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Post by BoredDeveloper on Jun 16, 2020 15:04:59 GMT -5
Hi All, I recently (last weekend) built a new stereo setup for myself and one part of it is the PT-100 which is connected to the A-100. The idea is to use the little A-100 as a headphone amp. Now my understanding is that the A-100 is a headphone "power" amp and therefore its output should be controlled by the PT-100 which is the preamp, however the A-100 also has a volume control dial, so my question is how does one control the volume of the headphones? Should I use the A-100 or the PT-100 or both? For instance if I set the volume on the PT-100 to zero then the dial on the A-100 does nothing (obviously). If I set the volume on the PT-100 to around "30" or "35" then the dial on the A-100 seems to function in reasonable manner; and if this is the correct approach then what should the volume on the PT-100 be set to? Or am I doing this all wrong and should I set the volume on the A-100 to somewhere in the middle or something and control it using the PT-100?? Any help, views, suggestions, thoughts will be gratefully received   The way I have connected everything is like this... CD player output, SPDIF output from the PC, Optical output from the PS4 all go to the PT-100 which sends an analog output to the A-100 which in turn has a loop output going to the DR2 which is connected to RF-7 speakers. The PT-100 has a sub out connected to an SB-4000. I freely admit that I am a newbie to separates audio  and was using a very basic 2.1 computer speaker setup for years and years before deciding to take the plunge and get a reasonable quality stereo setup. |
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Post by HunTer on Jun 16, 2020 15:49:57 GMT -5
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Post by Gary Cook on Jun 16, 2020 15:50:49 GMT -5
It doesn’t really matter, they both have analogue volume controls.
Cheers
Gary
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Post by BoredDeveloper on Jun 16, 2020 16:31:58 GMT -5
Many thanks for pointing me to the thread in your response. The simplest approach I can see is to turn the volume to the A-100 to maximum and use the PT-100 for volume control. I think with this approach the A-100 behaves like a normal power amp and the pre amp can be used for control. |
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Post by HunTer on Jun 16, 2020 19:09:31 GMT -5
You are welcome. That configuration yours is ok The A-100 is a wonderful, great and versatile audio product. My USP-1 & A-100 are configured as a 2-channel music system. That way I can listen to music either through the loudspeakers or with headphones on the USP-1 or the A-100 You can also connect any other audio source with RCA output to the input of the A-100, to use it only as a dedicated headphone's audio system To jumpers or not jumpers? Ah, that's the sweet question |
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Post by creimes on Jun 16, 2020 22:28:13 GMT -5
Set the volume on the A-100 to where you think is about max using the headphones and use the PT-100 volume for everything, may take some experimenting. BTW that stack looks awesome, congrats on the new gear  Cheers, Chad |
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Post by BoredDeveloper on Jun 17, 2020 2:46:21 GMT -5
The A-100 is a wonderful, great and versatile audio product. My USP-1 & A-100 are configured as a 2-channel music system. That way I can listen to music either through the loudspeakers or with headphones on the USP-1 or the A-100 That sounds like a nice, versatile setup . I am glad you brought up the topic of jumpers . By any chance would you know if I can drive 600 Ohm headphones like the Beyerdynamic 990 using A-100 in the normal configuration or should I bypass the dropping resistors using the internal jumpers? At the moment I use easy to drive 80 ohm headphones but the 600 ohm ones are on the way |
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Post by BoredDeveloper on Jun 17, 2020 2:47:58 GMT -5
Set the volume on the A-100 to where you think is about max using the headphones and use the PT-100 volume for everything, may take some experimenting. BTW that stack looks awesome, congrats on the new gear Cheers, Chad Thank you, new gear/toys is always fun |
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Post by HunTer on Jun 17, 2020 10:47:20 GMT -5
The A-100 is a wonderful, great and versatile audio product. My USP-1 & A-100 are configured as a 2-channel music system. That way I can listen to music either through the loudspeakers or with headphones on the USP-1 or the A-100 That sounds like a nice, versatile setup . I am glad you brought up the topic of jumpers . By any chance would you know if I can drive 600 Ohm headphones like the Beyerdynamic 990 using A-100 in the normal configuration or should I bypass the dropping resistors using the internal jumpers? At the moment I use easy to drive 80 ohm headphones but the 600 ohm ones are on the way Thank you, yours is awesome and gorgeous I haven't experimented with jumpers on the A-100 yet (but out of curiosity, at some point I will) My M1060 has 50 ohms, so for now, I think it is okay to use the A-100 in "normal mode" without the jumpers installed According to others who have experienced the A-100 with and without the jumpers, your Beyerdynamic 990 (600 ohm) will come alive with the jumpers installed Just please be aware of the warning issued when you do that (Manual-page 11) Here's a great and excellent review, A-100 & HD600 (600 ohms), by Garbulky. Enjoy it !!! emotivalounge.proboards.com/thread/50492/emotiva-headphone-review-senheisser-hd600 |
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Post by garbulky on Jun 17, 2020 12:25:46 GMT -5
The A-100 is a wonderful, great and versatile audio product. My USP-1 & A-100 are configured as a 2-channel music system. That way I can listen to music either through the loudspeakers or with headphones on the USP-1 or the A-100 That sounds like a nice, versatile setup . I am glad you brought up the topic of jumpers . By any chance would you know if I can drive 600 Ohm headphones like the Beyerdynamic 990 using A-100 in the normal configuration or should I bypass the dropping resistors using the internal jumpers? At the moment I use easy to drive 80 ohm headphones but the 600 ohm ones are on the way You should ABSOLUTELY BYPASS THE DROPPING RESISTORS for your beyerdynamic. |
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Post by BoredDeveloper on Jun 17, 2020 13:30:19 GMT -5
That sounds like a nice, versatile setup . I am glad you brought up the topic of jumpers . By any chance would you know if I can drive 600 Ohm headphones like the Beyerdynamic 990 using A-100 in the normal configuration or should I bypass the dropping resistors using the internal jumpers? At the moment I use easy to drive 80 ohm headphones but the 600 ohm ones are on the way You should ABSOLUTELY BYPASS THE DROPPING RESISTORS for your beyerdynamic. Just read your excellent review of the A-100 as suggested by HunTer. I will be sure to try the A-100 with standard configuration first and then with jumpers in place to appreciate the difference in sound. Now I just need to patiently wait for the new headphones to arrive |
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Post by garbulky on Jun 17, 2020 14:14:49 GMT -5
You should ABSOLUTELY BYPASS THE DROPPING RESISTORS for your beyerdynamic. Just read your excellent review of the A-100 as suggested by HunTer. I will be sure to try the A-100 with standard configuration first and then with jumpers in place to appreciate the difference in sound. Now I just need to patiently wait for the new headphones to arrive Re: your volume control question. What I would do is Firs set the A-100 to zero volume. Then set the PT-100 to slightly below maximum volume. Then bring the A-100 volume up from zero volume. Once you get it as loud as you could want in headphones, I would then leave the A-100 volume knob alone. I would then use the Pt-100 to adjust the volume from then on. The only trick is that you want the A-100 volume knob to be higher than the lowest levels (like higher than 9 o'clock, closer to 11 o'clock). To get it to go that high you may have to reduce the Pt-100 a bit from its max volume.) The reason for this is that at the lowest levels like below 9 o'clock, due to the nature of the A-100's potentiometer volume controls, there is a noticeable channel imbalance on the A-100. As long as you don't notice a channel imbalance, it should be fine. With the jumper's bypassed the PT-100's remote control will give you better control of changing the volume than the A-100's volume knob. |
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Post by BoredDeveloper on Jun 22, 2020 6:37:45 GMT -5
Hello All, Just a quick update in case anyone is wondering what the A-100 is like once the jumpers are connected. I bought DT990 600ohm headphones and connected them this morning first in the standard mode and then tried them with the jumpers connected. For my 600ohm headphones when the jumpers are connected there is a noticeable difference in the overall "spaciousness" of the sound if that makes and it can get *very* loud. Having said that it gets plenty loud and sounds very nice even with the jumpers out and that took me by surprise. I looked at the specs on the Emotiva site and in the *normal mode* there isn't a linear decrease in output as impedance increases. The output in standard mode for a 300ohm headphone is 440mW and for 600ohm it is 350mW. With jumpers in for 600ohms the output is 600mW which I appreciate is nearly times two when compared to standard mode, but the standard mode is no slouch. In conclusion I have decided to keep the amp in standard mode and jumpers out because it is good/loud enough and there is an element of safety built in just in case someone at home (which in my case is my wife and very curious 10 year old son) decides to plug in their normal headphone to the amp. Here is a picture with jumpers in, if anyone is curious  |
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and was using a very basic 2.1 computer speaker setup for years and years before deciding to take the plunge and get a reasonable quality stereo setup.
