Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
Electronics Repair (sci.electronics.repair) Discussion of repairing electronic equipment. Topics include requests for assistance, where to obtain servicing information and parts, techniques for diagnosis and repair, and annecdotes about success, failures and problems. |
Reply |
|
LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
Today, a Denon amplifier model PMA 250 II crossed my bench. Quite old, but
then Denon gear is usually pretty good quality and long lived, and well designed - or so I thought ... The reported problems were that the sound level fluctuated on both channels, and that the headphone socket did not cut the speakers. The first problem was cured in short order by treating the function switch to a dose of squidget juice. I gave all of the other switches and controls a little tickle as well, for completeness. Then I jacked in a set of headphones, and the owner was correct - the speakers kept running. There were five wires going across to the sub-board at the front that the socket was on, so it looked promising that it should switch, but I was a bit puzzled as to why it actually wasn't. The socket and board is secured to the inner front panel by a slide-on clip, so I whipped the outer front panel off, pulled the clip, and withdrew the board and socket so I could have a look underneath and see what was going on. I was mighty surprised to see that although the PCB had all the right pads and holes for a five pin socket, only a 3 pin was fitted. Two of the wires in the 5 wire ribbon were in fact connected to nothing other than dead-end tracks. I put it back together, and went on-line to see if I could find a user manual. When I did, I looked up the section on controls and connectors, and found this entry : "PHONES The jack is used for connecting the headphones. When the headphones are plugged in, the sound will cease to come from the speakers (except for the English model)." WTF is that about ? I could maybe at a pinch understand it if there was a front panel speaker selector switch such as you see on some amps, like "OFF, A, B, A+B", but there is no such switch on this, nor any other way that I can see of disabling the speakers, short of disconnecting them. What is the point, then, of having a headphone socket at all ? Why would you design it to take a switched socket, and then exclude one model from using the feature, effectively rendering the socket pretty much useless for its intended purpose ? Why in particular exclude the "English" model ? It's not as though there are any regulations here concerning headphone sockets, and in fact I don't think that I have ever seen another amp that didn't switch the speakers when phones were plugged in. Because I knew that the owner was not going to believe this either, I printed off the manual page and highlighted the relevant text, before returning it to the store that sent it in to me ... Arfa |
#2
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
Arfa Daily wrote: Today, a Denon amplifier model PMA 250 II crossed my bench. Quite old, but then Denon gear is usually pretty good quality and long lived, and well designed - or so I thought ... The reported problems were that the sound level fluctuated on both channels, and that the headphone socket did not cut the speakers. The first problem was cured in short order by treating the function switch to a dose of squidget juice. I gave all of the other switches and controls a little tickle as well, for completeness. Then I jacked in a set of headphones, and the owner was correct - the speakers kept running. There were five wires going across to the sub-board at the front that the socket was on, so it looked promising that it should switch, but I was a bit puzzled as to why it actually wasn't. The socket and board is secured to the inner front panel by a slide-on clip, so I whipped the outer front panel off, pulled the clip, and withdrew the board and socket so I could have a look underneath and see what was going on. I was mighty surprised to see that although the PCB had all the right pads and holes for a five pin socket, only a 3 pin was fitted. Two of the wires in the 5 wire ribbon were in fact connected to nothing other than dead-end tracks. I put it back together, and went on-line to see if I could find a user manual. When I did, I looked up the section on controls and connectors, and found this entry : "PHONES The jack is used for connecting the headphones. When the headphones are plugged in, the sound will cease to come from the speakers (except for the English model)." WTF is that about ? I could maybe at a pinch understand it if there was a front panel speaker selector switch such as you see on some amps, like "OFF, A, B, A+B", but there is no such switch on this, nor any other way that I can see of disabling the speakers, short of disconnecting them. What is the point, then, of having a headphone socket at all ? Why would you design it to take a switched socket, and then exclude one model from using the feature, effectively rendering the socket pretty much useless for its intended purpose ? Why in particular exclude the "English" model ? It's not as though there are any regulations here concerning headphone sockets, and in fact I don't think that I have ever seen another amp that didn't switch the speakers when phones were plugged in. Because I knew that the owner was not going to believe this either, I printed off the manual page and highlighted the relevant text, before returning it to the store that sent it in to me ... It sounds like they made a deal with Lucas... ;-) |
#3
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
On 1/2/2013 3:51 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:
Arfa Daily wrote: It sounds like they made a deal with Lucas... ;-) Denon was left with a difficult choice when designing the British model. They either had to make it quirky in a way that Brits would appreciate, or to follow the great tradition of British automobile makers and provide a way to make it leak some type of fluid. They chose the less expensive choice......... |
#4
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
Smarty wrote: On 1/2/2013 3:51 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote: Arfa Daily wrote: It sounds like they made a deal with Lucas... ;-) Denon was left with a difficult choice when designing the British model. They either had to make it quirky in a way that Brits would appreciate, or to follow the great tradition of British automobile makers and provide a way to make it leak some type of fluid. They chose the less expensive choice......... It's much better to have it leak, than to make a deal with the prince of dorkness. ;-) |
#5
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
Happy New Year Arfa,
Well, maybe they felt that the British either use headphone or speakers, and most people don't own both? On the other hand, your description makes me thing that if you fitted the switching jack to the board, you could add the switching the customer desired... The even dumber part is to run the speaker wires to the headphone jack board at all if you are not going to switch them, adding all the extra wiring for no reason, and adding the resistance of the wiring to the speaker lines. Best regards, Tim Schwartz Bristol Electronics P.S. Who said there was a point? On 1/2/2013 3:51 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote: Arfa Daily wrote: Today, a Denon amplifier model PMA 250 II crossed my bench. Quite old, but then Denon gear is usually pretty good quality and long lived, and well designed - or so I thought ... The reported problems were that the sound level fluctuated on both channels, and that the headphone socket did not cut the speakers. The first problem was cured in short order by treating the function switch to a dose of squidget juice. I gave all of the other switches and controls a little tickle as well, for completeness. Then I jacked in a set of headphones, and the owner was correct - the speakers kept running. There were five wires going across to the sub-board at the front that the socket was on, so it looked promising that it should switch, but I was a bit puzzled as to why it actually wasn't. The socket and board is secured to the inner front panel by a slide-on clip, so I whipped the outer front panel off, pulled the clip, and withdrew the board and socket so I could have a look underneath and see what was going on. I was mighty surprised to see that although the PCB had all the right pads and holes for a five pin socket, only a 3 pin was fitted. Two of the wires in the 5 wire ribbon were in fact connected to nothing other than dead-end tracks. I put it back together, and went on-line to see if I could find a user manual. When I did, I looked up the section on controls and connectors, and found this entry : "PHONES The jack is used for connecting the headphones. When the headphones are plugged in, the sound will cease to come from the speakers (except for the English model)." WTF is that about ? I could maybe at a pinch understand it if there was a front panel speaker selector switch such as you see on some amps, like "OFF, A, B, A+B", but there is no such switch on this, nor any other way that I can see of disabling the speakers, short of disconnecting them. What is the point, then, of having a headphone socket at all ? Why would you design it to take a switched socket, and then exclude one model from using the feature, effectively rendering the socket pretty much useless for its intended purpose ? Why in particular exclude the "English" model ? It's not as though there are any regulations here concerning headphone sockets, and in fact I don't think that I have ever seen another amp that didn't switch the speakers when phones were plugged in. Because I knew that the owner was not going to believe this either, I printed off the manual page and highlighted the relevant text, before returning it to the store that sent it in to me ... It sounds like they made a deal with Lucas... ;-) |
#6
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
On Wed, 2 Jan 2013 16:45:12 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
put finger to keyboard and composed: The reported problems were that the sound level fluctuated on both channels, and that the headphone socket did not cut the speakers. My old Mitsubishi CRT TV had two headphone sockets. One cut the speaker, the other did not. Presumably it was to allow a hearing impaired individual to listen to the TV via headphones while their partner listened via the speaker. I can't imagine that this would apply in the Denon case, though. I'm trying to envisage some kind of safety issue, but I can't think of any that make sense. There have been times when I've received a deafening blast from my headphones at switch-on, or when selecting a signal source, but that's not something that would be remedied by unswitched speaker outputs. - Franc Zabkar -- Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email. |
#7
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
Franc Zabkar wrote:
On Wed, 2 Jan 2013 16:45:12 -0000, "Arfa Daily" put finger to keyboard and composed: The reported problems were that the sound level fluctuated on both channels, and that the headphone socket did not cut the speakers. My old Mitsubishi CRT TV had two headphone sockets. One cut the speaker, the other did not. Presumably it was to allow a hearing I recall this. It's on par with picture-in-picture for actual usefulness. |
#8
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
Franc Zabkar wrote: On Wed, 2 Jan 2013 16:45:12 -0000, "Arfa Daily" put finger to keyboard and composed: The reported problems were that the sound level fluctuated on both channels, and that the headphone socket did not cut the speakers. My old Mitsubishi CRT TV had two headphone sockets. One cut the speaker, the other did not. Presumably it was to allow a hearing impaired individual to listen to the TV via headphones while their partner listened via the speaker. I can't imagine that this would apply in the Denon case, though. I'm trying to envisage some kind of safety issue, but I can't think of any that make sense. It sounds like they needed to remove one more part to meet a price point. |
#9
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
"Tim Schwartz" wrote in message ... Happy New Year Arfa, Well, maybe they felt that the British either use headphone or speakers, and most people don't own both? On the other hand, your description makes me thing that if you fitted the switching jack to the board, you could add the switching the customer desired... The even dumber part is to run the speaker wires to the headphone jack board at all if you are not going to switch them, adding all the extra wiring for no reason, and adding the resistance of the wiring to the speaker lines. Best regards, Tim Schwartz Bristol Electronics P.S. Who said there was a point? On 1/2/2013 3:51 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote: Arfa Daily wrote: Today, a Denon amplifier model PMA 250 II crossed my bench. Quite old, but then Denon gear is usually pretty good quality and long lived, and well designed - or so I thought ... The reported problems were that the sound level fluctuated on both channels, and that the headphone socket did not cut the speakers. The first problem was cured in short order by treating the function switch to a dose of squidget juice. I gave all of the other switches and controls a little tickle as well, for completeness. Then I jacked in a set of headphones, and the owner was correct - the speakers kept running. There were five wires going across to the sub-board at the front that the socket was on, so it looked promising that it should switch, but I was a bit puzzled as to why it actually wasn't. The socket and board is secured to the inner front panel by a slide-on clip, so I whipped the outer front panel off, pulled the clip, and withdrew the board and socket so I could have a look underneath and see what was going on. I was mighty surprised to see that although the PCB had all the right pads and holes for a five pin socket, only a 3 pin was fitted. Two of the wires in the 5 wire ribbon were in fact connected to nothing other than dead-end tracks. I put it back together, and went on-line to see if I could find a user manual. When I did, I looked up the section on controls and connectors, and found this entry : "PHONES The jack is used for connecting the headphones. When the headphones are plugged in, the sound will cease to come from the speakers (except for the English model)." WTF is that about ? I could maybe at a pinch understand it if there was a front panel speaker selector switch such as you see on some amps, like "OFF, A, B, A+B", but there is no such switch on this, nor any other way that I can see of disabling the speakers, short of disconnecting them. What is the point, then, of having a headphone socket at all ? Why would you design it to take a switched socket, and then exclude one model from using the feature, effectively rendering the socket pretty much useless for its intended purpose ? Why in particular exclude the "English" model ? It's not as though there are any regulations here concerning headphone sockets, and in fact I don't think that I have ever seen another amp that didn't switch the speakers when phones were plugged in. Because I knew that the owner was not going to believe this either, I printed off the manual page and highlighted the relevant text, before returning it to the store that sent it in to me ... It sounds like they made a deal with Lucas... ;-) Happy new year to you too ! I don't suppose it makes that much odds with the wiring, as it's a piece of 5 way ribbon cable, but it does of course require that two wire links are fitted somewhere - although I don't recall seeing them at the socket PCB, so perhaps they are the other end. At the end of the day, it's quite an old amp and it is what it is. I'm not about to start messing about modding it, unless the owner says specifically that he wants to pay for it as a 'proper' job. I would guess that it's either sat in his attic for years and he's forgotten about this little foible, or he's bought it on FleaBay and didn't realise. No matter how you look at it though, I still think that it's a thoroughly ****-street piece of design work, and I can't see any point in having the socket fitted at all, if it's not going to cut the speakers ... Arfa |
#10
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
"Franc Zabkar" wrote in message ... On Wed, 2 Jan 2013 16:45:12 -0000, "Arfa Daily" put finger to keyboard and composed: The reported problems were that the sound level fluctuated on both channels, and that the headphone socket did not cut the speakers. My old Mitsubishi CRT TV had two headphone sockets. One cut the speaker, the other did not. Presumably it was to allow a hearing impaired individual to listen to the TV via headphones while their partner listened via the speaker. I can't imagine that this would apply in the Denon case, though. I'm trying to envisage some kind of safety issue, but I can't think of any that make sense. There have been times when I've received a deafening blast from my headphones at switch-on, or when selecting a signal source, but that's not something that would be remedied by unswitched speaker outputs. - Franc Zabkar -- Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email. The headphone socket on my current TV is always live, but it has its own software level control, and of course, there is a remote 'mute' function, so the internal speakers can be turned off if I want to listen to something on there, whilst the missus is messing about on her laptop, or whatever. Interestingly, the on-screen 'mute' symbol disappears after about 2 minutes. On my workshop TV, you get a bloody great red loudspeaker symbol with a bar through it, all the time it is muted ... With 40 yeras of experience in this game, and added to the all the combined years of the rest of us on here, if we can't come up with a sensible reason, then you have to assume that there *is* no sense to it. I hate it when you get a puzzle like this though. I really would like to know what the designer was thinking when he did this for the "English" model only. By that, do they actually mean the "UK" model ? I can't imagine that any different version was shipped to N.I. or Wales or Scotland. That would be a bit like having one version for Texas, and a different one for Colorado ... Arfa |
#11
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
On Fri, 4 Jan 2013 01:03:02 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
put finger to keyboard and composed: On my workshop TV, you get a bloody great red loudspeaker symbol with a bar through it, all the time it is muted ... LG? - Franc Zabkar -- Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email. |
#12
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
"Arfa Daily" With 40 yeras of experience in this game, and added to the all the combined years of the rest of us on here, if we can't come up with a sensible reason, then you have to assume that there *is* no sense to it. I hate it when you get a puzzle like this though. I really would like to know what the designer was thinking when he did this for the "English" model only. By that, do they actually mean the "UK" model ? ** Yes. The motive back then was the British hi-fi press's obsession with "damping factor" or DF. By omitting the wiring to and from the HP jack, Denon were able to publish an impressive number for DF and the folk in sales thought this to be a good idea, at least for the UK market. ..... Phil |
#13
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message m... Franc Zabkar wrote: On Wed, 2 Jan 2013 16:45:12 -0000, "Arfa Daily" put finger to keyboard and composed: The reported problems were that the sound level fluctuated on both channels, and that the headphone socket did not cut the speakers. My old Mitsubishi CRT TV had two headphone sockets. One cut the speaker, the other did not. Presumably it was to allow a hearing impaired individual to listen to the TV via headphones while their partner listened via the speaker. I can't imagine that this would apply in the Denon case, though. I'm trying to envisage some kind of safety issue, but I can't think of any that make sense. It sounds like they needed to remove one more part to meet a price point. But why for just one regional model ? You could save the same amount of money between a switched and unswitched socket by fitting a cheaper volume knob ... Arfa |
#14
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
"Franc Zabkar" wrote in message ... On Fri, 4 Jan 2013 01:03:02 -0000, "Arfa Daily" put finger to keyboard and composed: On my workshop TV, you get a bloody great red loudspeaker symbol with a bar through it, all the time it is muted ... LG? - Franc Zabkar -- Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email. It's actually a Bush. Two generations ago, Bush were a very well respected indigenous manufacturer of quality consumer electronics. When I was a kid, our household TV was a Bush. My first transistor radio which was built on a metal chassis which had wiring points all over it (and which I've still got somewhere) was a Bush. About one generation ago, they formed an amalgamation with Murphy, another quality UK manufacturer, under the Rank Organisation umbrella to become Rank Bush Murphy or RBM. It was still a wholly UK manufacturing operation, and still produced quality products. Some years back, like most manufacturing here and as I understand it, in the U.S. also, they packed it all in. Always having an eye to the main chance, some bunch of Ying Tongs bought the Bush and Murphy names, and started badging their crap with them, and exporting them back to the UK. Because Bush stuff used to be good, and there's plenty of my age that had Bush stuff in their homes when they were kids, it has continued to sell well, but most of it is now real cheapo Far East stuff that'll just about last out its warranty if you are lucky. It's real 'shed' and supermarket quality stuff. To be fair, the TV in my workshop is not too bad, as long as all you are interested in is having a picture, rather than having a 'good' picture. The only reason that I have it is that it was 'inherited' from a dealer that I did some work for, and he supplied the set for monitoring purposes as part of the deal. Is it LG inside ? I don't know. It could be, I suppose, but I doubt that it would warrant having a chassis from a well known manufacturer like them in it. However, if the big red speaker on the screen is characteristic of the LG you are thinking of, then maybe it is an LG chassis ... Arfa |
#15
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
Arfa Daily wrote: "Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message m... Franc Zabkar wrote: On Wed, 2 Jan 2013 16:45:12 -0000, "Arfa Daily" put finger to keyboard and composed: The reported problems were that the sound level fluctuated on both channels, and that the headphone socket did not cut the speakers. My old Mitsubishi CRT TV had two headphone sockets. One cut the speaker, the other did not. Presumably it was to allow a hearing impaired individual to listen to the TV via headphones while their partner listened via the speaker. I can't imagine that this would apply in the Denon case, though. I'm trying to envisage some kind of safety issue, but I can't think of any that make sense. It sounds like they needed to remove one more part to meet a price point. But why for just one regional model ? You could save the same amount of money between a switched and unswitched socket by fitting a cheaper volume knob ... A marketing decison: No one really uses headphones anymore! ;-) |
#16
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
"Phil Allison" wrote in message ... "Arfa Daily" With 40 yeras of experience in this game, and added to the all the combined years of the rest of us on here, if we can't come up with a sensible reason, then you have to assume that there *is* no sense to it. I hate it when you get a puzzle like this though. I really would like to know what the designer was thinking when he did this for the "English" model only. By that, do they actually mean the "UK" model ? ** Yes. The motive back then was the British hi-fi press's obsession with "damping factor" or DF. By omitting the wiring to and from the HP jack, Denon were able to publish an impressive number for DF and the folk in sales thought this to be a good idea, at least for the UK market. .... Phil There is a degree of 'sense' to that thought, Phil. I seem to recall that Peter Walker of Quad fame espoused similar opinions a bit further back than this unit comes from, and cited it as the reason for refusing to fit headphone sockets to their products ... Arfa |
#17
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
On Wed, 2 Jan 2013 16:45:12 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
wrote: Today, a Denon amplifier model PMA 250 II crossed my bench. Quite old, but then Denon gear is usually pretty good quality and long lived, and well designed - or so I thought ... The reported problems were that the sound level fluctuated on both channels, and that the headphone socket did not cut the speakers. The first problem was cured in short order by treating the function switch to a dose of squidget juice. I gave all of the other switches and controls a little tickle as well, for completeness. Then I jacked in a set of headphones, and the owner was correct - the speakers kept running. There were five wires going across to the sub-board at the front that the socket was on, so it looked promising that it should switch, but I was a bit puzzled as to why it actually wasn't. The socket and board is secured to the inner front panel by a slide-on clip, so I whipped the outer front panel off, pulled the clip, and withdrew the board and socket so I could have a look underneath and see what was going on. I was mighty surprised to see that although the PCB had all the right pads and holes for a five pin socket, only a 3 pin was fitted. Two of the wires in the 5 wire ribbon were in fact connected to nothing other than dead-end tracks. I put it back together, and went on-line to see if I could find a user manual. When I did, I looked up the section on controls and connectors, and found this entry : "PHONES The jack is used for connecting the headphones. When the headphones are plugged in, the sound will cease to come from the speakers (except for the English model)." WTF is that about ? I could maybe at a pinch understand it if there was a front panel speaker selector switch such as you see on some amps, like "OFF, A, B, A+B", but there is no such switch on this, nor any other way that I can see of disabling the speakers, short of disconnecting them. What is the point, then, of having a headphone socket at all ? Why would you design it to take a switched socket, and then exclude one model from using the feature, effectively rendering the socket pretty much useless for its intended purpose ? Why in particular exclude the "English" model ? It's not as though there are any regulations here concerning headphone sockets, and in fact I don't think that I have ever seen another amp that didn't switch the speakers when phones were plugged in. Because I knew that the owner was not going to believe this either, I printed off the manual page and highlighted the relevant text, before returning it to the store that sent it in to me ... Arfa I have seen lots of Japanese and some other amplifiers that do not have speaker cutouts on the headphone jack; but _ALL_ of them had proper speaker switches of some sort. YMMV ?-) |
#18
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:13:02 -0500, Smarty wrote:
On 1/2/2013 3:51 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote: Arfa Daily wrote: It sounds like they made a deal with Lucas... ;-) Denon was left with a difficult choice when designing the British model. They either had to make it quirky in a way that Brits would appreciate, or to follow the great tradition of British automobile makers and provide a way to make it leak some type of fluid. They chose the less expensive choice......... You cost me about 6 paper towels and a mouthful of wine. Worst of all some of it came out of my nose. ?-) |
#19
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
On 1/3/2013 3:45 AM, Arfa Daily wrote:
Today, a Denon amplifier model PMA 250 II crossed my bench. Quite old, but then Denon gear is usually pretty good quality and long lived, and well designed - or so I thought ... The reported problems were that the sound level fluctuated on both channels, and that the headphone socket did not cut the speakers. The first problem was cured in short order by treating the function switch to a dose of squidget juice. I gave all of the other switches and controls a little tickle as well, for completeness. Then I jacked in a set of headphones, and the owner was correct - the speakers kept running. There were five wires going across to the sub-board at the front that the socket was on, so it looked promising that it should switch, but I was a bit puzzled as to why it actually wasn't. The socket and board is secured to the inner front panel by a slide-on clip, so I whipped the outer front panel off, pulled the clip, and withdrew the board and socket so I could have a look underneath and see what was going on. I was mighty surprised to see that although the PCB had all the right pads and holes for a five pin socket, only a 3 pin was fitted. Two of the wires in the 5 wire ribbon were in fact connected to nothing other than dead-end tracks. I put it back together, and went on-line to see if I could find a user manual. When I did, I looked up the section on controls and connectors, and found this entry : "PHONES The jack is used for connecting the headphones. When the headphones are plugged in, the sound will cease to come from the speakers (except for the English model)." WTF is that about ? I could maybe at a pinch understand it if there was a front panel speaker selector switch such as you see on some amps, like "OFF, A, B, A+B", but there is no such switch on this, nor any other way that I can see of disabling the speakers, short of disconnecting them. What is the point, then, of having a headphone socket at all ? Why would you design it to take a switched socket, and then exclude one model from using the feature, effectively rendering the socket pretty much useless for its intended purpose ? Why in particular exclude the "English" model ? It's not as though there are any regulations here concerning headphone sockets, and in fact I don't think that I have ever seen another amp that didn't switch the speakers when phones were plugged in. Because I knew that the owner was not going to believe this either, I printed off the manual page and highlighted the relevant text, before returning it to the store that sent it in to me ... Arfa **Sounds like the Pommy hi fi press influence to me. Headphone socket switches are not the highest quality method of switching a speaker level audio signal available. -- Trevor Wilson www.rageaudio.com.au |
#20
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
Trevor Wilson wrote: On 1/3/2013 3:45 AM, Arfa Daily wrote: ? Today, a Denon amplifier model PMA 250 II crossed my bench. Quite old, ? but then Denon gear is usually pretty good quality and long lived, and ? well designed - or so I thought ... ? ? The reported problems were that the sound level fluctuated on both ? channels, and that the headphone socket did not cut the speakers. The ? first problem was cured in short order by treating the function switch ? to a dose of squidget juice. I gave all of the other switches and ? controls a little tickle as well, for completeness. ? ? Then I jacked in a set of headphones, and the owner was correct - the ? speakers kept running. There were five wires going across to the ? sub-board at the front that the socket was on, so it looked promising ? that it should switch, but I was a bit puzzled as to why it actually ? wasn't. The socket and board is secured to the inner front panel by a ? slide-on clip, so I whipped the outer front panel off, pulled the clip, ? and withdrew the board and socket so I could have a look underneath and ? see what was going on. I was mighty surprised to see that although the ? PCB had all the right pads and holes for a five pin socket, only a 3 pin ? was fitted. Two of the wires in the 5 wire ribbon were in fact connected ? to nothing other than dead-end tracks. I put it back together, and went ? on-line to see if I could find a user manual. When I did, I looked up ? the section on controls and connectors, and found this entry : ? ? "PHONES ? ? The jack is used for connecting the headphones. ? When the headphones are plugged in, the sound will cease to come from ? the speakers (except for the English model)." ? ? WTF is that about ? I could maybe at a pinch understand it if there was ? a front panel speaker selector switch such as you see on some amps, like ? "OFF, A, B, A+B", but there is no such switch on this, nor any other way ? that I can see of disabling the speakers, short of disconnecting them. ? What is the point, then, of having a headphone socket at all ? Why would ? you design it to take a switched socket, and then exclude one model from ? using the feature, effectively rendering the socket pretty much useless ? for its intended purpose ? Why in particular exclude the "English" model ? ? It's not as though there are any regulations here concerning headphone ? sockets, and in fact I don't think that I have ever seen another amp ? that didn't switch the speakers when phones were plugged in. ? ? Because I knew that the owner was not going to believe this either, I ? printed off the manual page and highlighted the relevant text, before ? returning it to the store that sent it in to me ... ? ? Arfa **Sounds like the Pommy hi fi press influence to me. Headphone socket switches are not the highest quality method of switching a speaker level audio signal available. That's because they use cheap plastic junk, rather that commercial grade jacks like these: http://www.switchcraft.com/Drawings/14b_cd.pdf I've seen these in equipment that is used daily for decades with no problems. |
#21
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
"Michael A. Terrell" Trevor Wilson wrote: **Sounds like the Pommy hi fi press influence to me. Headphone socket switches are not the highest quality method of switching a speaker level audio signal available. That's because they use cheap plastic junk, rather that commercial grade jacks like these: http://www.switchcraft.com/Drawings/14b_cd.pdf I've seen these in equipment that is used daily for decades with no problems. ** That sort of stereo jack cannot perform speaker switching on a hi-fi amplifer. You need ones that have a pair of independent contacts. ...... Phil |
#22
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
http://www.switchcraft.com/Drawings/14b_cd.pdf
That sort of stereo jack cannot perform speaker switching on a hi-fi amplifier. Sure it can. It's just not a good idea. You don't want to run the amp's output through such a "cheap 'n dirty" "switch". You need ones that have a pair of independent contacts. ??? |
#23
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
Arfa I have seen lots of Japanese and some other amplifiers that do not have speaker cutouts on the headphone jack; but _ALL_ of them had proper speaker switches of some sort. YMMV ?-) Yep, me too, which is why I couldn't see the point of having this arrangement ... Arfa |
#24
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
"William Sommer****** is getting WORSE " http://www.switchcraft.com/Drawings/14b_cd.pdf That sort of stereo jack cannot perform speaker switching on a hi-fi amplifier. Sure it can. ** The only way such a jack could perform speaker switching is if the amp's output were connected DIRECT to the headphone contacts - something no sane amp maker would ever do. You need ones that have a pair of independent contacts. ??? ** Wot an ignorant, ****ing **** you are. ..... Phil |
#25
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
Phil Allison wrote: "Michael A. Terrell" ? ? Trevor Wilson wrote: ? ?? ?? **Sounds like the Pommy hi fi press influence to me. Headphone socket ?? switches are not the highest quality method of switching a speaker level ?? audio signal available. ? ? ? That's because they use cheap plastic junk, rather that commercial ? grade jacks like these: ? ? http://www.switchcraft.com/Drawings/14b_cd.pdf ? ? I've seen these in equipment that is used daily for decades with no ? problems. ? ** That sort of stereo jack cannot perform speaker switching on a hi-fi amplifer. You need ones that have a pair of independent contacts. They make those, as well. I was pointing out the construction of the jack. Their long frame series have additional switches. They are the same grade that were used in telephone switchboards & audio patch panels in studios. The point is that they would ad $10 to $10 to the retail price of the units. As far as putting resistors in series with the 'cans', it's also possible to use the extra switches to reduce the drive to the amplifier. |
#26
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
On 09/01/2013 02:09, Arfa Daily wrote:
Arfa I have seen lots of Japanese and some other amplifiers that do not have speaker cutouts on the headphone jack; but _ALL_ of them had proper speaker switches of some sort. YMMV ?-) Yep, me too, which is why I couldn't see the point of having this arrangement ... Arfa Surely the best solution would be a 'user' control to mute the speakers at will? Best of both worlds. |
#27
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message ... http://www.switchcraft.com/Drawings/14b_cd.pdf That sort of stereo jack cannot perform speaker switching on a hi-fi amplifier. Sure it can. It's just not a good idea. You don't want to run the amp's output through such a "cheap 'n dirty" "switch". You need ones that have a pair of independent contacts. ??? Presumably to switch a remote relay. Gareth. |
#28
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
Gareth Magennis wrote: "William Sommerwerck" wrote in message ... http://www.switchcraft.com/Drawings/14b_cd.pdf That sort of stereo jack cannot perform speaker switching on a hi-fi amplifier. Sure it can. It's just not a good idea. You don't want to run the amp's output through such a "cheap 'n dirty" "switch". You need ones that have a pair of independent contacts. ??? Presumably to switch a remote relay. No. They switched a pair of resistors in line with the headphones to reduce the drive. I recall a lot of 180 Ohm resistors on the back of headphone jacks. |
#29
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message ... Gareth Magennis wrote: "William Sommerwerck" wrote in message ... http://www.switchcraft.com/Drawings/14b_cd.pdf That sort of stereo jack cannot perform speaker switching on a hi-fi amplifier. Sure it can. It's just not a good idea. You don't want to run the amp's output through such a "cheap 'n dirty" "switch". You need ones that have a pair of independent contacts. ??? Presumably to switch a remote relay. No. They switched a pair of resistors in line with the headphones to reduce the drive. I recall a lot of 180 Ohm resistors on the back of headphone jacks. Yes, that would surely still rely on the switched headphone jack passing the amplifiers power, or not, via its puny switch to the speakers. What you really need is a pair of independent contacts in the headphone socket that makes a circuit when a headphone jack is inserted. This pair of contacts will then remotely switch the speakers off. These sockets do actually exist. Gareth. |
#30
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
Gareth Magennis wrote: "Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message ... Gareth Magennis wrote: "William Sommerwerck" wrote in message ... http://www.switchcraft.com/Drawings/14b_cd.pdf That sort of stereo jack cannot perform speaker switching on a hi-fi amplifier. Sure it can. It's just not a good idea. You don't want to run the amp's output through such a "cheap 'n dirty" "switch". You need ones that have a pair of independent contacts. ??? Presumably to switch a remote relay. No. They switched a pair of resistors in line with the headphones to reduce the drive. I recall a lot of 180 Ohm resistors on the back of headphone jacks. Yes, that would surely still rely on the switched headphone jack passing the amplifiers power, or not, via its puny switch to the speakers. What you really need is a pair of independent contacts in the headphone socket that makes a circuit when a headphone jack is inserted. This pair of contacts will then remotely switch the speakers off. These sockets do actually exist. They have been around since the '60s. |
#31
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
"Gareth Magennis" wrote in message
... "William Sommerwerck" wrote in message ... http://www.switchcraft.com/Drawings/14b_cd.pdf That sort of stereo jack cannot perform speaker switching on a hi-fi amplifier. Sure it can. It's just not a good idea. You don't want to run the amp's output through such a "cheap 'n dirty" "switch". You need ones that have a pair of independent contacts. ??? Presumably to switch a remote relay. Gareth. The late model Denon's I've seen use a switch in the headphone jack to control the speaker relays. Mark Z. |
#32
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
"Gareth Magennis" You need ones that have a pair of independent contacts. ??? Presumably to switch a remote relay. ** Not at all. These stereo jacks have two sets of isolated, NC contacts that will do the job just fine with amplifiers up to say 80 wpc. See items 3 & 4 on this page: http://www.minute-man.com/acatalog/1...reo_Jacks.html .... Phil |
#33
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
So, what's the point of that, then ... ?
"Gareth Magennis" wrote in message ... "Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message ... Gareth Magennis wrote: "William Sommerwerck" wrote in message ... http://www.switchcraft.com/Drawings/14b_cd.pdf That sort of stereo jack cannot perform speaker switching on a hi-fi amplifier. Sure it can. It's just not a good idea. You don't want to run the amp's output through such a "cheap 'n dirty" "switch". You need ones that have a pair of independent contacts. ??? Presumably to switch a remote relay. No. They switched a pair of resistors in line with the headphones to reduce the drive. I recall a lot of 180 Ohm resistors on the back of headphone jacks. Yes, that would surely still rely on the switched headphone jack passing the amplifiers power, or not, via its puny switch to the speakers. What you really need is a pair of independent contacts in the headphone socket that makes a circuit when a headphone jack is inserted. This pair of contacts will then remotely switch the speakers off. These sockets do actually exist. Gareth. The system of speaker switching that you are suggesting, is often used on home cinema systems or AV amps where there are 6 channels to be switched off. For instance, my Sony HCD - S800 home cinema unit that I use for optical decoding and surround processing on my TV, has an independent set of contacts on it that tell the system control micro that headphones have been jacked in. It responds by cutting off the six speaker protection relays on the ends of the amps. The actual stereo signal for the headphones is derived from an independent small amplifier, with a power output more appropriate to driving them. Arfa |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Can't see the point... | UK diy | |||
brad point vs twist point | Woodworking | |||
Turned Piece The End Point OR A Step To The End Point? | Woodturning | |||
What's the point? OT | UK diy | |||
so he has a point | Metalworking |