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Receiver Headpone Jack (ouput) to Power Amplifier


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I recently ordered a new 150 WPC stereo amplifier to drive my Klipsch Cornwall's (yes, I know that is overkill but wanted some padding in dampening, etc.). I wanted to buy a matching pre-amp at the same time, but the pre-amp was out-of-stock. In the interim, I am going to attempt to drive the amplifier with my Onkyo receiver's headphone output using a phone jack to RCA adaptor cable. This was suggested by the amplifier manufacturer as a work around for my receiver, which does not have the normally used pre-out for the connection.

 

Anyone have any experience with this in terms of functionality and sound quality? If so, I'd like to hear your thoughts.

 

 

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8 hours ago, babadono said:

I think this will work. Just be judicious with the volume control on the receiver, at least at first. Start with volume all the way down.

 What amp did you buy? Does it have gain/level controls?

 

Emotiva BasX A-300. No gain/level controls apparent, unless somehow imbedded in firmware.

 

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Curious, what is the typical voltage range at the headphone jack compared to what most amps expect? My first thought is the voltage would be lower requiring one to crank the amp up higher than normal. Am I right or wrong?

 

And what about impedance?

 

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I have done this in the past.  As others have stated, it is not ideal with regards to output impedance etc., but it will work.  I ran a tube amp off the headphone jack of a cheap Sony Receiver for a few years until I could afford a proper preamp.  Sounded pretty good to me at the time!

 

 

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What Onkyo receiver do you have? There may be an effects send/receive, tape out, or second zone output you can use as a pre-amp out in lieu of using the headphone out, which as others have said, has the likely disadvantage of being driven by a low-cost headphone amp chip.

Edited by BadChile
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