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AUDIO FORUMS >> General Discussion and Support >> Headphones off speaker taps
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Message started by el Chefe on 05/18/20 at 16:34:52

Title: Headphones off speaker taps
Post by el Chefe on 05/18/20 at 16:34:52

Has anyone tried running headphones off of the speaker taps; specificly with something like the Torii junior or a pair of SE84CKC in a monoblock configuration? Usually use them for speakers but am interested in trying it a monoblock headphone system also. Would this damage the amp at all and would there be any sound degradation? The headphones are high impedance (200ohm 97db@1mw planar) and I have a 4pin xlr to banana plug adapter I used for solid state amps. Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

Title: Re: Headphones off speaker taps
Post by el Chefe on 05/21/20 at 02:54:23

I saw that adding a resistor in line with the positive speaker taps is an option. Iv seen some people say 8ohm while others say anywhere from 10-100ohm... my question is, what does the higher resistance alter the sound? Should I start with an 8ohm or would something higher be a better starting point?

Title: Re: Headphones off speaker taps
Post by Steve Deckert on 05/21/20 at 03:14:51

The resistor value depends on a few different things:

A) how much power you have.

B) how much noise you have.

C) how efficient the headphones are.

D) the impedance of the headphones, which basically dictate how much power the amp will put out, so it effects C) efficiency.

In an amplifier with low noise and just a few watts, a value from 150ohm to as high as 1Kohm can be used depending on the headphone. Amps with more power tend to also have more noise. Both have to be reduced to be used with headphones, so you can expect the values to be higher.

If you ask me to do it, and I don't have a pair of headphones in my collection that match yours, I will have you send the headphones to me so I can play the resistor swap game until I find the perfect value. I basically listen for the lowest value that has no hum and start there. Raising the value will reduce volume and dynamics.

Most headphones will get far louder than speakers and are dangerous when connected to speaker amplifiers unless "tuned" with a series resistor of the correct value which can only be found by ear.

Yes, no math can predict it because it overlooks the listener. I set up all of our headphone rigs by ear based on my comments above...

I sent a headphone amplifier to a big shot reviewer on one of the headphone forums years ago and he called in a panic that the amp was distorting badly. It turned out that when it arrived back here it was perfectly fine and the reviewer was actually hard of hearing. By over 6dB. I took the 6dB reducing resistor out and ran the amp wide open and sent it back to him. It was WAY TO LOUD and you could start to hear hum. He called elated that it was perfect and proceeded to give it rave reviews.

-Steve

Title: Re: Headphones off speaker taps
Post by el Chefe on 05/21/20 at 03:46:47

Wow that’s hilarious! It’s wild that he had to listen so loud. I def do not listen super loud, really don’t want to damage my hearing. I currently have a torii jr that I was thinking about building an external resistor network for just to test it out. But I’m also on the waitlist for a Racheal. When you are building my Racheal, I can definitely send you the lcd4 to fine tune the amplifier to work the best with my headphones. The lcd4 are the hardest to drive headphones I own, but I also have a pair of zmf auteur headphones, which while also high ohm, are much easier to drive. Maybe it would be better to tune the amp for the zmf, since they are much easier to drive.. if the Racheal doesn’t have a noise with the zmf, it def won’t have noise with the lcd4. I can give you a call sometime to discuss options for tuning it.

Title: Re: Headphones off speaker taps
Post by Webe1r on 05/25/20 at 06:25:57

Anyone using a speaker amp for your headphones via a voltage divider/resistor ladder setup.

Title: Re: Headphones off speaker taps
Post by Webe1r on 05/25/20 at 06:27:11

Anybody utilizing a speaker amp for your earphones by means of a voltage divider/resistor stepping stool arrangement.

Title: Re: Headphones off speaker taps
Post by Webe1r on 05/25/20 at 06:28:48

Anyone using a speaker amp for your headphones by methods for a voltage divider/resistor ladder course of action MyKFCExperience.

Title: Re: Headphones off speaker taps
Post by JKC on 06/06/20 at 20:53:15

Rob Robinette has taken a close look at the option of running headphones off speaker taps and he developed a few different solutions depending on what level of flexibility you want. Have a look here:
https://robrobinette.com/RobinetteBox.htm

Title: Re: Headphones off speaker taps
Post by myloweslife on 07/22/20 at 08:00:48

Connecting dynamic headphones to integrated amplifier speaker outputs.

Title: Re: Headphones off speaker taps
Post by myloweslife on 07/22/20 at 08:02:11

Would it be possible to use headphones on the speaker out's of an amp?

Title: Re: Headphones off speaker taps
Post by myloweslife on 07/22/20 at 08:04:48

Would it be conceivable to utilize earphones on the speaker out's of an amp My Lowes Life?

Title: Re: Headphones off speaker taps
Post by alper_yilmaz on 07/22/20 at 08:50:09

Ihave tried this before with my SE34I.2+. You can find some of my observations here:

https://www.decware.com/cgi-bin/yabb22/YaBB.pl?num=1413451624

Title: Re: Headphones off speaker taps
Post by morp on 07/22/20 at 16:30:46

myloweslife, do you have more detail about what you're trying to accomplish? Which headphones and which amp?

I am finding that Decware amps with headphone outputs (especially balanced) have more than enough power for any Dynamic headphone, and excellent power for normal planars like Audeze. Usually speaker outputs can be used if you're trying to power ridiculously inefficient planars like a pair of HE-6 or HE1000. In these situations, you can utilize an adapter like this one from Zynsonix:
https://www.zynsonix.com/Xev-Speaker-Output-to-Balanced-Adapter_p_16.html