Living with the B2

[Anthony Deighton]

Having finally ripped around 1600 cds, my lifelong collection, I’m now using it to actually listen to music and have to say how impressed I am. I feed the optical output through a Marantz digital receiver and into a pair of Q Accoustic speakers. The Marantz has an internal dac which seems to work pretty well although I may experiment with a stand alone quality dac. I know the sound quality can’t be better than cd but to my ears the sound just seems a little cleaner than the built in CD player in the Marantz unit. Sennheiser headphone duties are handled by a stand alone Chinese made 1 valve headphone amp which sounds astonishly good for the price which if memory serves was about £30! In recent years much of my listening was via smart speakers and my cd collection rarely saw the light of day but the Brennan has brought back to me the joy of proper listening in 2 channel stereo. Sure it has its operational quirks but they’re insignificant weighed against the convenience of having the whole collection in one convenient box. The only downside is having made a large cd storage unit redundant I now have to redecorate the room!

[PMB]

Hi Deigh...,

Thank you for the positive comments and user feedback.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Lance Encell]

I want to use the B2 exclusively with my Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee wired headphones. I know I can connect the headphones directly to the B2.  But will I need an amp to get reasonable volume?  If yes can anyone recommend a suitable amp for ~$100 or less?  Thanks in advance for any help!

[JFBUK]

Hi Lance,

the line out on the B2 does have quite a low max volume and I would certainly invest in a headphone amp.

If you go with one that includes its own dac you can connect to it from the B2 optically.

Many on here have found that using an external dac (even cheaper ones) has improved the sound quality they get.

There are a lot about within your budget. 

The Brennan website suggests this as one possibility but I would google some reviews 

https://www.amazon.com/SMSL-SD793-II-PCM1793-DIR9001-amplifier/dp/B00A2QLQTQ/ref=psdc_537344_t1_B00A2QLPJM

John

[Davywhizz]

Hi Lance

I'd say the better your headphones, the more likely it is you'll feel the need for more power than the B2 line out can give.

I'd also suggest you go for a combined headphone amp/DAC: the consensus here on the forum is that an external DAC gives better sound quality.

I use a Fiio K5 Pro: https://www.fiio.com/k5pro

You wouldn't get one for $100, more likely 150, but look at what you get in terms of connectivity. And check out the reviews. You could connect it optically from your B2 and also plug in a laptop to improve the sound of any music files you might have there. It's easy to switch between sources.

I couldn't be happier with the K5 Pro. I use it with AKG K702s and a pair of Grado SR325e phones. It has plenty of spare volume, even on the middle gain position on the switch and the width and depth of the sound is impressive.