD players when I say that), because the tape output and zone 2 output are separate from the 950's digital-to-analog converters. The tape loop requires a volume control at the headphone amp (which most have) and will let you listen to whatever source is currently active on the 950. The zone 2 output gives you a volume control independent of the 950's main volume control and lets you select a different source, which means you could listen to a CD on your headphones while someone else watched TV through the 950.

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gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

Ended up with a Creek OBH-11 Headphone amp and I hooked it up thru zone 2 (thanks for the tip). put in a cd and the bass response sucks....is there a way to boost the bass this way or is it a problem with the headphone amp? I have heard that the power supply that is sent with it is terrible and should be replaced at all costs(within reason of course) but you would think for as much cash as that thing is it would come with a power supply not made for the trash...any suggestions?

if it sucks why did you buy it?

good question.....actually it is not quite as bad as I made it out to be but it does sound "bright". just wondering if there is a way to adjust it, that's all. It does say allow 24 hours for "burn in"....

i assume that you know the brightness cannot be attributed to your headphones?? i haven't heard too many headphones with a lot of bass. sometimes brightness is perceived because the music is more detailed at the high end, which is different than before but not always worse. it probably is just "bright" though and that is the way it always will be.