Phono output on maratz Cd players

I think you're referring to "Headphone output" rather than "Phono output".  In which case definitely try the output on the Marantz with your Grado headphones.  Grado are known to be very easy to drive and the Marantz will at least have more current than MP3 players for example.  I do find that amplifiers and AV receivers usually have a lot more current/headroom though.  If you have one with headphone output try comparing that to the CDP.

Then, in your own time, you can demo various headphone amplifiers to see which makes the biggest difference.  Headphones are great in that they're very easy to take into a store/dealer and demo with various amps, and of course room acoustics is not an issue either.

Also, there's various DAC/Amp combos out there (Beresford Caiman, Firstone Audio, etc.) that will give you greater flexibility and are worth looking into.  Some have a money-back guarantee so you can try before you buy.

Years ago I used to spend many hours listening out of a CD 60 SE, this had an individual volume control on the facia and it sounded quite nice.

I've used two other models in recent years as well - the CD 63 KI and CD 6000 OSE - both models had the annoying feature of the volume being on full when you power up and you would have to turn it pretty much all the way down for it to be listenable.

My only experience with the better Grado models is with the HF2s, I found that they certainly do benefit from a dedicated amp as they are low impedance and therefore are current hungry.

Hey guys,

Thanks so much. I had to put my search on hold because i bought an amp and CD-player that i couldn't resist. Ill come back to cans in a couple of months probably. I will keep your advice in mind!

 Tanks so much.

 Theo