Desktop Headphone Amps - Musical Fidelity
The headphones socket on most amplifiers and computers is rarely optimised for sound quality, and often serves simply as a tick on the features list designed around a simple PCB. A dedicated headphone amplifier is designed to overcome this by driving your headphones properly to get the very best sound quality via computer, streaming, CD or vinyl. We also sell portable headphone amplifiers for getting the best sound from your phone or portable player on the move.
Headphones have become an increasingly viable way of enjoying hi-fi and audiophile quality sound in your home, with many stunning full sized headphones available varying in style, size and price. However, no setup is complete without a quality, dedicated headphone amplifier, which can truly turn many pairs of headphones into a reference quality component. The difference that can be achieved by using a purpose designed amplifier can be truly staggering, which is why we keep a range on permanent demonstration in our showroom. Our knowledgeable staff are always happy to assist in arranging a demonstration or offering advice. We also offer Free Next Day UK Delivery on all of our in stock products.
Musical Fidelity presents best-in-class quality hi-fi components conceived from over thirty years of audio expertise. They design and engineer impactful hi-fi separates hosting excellent sound, high technical performance, exceptional value for money and remarkable build quality.
Musical Fidelity has designed and manufactured Hi-Fi electronics for more than thirty years and are among the best-known brands in the Hi-Fi industry. They aim to deliver exceptional music and tackle the challenge of world-class engineering. Each new design approach seeks the absolute best solution and embraces cutting-edge technologies as well as refining traditional methods for better performance.
Founder Antony Michaelson designed and produced his first amplifier, The Preamp, for his own home as he was frustrated by the mediocre preamp in his audio system. It was heard by an audio dealer who placed an order for some and they were so successful that they all sold over their first weekend on display. Consequently and almost by accident, Musical Fidelity was launched in 1982 and The Preamp received glowing reviews. It was then followed by the shoebox-style Dr Thomas power amp.
Over almost four decades, Musical Fidelity has introduced an impressive line of products from the A1 integrated amp in 1984, A370 Power Amp and Digilog; the World’s first high-end DAC. Their technologies were always at the forefront of the industry; The MVX preamp was the first in the world to combine tube circuit topology with transistors, the SA470 power amp ran 99% in Class in 1988 which facilitated the release of the A1000 four years later featuring pure Class A power amp section.
The 90s saw in the classic valve-driven Tubalog DAC, X Series with X-10D Class A triode line stage, X-ACT DAC and X-24K upsampling DAC as well as the
X-Ray CD player. The Nu-Vista Preamp employing compact, metal-cased nuvistor tubes sold out within three months of launch in 1997. These formed the basis for upgraded models like the futuristic CD-PRE 24 combining a high-quality CD transport/DAC/preamp and the Nu-Vista M3 pre/power amp with discrete Nu-Vista power amp modules and choke regulation.
The Tri-Vista series offered the world’s first audio application of trivistor tubes and the kW 500 super integrated amp employed twin-triode tubes. In 2003, Musical Fidelity released their first turntable; the limited-edition M1 which was regarded as one of the best-engineered decks then went on to become a collector’s item fetching above its original price.
The supercharged X-DAC V8 introduced switchable tube buffer and extra-heavy-duty power supply and the brand won their first EISA award with the X-150 (2004-2005) for European Stereo Amplifier of the Year. KW250S packs in dual 250-watt monobloc amps, tube hybrid preamp, phono stage, 24-bit 192K upsampling CD player, FM/DAB tuner and iPod input.
Titan, launched in 2009, is a 1kW p/ch twin monobloc design with external power supply alongside the Reference-standard Primo pure Class A pre-amplifier with 14 hand-picked ECC81 tubes. Their most recent additions aim to satisfy all budgets and hi-fi needs. These include the EISA award-winnng M1 CLiC which brings together analogue and digital sources, their finest digital AMS CD/DAC and the world’s most advanced pure Class A amp; the AMS100.
Now owned by an Austria-based independent specialist Audio Tuning, the brand retains its proud British heritage and preserves the natural authentic audio performance that has become synonomous with Musical Fidelity across the world. The unique product series accommodate traditional and contemporary requirements from high quality vinyl listening, bit-perfect CD playback or increasingly popular wireless music streaming. For each source, Musical Fidelity supplies a broad range of powerful, state-of-the-art amplifiers that sound at home anywhere.
One key advantage of specialist dedicated headphone amplifiers is the ability to drive headphones better than those included in most products and portable audio players. The purpose built amplification and increased power result in greater volume, dynamics, presence and soundstage. Many amplifiers are designed to be used with a range of headphones, while others may be specifically voiced to work with particular headphones.
Music on the go has become a daily occurrence for many people – using portable media players, smartphones and tablets to enjoy audio and video content when commuting or out and about. Being able to store an entire music collection on a tiny device has led to a demand for quality headphones to improve playback, and in turn a demand for quality portable headphone amplifiers to draw more fidelity, finesse and power out of our devices and music collections.
A key specification to consider when selecting a headphone amplifier is impedance. Just like loudspeakers, the ease of driving a pair of headphones differs from model to model. Some headphones may require more power than others, as well as a headphone amplifier with a higher output impedance in order to drive them suitably. Therefore, matching the impedance of your amp to your headphones is important in unlocking their potential and squeezing every last drop of performance out of your headphones. Some models feature multiple headphone inputs which offer different impedances, allowing you to use multiple pairs of headphones with your amplifier, and to impedance match with more precision for the best possible sound.
A headphone amplifier is the same as an amplifier designed for hi-fi usage, only designed to power smaller drivers, typically delivering much lower power and having a higher output impedance. Just like a stereo amplifier, headphone amps can utilise different components and circuitry to achieve different tone and sound characteristics. We offer a range of valve based headphone amplifiers, which offer the warmth and richness that is often associated with valve amplification for your headphones.