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Headphone/amp setup question

N

NeedCoffee

New Member
Running an amp without speakers

Hi guys, I have a pretty simple question & I hope this is an appropriate forum in which to ask.

I have a McIntosh MA 6100 integrated amp, but I only use the preamp stage on it. I use an Electron Kinetics Eagle 2 power amp.

Everything's great, but I have a pair of headphones that I would like to listen to on this stereo sometimes. The Eagle 2 does not have a headphone jack. Presumably because I'm bypassing the power amp stage of the McIntosh, there is no signal if I simply hook the headphones to the McIntosh.

I can think of two solutions to this problem:

1) Simply remove the cables from the "Preamp Out" on the McIntosh & replace the jumpers every time I want to listen to headphones. While that will obviously work, it's a pain, and I don't particularly want to do that every time.

2) Replace both cables connecting the Mcintosh to the Eagle 2 with a Y-cable. If I did that, I would have two Y-cables (one for each channel) that do the following: a.) come out from one channel of the "Preamp Out" on the Mcintosh, b). one end hooks back to one channel of the input on the Eagle, c.) the other end hooks to one channel of the "Power amp input" on the Mcintosh.

The real reason I'm writing a post here is to see if option 2) above is considered a bad idea. When I want to listen to headphones, I can simply turn on the McIntosh (leave the Eagle 2 off), and it will work. However, when I want to listen to speakers, I would turn both the McIntosh & Eagle 2 on. While this would work, the power amp stage of the McIntosh would still be engaged, despite not sending a signal to any speaker/headphones. Is that a bad idea, or is that what people generally do?

Thanks for any help.

edit: Just realized that I have a third option which has been staring me in the face the entire time:

3). I have a Nakamichi rx-505 which has a headphone jack & an input toggle so that I could leave everything hooked up as-is and listen through it.

Would you guys recommend using Y-cables or just listening through the Nakamichi? Thanks.
 
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If both amps are solid state. What you describe above should work fine. SS amps don't typically mind running without a load, as your MA 1600 would be doing when you are listening to speakers. If you could leave the headphones plugged in, that would probably be even better for the MA 1600.
 
Thank you for the response and information, BmWr75. I could certainly keep the headphones hooked up while listening to the speakers, though I hesitate to, simply because I listen to the stereo SO LOUD quite frequently.

Can anyone else confirm BmWr75's post, or does anyone recommend just using the Nakamichi over using Y-cables?
 
I was just listening to Al Di Meola on my rx505 thru Sennheiser HD598's. Love it!
It sounds a bit more powerful thru the Sanny 9090 tho.
 
U don't have to leave the HPs plugged into the McIntosh when playing speakers if it is solid state. I doubt many people are familiar with your Nak, so the lack of feedback.

I googled the Nak and it is a tape deck. Make the comparison between the Nak and McIntosh and decide yourself. My bets are on the Mc
 
Hello BmWr75, thank you again for posting.

I agree that the McIntosh has the superior amp to drive the headphones. I only suggested using the Nakamichi because I am unsure if there are adverse effects to running the McIntosh power amplifier stage without any speakers connected to it. If there are, I could simply use the headphone jack of the Nakamichi and not run the McIntosh like that.

Again, I started this thread for an answer to this question: Is running the power amp stage of the McIntosh without any speakers/headphones hooked up to it a bad idea?

You have twice indicated that doing so should be fine (and I thank you for that). However, this sentence from your earlier post

"If you could leave the headphones plugged in, that would probably be even better for the [McIntosh]. "

left me with the feeling that there may be adverse effects to running the McIntosh power amp stage without speakers/headphones. Your new post says

"U don't have to leave the HPs plugged into the McIntosh when playing speakers if it is solid state."

which suggests that running the McIntosh power amp stage with no speakers/headphones is OK. That may be common knowledge, but it is unknown to me, and that is why I am asking for additional feedback/confirmation. Again, thank you for your time, BmWr75.

To anyone else reading this, is that the consensus, ie is running a SS amp with no speakers/headphones OK? Thanks.
 
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