Looking For a Unicorn? Need Integrated Amp with Individually Adjustable Headphone/Speaker Outputs…

[BassKulcha]

I’m doing some initial scouting/research for a non-profit that will need to source about 10 of these in the next few months, and I thought I’d ask the amazing AK community braintrust for recommendations.

Specifications:

• Key: Speakers and headphones will be used simultaneously, BUT each need to be individually adjustable (i.e. the headphones will need to be a different volume than the speakers—)

• Needs to be fairly simple to set up and operate for someone with little experience setting up audio systems. Should be fairly bomb-proof.
  
  
• With a remote if possible

• Solid state, rather than tube
  
  
• Does not need tremendous amounts of power

• Will be run via cable from a laptop with a streaming service as the source—no integrated phono stage or tone/balance controls necessary.

• Rooms will vary in size and dimension. (The speakers and headphones still need to be sourced, so they are unknown at the moment)

• Funding is limited, so cost is an issue. But great sound is also a prerequisite! Best case scenario would be to secure equipment donations, so American-made is a big plus—

I don’t really run any digital or streaming stuff, so I’ve probably missed something obvious…

Any suggestions? Thanks—

 

[sregor]

Instead of a unicorn, consider separate headphone amp. Run off the tape out section of the integrated,. (there may be other ways of connection, but that would be the simplest.
The biggest stumbling block is the separate volume for head phones. It could be done with an Lpad type pot, but you can only lower the headphone volume, not raise it. My 2 cents....

 

[TudorTurtle]

+ Yamaha as2100
- limited funding

 

[dcmfan]

Outlaw audio rr2160. More features than you need, but has separate headphone volume.

About $800 each.

 

[BassKulcha]

@dcmfan thanks for the heads up on that outlaw—very interesting, and pretty affordable for what it offers.

Unfortunately, according to the manual
“The RR 2160’s volume control also affects headphone output. The headphone jack is switched, so plugging in headphones will mute
your speaker output.”

Because of the unusual nature of the requirements, the headphones actually need to be *unswitched* (i.e. both phones and speakers will be playing, and each need to be individually adjustable...)

 

[dcmfan]

@dcmfan thanks for the heads up on that outlaw—very interesting, and pretty affordable for what it offers.

Unfortunately, according to the manual
“The RR 2160’s volume control also affects headphone output. The headphone jack is switched, so plugging in headphones will mute
your speaker output.”

Because of the unusual nature of the requirements, the headphones actually need to be *unswitched* (i.e. both phones and speakers will be playing, and each need to be individually adjustable...)

Well, that's not gonna work. I only looked at the quick specs. Sorry for the bum steer!

 

[OMGCat!]

If you run a power amp or powered speakers with a small mixer you could easily do what you want.
Might be a slightly steeper learning curve but pro gear sounds more suited to what you're looking to do and likely less expensive if you do a volume buy.

 

[jhildred]

Parasound Zdac v2 has separate volume controls for main output and headphones - although the manual doesn't make it clear if they are all live at the same time
https://parasound.com/pdfs/zdac-v2-owners-guide.pdf
Maybe ping Parasound to be sure. For the speakers add a matching Z-amp or just use powered speakers. These are nice small i/2 rack width units that can be stacked so great for desktop use. This would assume a USB or optical link from the computer.

 

[imral3]

@BassKulcha what is the intended use of this equipment? Is there a pre-existing or similarly established use that can be examined or copied?