[plonter]

Hi all. I am a user of headroom ultra micro stack since i got in this hobby.
this is a question that came up in the headphone amps forum but was reffering to tube amps, and the definite answer was that OTL tube amps doesn't have to be closed circuit (with headphone plugged inside) when turning them on, but tube amps with output transformers should not be allowed to be open circuit and should be turned on and off with the headphone plugged in.
anyway..my question is: what about headroom amps (and ss amps in general)...is it ok to turn them on and off without headphone plugged in?
I hope the answer is yes,because I do this all the time since I bought my stack. i never even thought that it can be bad to the amp in some way.
thanks!

 

[Jamey Warren]

Yes, you can turn on or off a HeadRoom amp without any headphone plugged in and you will not damage the circuit.

However, plugging in and unplugging your headphones while the power is on and the volume control turned up can cause the amplifier to short out and possibly burn up the output stage. That's one of the reasons why we recommend turning down the volume and even turning the amp off before plugging in or unplugging your headphones.

Again, no problem with turning the amp on or off without headphones plugged in.

Hope this answers your question.

 

[plonter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jamey Warren /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes, you can turn on or off a HeadRoom amp without any headphone plugged in and you will not damage the circuit. However, plugging in and unplugging your headphones while the power is on and the volume control turned up can cause the amplifier to short out and possibly burn up the output stage. That's one of the reasons why we recommend turning down the volume and even turning the amp off before plugging in or unplugging your headphones. Again, no problem with turning the amp on or off without headphones plugged in. Hope this answers your question.

thanks for the response jamey. and yes, I always turn the volume all the way down when plugging my phones.

 

[moogoob]

I turn the volume down as well.

 

[noparanoia]

Sorry to bump this old thread. Today I unplugged the volume controlled line-out on the back of my ultra-micro amp. The amp was on but the volume was turned down all the way. Is the situation any different than with the Headphone output on the front?

 

[Tyll Hertsens]

Nope. You should treat it the same way.

 

[moogoob]

Just curious, how is the output on the back handled differently than the headphone one on the front?