HP Amp For Focal Stellias

Mike said:
Not needed, but now you have two VC’s, which add noise. Best to eliminate one for Sonics.
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Sure... in theory... but I have tested back and forth and can honestly not hear any difference.

However I do believe the flexibility of listening to whichever source I prefer is a very nice advantage, and of course using my better sources, music through Roon and HQPlayer and through my main DAC will give me much better SQ then whatever disadvantages that may affect the music going through two high quality volume controls :).
 
Wow!! And I thought this was going to be easy peasy and straight forward. From what I can gather, so far, it sounds like the Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition amp would be the simplest way to go. But I also want the best SQ I can get regardless of the convenience factor. I may have to chew on this awhile. Please keep this discussion going. I'm learning some things.
 
You'll probably want something on the warm side, for sure. When I borrowed the Stellia and a Headamp GS-X Mini amp (which I'd describe as really great neutral amp - I'm a big fan of Headamp), it sounded good - very punchy and dynamic, but also definitely too bright and tipped-up on top. It would get fatiguing after a while. By comparison, the Hifiman Susvara was PERFECTLY balanced on that same amp (very close to the best headphone sound I've EVER heard), and The Meze Empyrean was woken up a bit but was still too dark and thick for my tastes (I just don't love the Empyrean).

When I tried Focal Utopia on a Naim Integrated amp's headphone jack, it was actually a beautifully voiced combination, despite an annoying bit of ground hum. And Naim clearly voiced its headphone driver slightly to the warm side. So a Naim amp could be a good choice for Stellia too.

And then ECP Audio is an under-the-radar "cult" favorite amp maker that has small batch runs of some incredibly well designed headphone amps. All their stuff sounds amazing for the money. And I know they've made variant of some models specifically tweaked for Focal headphones, denoted by an "F" suffix. I don't know what models they're currently making these days, but they're always worth a look.
 
Hey Bluegrass, you got some really great gear and Mike definitely steered you in the right direction for your systems and the needs you had at that point in time. I bet you probably did not ever think about a high end headphone setup at the time.

I use a pre-amp and amplifier setup which makes it easy to feed a nice headphone amplifier, allowing me to choose which amp I am going to listen to, my speaker amp or headphone amp.

You certainly have the budget to get a world class headphone setup, and the Naim is a solution that can certainly work at setting you up with a separate system for listening to headphones.

Unfortunately it does not appear as if the Pass allows for the flexibility to use a separate high end headphone amp while simultaneously using it as the control center, although I still do not understand what they mean by being able to use the outputs; "Preamp Outputs can be used to drive a second system" that they list as the primary reason for the outputs on the back. This would lead me to think a headphone system but it now sounds like this may not be the case :(.
 
Here is a great review of the new Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition. See the link below. I think it is definitely a unit I should give serious consideration to. It seems to fit my needs perfectly. However, I can only go by the review when it comes to SQ. I have no idea how well it compares to Woo, Eleven Audio, HeadAmp and others. Unlike when I started my selection of components, I won't be able to make a weekend trip to Suncoast Audio for an audition.

OTOH, Mike has never steered me wrong. When he says a component sounds really good you can take that to the bank. But, like Mike, Randy and others on this forum have so much first hand experience. Far more than myself. I have a lot to consider. I think it comes down to; if the SQ of the Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition is fully comparable to the other brands mentioned above, I think my choice is made. It seems to be designed with an integrated amp in mind. If the Naim is not competitive with the others in SQ then I'll have to reconsider and look at other options.

So, given all the above, how do I make a decision? Like so many other components are decided upon, it will have to be based on reviews, articles, and discussions just like this one. I still want to hear further discussions on all the options. Tough decision.

Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition Review - Moon Audio
 
Honestly, in your situation there are limitations and the Naim offers a great unit and a way around those limitations. It also appears that Naim and Focal have a corporate working relationship.

My situation is different than yours so my needs are different.

At this point it is not worth driving yourself too crazy... just get to Naim and the Focal cans and be happy :D...
 
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