Hi all,

I am new to the axiom boards and high quality home loudspeaker setups. The Pre Amp and Receiver thing is confusing me a bit.

Currently I have a nice headphone setup in my office consisting of a Headroom Ultra Micro DAC connected to my pc feeding a Single Power Slam PPX3 headphone tube amp with Grado RS1 Headphones. I am trying to figure out the best way to integrate the Axiom M3's and Harman Kardon HK3490 Receiver I just ordered. Should I connect the HK3490 to the pre outs of the tube amp or directly to the DAC? The pre outs from what I have been told are getting the full power that the headphone out is so it is a pretty hot output although I have adjustments on the tube amp to adjust it for more voltage or current so it can handle low or high ohm headphones. Would running it through the tube amp add some of the tube amp sound quality to the signal or is that a bad idea? If I connect the HK3490 directly to the DAC can I feed the tube amp from that or do I need to split the signal coming out of the DAC and feed each amp separately?

Basicly what is the best way to hook all this up and get the best sound quality possible out of the headphones and the new speaker setup with the equpiment I have.

Thanks for any help. I can’t wait to get this setup I finally live somewhere I don’t have to worry about bothering the neighbors…

Rob, welcome. In my view, since the 3490 is a superbly flat amplifier, connecting it to the pre-outs of the tube amplifier can serve only to degrade the sound, not "add" sound quality of a good sort. So yes, connect the 3490 directly to the DAC output.

The 3490 does have pre-outs, so if the tube amp does have an input for a line-level output(I'm not familiar as to whether it does), you can connect it to the 3490 pre-outs. Incidentally, you might also try simply using the headphone jack on the 3490.

Thanks. I got everything hooked up and it sounds great! The M3s sound better then I imagined they would esp for as reasonable as the price is.

Glad to hear you are liking the new toys