[Elecraft] headphone impedance

[Steve Ellington]

I have a pair too. They are indeed loud and are 8 ohm impedance . I like
them for cw however they get uncomfortable after a while. I prefer "around
the ear" types vs. "on the ear".
Steve N4LQ

On Mon, Dec 28, 2015 at 4:19 PM, Vic Rosenthal 4X6GP/K2VCO <
k2vco.vic at gmail.com> wrote:

> I recently started using an old set of Kenwood HS-5 phones (8 ohm) after
> my cat chewed through the cord on my nice hi-fi phones. I noticed that the
> audio was much louder, I presume a result of the lower impedance. I'm even
> thinking about adding some resistance in series, because the audio gain is
> never past 9 o'clock, even with CONFIG AFG set to LOW.
>
> The Kenwood phones also seem to have a much narrower frequency response
> than 'good' ones. Personally I like this.
>
> 73,
> Vic, 4X6GP/K2VCO
> Rehovot, Israel
> http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/
>
>
> On 28 Dec 2015 22:36, W2RU - Bud Hippisley wrote:
>
>> Perhaps this will help:
>>
>> Look up the specs on a good home audio amplifier — say, QSC or Crown.
>> You’ll find something called “damping factor”, and it’s often 50 or
>> more.  Roughly speaking, it’s the ratio of the (loudspeaker) load
>> impedance to the internal (source) impedance of the audio amplifier.
>> So modern semi-pro and stereophile audio amplifiers are “grossly out
>> of specs”, as you put it.
>>
>> I have a legacy, hernia-inducing McIntosh power amplifier,
>> circa-1960s, with output transformers and three taps — for 4-, 8-,
>> and 16-ohm loudspeaker loads.  Nothing I’ve owned since then uses
>> output transformers or matched loads.  Most audio amplifier designs
>> these days are voltage followers.  Most manufacturers don’t attempt
>> to match source impedance to load impedance.  Highly damped output
>> stages are “good” things to have.
>>
>> Yes, it’s true that voltage-follower amplifiers deliver more power to
>> low-impedance loads than to high-impedance loads.  But if I were to
>> follow your line of reasoning to its logical conclusion in the home
>> audio arena, I would conclude that 4-ohm speaker systems are
>> sonically superior to 16-ohm speaker systems simply because they
>> require more output power from the audio amplifier to play my music
>> collection.
>>
>> Does that seem like a reasonable way to choose your stereo system
>> loudspeakers?  Or headphones for your K3?
>>
>> If your 100-ohm (or higher) headphones can’t provide reasonable
>> levels of undistorted sound pressure at your ears when your K3 or K3S
>> audio gain control is at, say, 9 or 10 o’clock, perhaps it’s time to
>> buy a new pair of “cans”.  That’s certainly gotta be cheaper than
>> reverting to a 75A-4 with its audio output transformer and 500-ohm
>> tap.
>>
>> Bud, W2RU
>>
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