Headphones amplifiers — Lehmann Audio Drachenfels

The Lehmann Audio Drachenfels is a compact headphone amplifier from the German company Lehmann Audio, which specialises in headphone amplifiers. Lehmann's smallest current model and the first step into its range, it takes up less space and weighs less than the Linear series, and it lacks that line's extra power and switchable gain.

Key specs that matter

Maximum power is 180 mW per channel into 33 ohms, falling to 110 mW into 330 ohms. Rated bandwidth runs from 10 Hz to 35 kHz at the -3 dB points, and gain is fixed at 12 dB. Distortion stays below 0.006% at 1V RMS into 300 ohms, while noise sits more than 85 dB below the signal. Output impedance is 5 ohms at the headphone socket and 105 ohms for the pre-out connection.

Engineering and use context

The casing measures 160 x 120 x 43 mm and the unit weighs 0.5 kg, so it fits easily on a desk with limited space. Besides the headphone output there is a pre-out for feeding a power amplifier or powered monitors at line level.

Pairing

With its modest output the Drachenfels is a better match for efficient dynamic headphones than for demanding planar magnetic models.

Alternatives

The Linear D is the step up in Lehmann Audio's headphone amplifier range, with considerably more power and switchable gain.