Who writes AmperHeads

Elliot Marsh is the pen name of AmperHeads’ editor. Every review, pairing guide and comparison on the site is written and maintained under that byline. The method is public, and corrections all go to the same place.

What I actually do

I don’t own a listening room, a measurement rig or a shelf of review units, and I don’t present the pages on this site as hands-on reviews. They are research-based recommendations. My job is to do the work most buyers don’t have time for:

  • The power math. For every pairing I work out the voltage, current and power a headphone needs at 110 dB peaks from its published impedance and sensitivity, then check it against each amp’s published output into that load. That one calculation settles most “does it need an amp?” arguments before anyone mentions sound.
  • Reading the measurements. I pull frequency-response, distortion and output figures from Audio Science Review, RTINGS and the manufacturers, and I say which one a figure came from.
  • Reading the owners. Comfort, durability and long-term quirks don’t show up on a graph. I read years of owner reports on r/headphones, Head-Fi and the ASR forums and only repeat what many owners agree on, with the month I checked.
  • Checking the shelf. Before a page is updated I check whether the product is still sold, what it costs today and what replaced it. A recommendation for a discontinued amp is useless to someone buying this week.

The full method, including what the star ratings mean, is on How We Research and Rate Gear .

Why pairing math matters

Forum advice about headphone amps tends to be either “you need a $500 amp” or “you don’t need an amp at all”, and both get repeated about the same headphones. The truth is usually a number. A 300 Ω Sennheiser HD 600 needs voltage that a phone can’t supply; a HiFiMAN planar needs current; an Audio-Technica ATH-M50x needs almost nothing. Once you know which of those you’re dealing with, the right amp at your budget is usually obvious, and you can stop spending money on upgrades that the arithmetic says won’t change anything.

What I write for

  • Budgets from about $100 to $1,000 in total. That is where most real buying decisions happen, and where the power math often shows a $119 amp is all a headphone needs.
  • A direct answer. Each pairing guide ends with “buy this, for this reason”, with the reasoning laid out so you can disagree with it.
  • Current products. If a product has been discontinued, the page says so at the top and names what to buy instead.

Corrections and feedback

Corrections, disagreements and “you missed this amp” messages are welcome through the contact page . Owner reports are the evidence this site runs on, so if you own something I’ve written about and your experience differs, I want to hear it. Articles are updated and the change is dated.