Headphones amplifiers — Lehmann Audio Linear D

The Lehmann Audio Linear D is a headphone amplifier from the Linear series, positioned higher than the compact Drachenfels within Lehmann's lineup. Compared with that entry model it adds switchable gain and offers substantially more power.

Key specs that matter

The amplifier delivers up to 400 mW per channel into 60 ohms and 200 mW into 300 ohms. Gain can be set to 0, 10, 18 or 20 dB. Frequency response is 10 Hz to 35 kHz within 3 dB. Distortion is below 0.001% at 1V RMS into 300 ohms, well under the Drachenfels figure, and noise is more than 100 dB down. Source impedance is 5 ohms at the headphone jack and 50 ohms on the pre-out side.

Engineering and use context

The chassis measures 110 x 280 x 44 mm and weighs 1.5 kg, larger than the entry model. A pre-out sits alongside the headphone socket, making it possible to connect the Linear D to a separate power amplifier or active monitors as well.

Pairing

Thanks to the four gain steps it works with both efficient and less sensitive headphones without an external attenuator, which is useful for anyone who owns several pairs with different sensitivity.

Alternatives

The Linear SE is the closest relative, with almost the same specification in a larger and heavier chassis.