Headphones from speaker output on amp

[bumpy]

My neighbour is not an audiophile, but has asked me a question about amplifiers and headphones.

He wants to run headphones (OK with wireless or bluetooth) from his amp but also run the speakers at the same time. He has of course plugged in the headphones on the front panel but it disconnects the speakers.

So is there a way for him to get a signal to his headphones, perhaps by doubling up the speaker output from the amp. I think impedance might be an issue.

He is happy to buy kit off the shelf, but is not into DIY.

Thanks

[CageyH]

What is the amp?

[bumpy]

What is the amp?

Nothing special, just cheap and cheerful, something like Denon/Yamaha used for music and surround TV.

[Firebottle]

If it was me I would move the speaker wires internally so they didn't go through the headphone socket and get muted.

Can't even find a simple adapter box to add a phone outlet to speaker outputs. There are a multitude of small headphone amplifiers on ebay, perhaps one could be added to the tape output if fitted?

[Puffin]

I made one of the adapters at the link below for a DIY chip amp years ago. If I was using it for headphones then I disconnected the speaker leads.

It might be possible to disable the switching part of the headphone socket so that they run in tandem, but this might invlove adding a resistor circuit to maintain the recommended 120Ω source impedance.

https://sound-au.com/project100.htm

[CageyH]

Is there a “tape out” on the amp?

[bumpy]

No "tape out" on the amp unfortunately, and it's the old style big plug for the headphones.

Out of interest if we shorted the speaker wires across the headphone socket will the amp be happy to play both the main speakers and headphones together without reliability/electrical issues?

[Filterlab]

Out of interest if we shorted the speaker wires across the headphone socket will the amp be happy to play both the main speakers and headphones together without reliability/electrical issues?

I certainly wouldn't do that, unless your mate wants to buy a new amp.

[Firebottle]

I think he means shorting across the switching contact in the headphone socket, I can't see a problem with that.

There is usually a series resistor of around 220 ohms to reduce the signal going out to the phones, providing that is still in circuit to the phones then no problem driving speakers and phones.

[Filterlab]

Ahh, fair enough. I had images of cables running from front to rear!