Several upgrades ago I traded in my HEADLINE, and now find occasions when I wished I had kept it. So I’m searching for a new headphone amp. NAIM no longer offers the HEADLINE, anyone have any suggestions? Phones are Sennheiser 650’s, and will be driven by 252/300 DR.
thanks!
Second hand Headline 2 & NAPSC 2?
That would be my first choice! When my “dealer” returns from the Christmas holiday tomorrow, I’ll check in with him.
If you are brave, get one of those £50 chinese valve HPAs from Amazon. Bought one before xmas, changed out the valves and am very impressed. Plays very well with my HD600s and Focal Clears.
A lot of people have Headlines they forgot about in the garage. You’ll hunt one out no problem.
Even I have one laying about somehwere . Not sure where though 
It’s one of those things where you move on from the headline but find another use for the HiCap so the bare Headline becomes hard to sell. Which reminds me, there is a fairly stark difference between a Headline 2 powered by a NAPSC and one powered by a HiCap. If you can find both cheap…
Track down a SPL Phonitor SE.
This German headphone amp is one of the best sounding HP amplifiers out there. It also has cross feed for those old badly recorded albums, with strong stereo effects ( Black Saint Sinner Lady).
SPL make professional studio gear. This is a “civilian” version of their studio HP amplifiers. Make sure you read the instructions as you must not unplug your cans whilst music is playing, due to its particular circuitry. This is the only downside. I bought mine SH for €1600. They cost around €2000 new.
If you want to spend less then the Lehmann Audio Drachenfels, is a good choice. They cost around €600. Combined with my Bluesound Nano Node, it is a nice small setup for the bedroom.
These amps are well matched to my Heddphone 2GT and Sennheiser HD800S headphones.
I shall be selling my headline 2 and NAPSC in the new year. Watch out on eBay!
I am very happy with the Ferrum Oor together with the Hypsos powersupply. I drive them through the XLR output of a Bricasti Dac. Not sure how they sound through the RCA of a Naim preamp. Also I never owned another headphone amp before, hence no comparison. But compared to my Naim system and speakers, the Ferrum sounds very spatial, dynamic and detailed. I love using them for long listening sessions for jazz and classic. My headphones are Hifiman 1000 SE.
Perhaps a gently used Atom HE……. Other than direct phono support, offers everything you might wish and can act as a backup source if required.
And certainly an improvement over the Headline, unless you’re planning a top notch psu?
Unless, of course, I’ve missed something ?
ATB, J
I use a Naim DAC V1 digital out from my ND555 into the V1 matches the rest of the system and has remote control. Naim advised this with my Focal Headphone over the Headline??
Even with my mods this Chinese HPA is less than £100. Simple pair of tunes on the input and op amps as the amp. Decent quality 1/4” and 3.5mm Jack’s and switch pot.
Dac V1 has a surprisingly good headphone stage. If only naim had marketed the V1 as dac/pre/HPA…..
It is an excellent headphone amplifier indeed.
Hello Nigel
do you, or anyone else here on the forum, know how to connect this SPL Phonitor to a Nac 252? Is it possible? I see that there are only RCA connections behind the SPL
do you, or anyone else here on the forum, know how to connect this SPL Phonitor to a Nac 252? Is it possible? I see that there are only RCA connections behind the SPL
I connected mine to a XS3 with the tape (Av) out DIN socket, but I cannot remember exactly, and it is buried away now! (Check this out with Naim customer support, as the instructions do not mention this)
I had to have a DIN to RCA connector made, with only the OUT wired in the DIN socket. I had it done by a company in Rimini. There are places everywhere that will make up cables. It is important to get the wiring right.
I have just connected my streamer directly to my Phonitor’s DAC via USB
