Connecting headphone amp to NAD C326BEE - how do I keep the sound from going to the speakers?

[Shirtsleeves1793]

New member here - first post. Forgive me if I'm doing something wrong. I did search the board for an answer to this specific question but didn't come up with anything (at least nothing I immediately recognized as such).

I have a NAD C326BEE integrated amp. The only way to turn the speakers off is by plugging headphones into the headphone socket on the front panel – then they turn off automatically. If I add a headphone amp and connect it to Tape Out, how do I turn the speakers off? Or to put it another way, what’s the best way to make sure no sound comes out of them? I realize I can just turn the volume all the way down, but I'm hoping there's a more elegant solution. Any chance it’s as simple as putting a dummy jack in the headphone socket?

Thanks very much in advance for any assistance.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I have a NAD C326BEE integrated amp. The only way to turn the speakers off is by plugging headphones into the headphone socket on the front panel – then they turn off automatically. If I add a headphone amp and connect it to Tape Out, how do I turn the speakers off? Or to put it another way, what’s the best way to make sure no sound comes out of them? I realize I can just turn the volume all the way down, but I'm hoping there's a more elegant solution. Any chance it’s as simple as putting a dummy jack in the headphone socket?

When I had the 304 and an OTL tube amp I just kept the NAD switched off when using headphones.

 

[Shirtsleeves1793]

Thanks for responding. What an interesting idea. I would never have thought of that. How would it work exactly? Let’s say I have my CD player playing on one side of the NAD, with the NAD off, and the headphone amp on the other, through the Tape Out. Will the NAD pass the signal through even when it’s off? And how will it “know” to pass the signal from the CD player and not some other source? Or will it just passively pass along whatever’s coming through it?

 

[Shirtsleeves1793]

I answered my own question - I tried a dummy headphone jack in the socket of my NAD and it cut the sound off to the speakers. So that's the route I'll take. (I knew I had a dummy jack but I thought it was buried away at the back of a closet - turns out it wasn't.)

New member here - first post. Forgive me if I'm doing something wrong. I did search the board for an answer to this specific question but didn't come up with anything (at least nothing I immediately recognized as such).

I have a NAD C326BEE integrated amp. The only way to turn the speakers off is by plugging headphones into the headphone socket on the front panel – then they turn off automatically. If I add a headphone amp and connect it to Tape Out, how do I turn the speakers off? Or to put it another way, what’s the best way to make sure no sound comes out of them? I realize I can just turn the volume all the way down, but I'm hoping there's a more elegant solution. Any chance it’s as simple as putting a dummy jack in the headphone socket?

Thanks very much in advance for any assistance.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Thanks for responding. What an interesting idea. I would never have thought of that. How would it work exactly? Let’s say I have my CD player playing on one side of the NAD, with the NAD off, and the headphone amp on the other, through the Tape Out. Will the NAD pass the signal through even when it’s off? And how will it “know” to pass the signal from the CD player and not some other source? Or will it just passively pass along whatever’s coming through it?

If it's on the tape out some models work regardless of whether the amp is powered on or not since it's just a pass through, unlike a preamp output.

 

[Shirtsleeves1793]

If it's on the tape out some models work regardless of whether the amp is powered on or not since it's just a pass through, unlike a preamp output.

I'll try that when my amp arrives and report back to let people know how it worked. That would be the absolute easiest approach if it did - I wouldn't even have to turn the NAD on!

Thanks again for your help.