ET3SE And Headphones.

[Wuzzissdo]

Proud owner of a New-To-Me CJ ET3 SE. Loving it.

I'm wondering how, or even if I can add headphones or a headphone amplifier. Rumor has it that the tape-loop may be an option but a lot of rumors floating around these days. I'm going directly to the faithful.

Also, the factory shipping box has a shipping date to the dealer of 2022. As I have no idea how the previous owner used it I'm wondering if I should replace the 6922 tube. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

Dave

[admin]

You can try to connect headphones to the output. The issue is there may be an impedance mismatch. The sound quality may not be the best. You will also need a plug converter.

If you are really a headphones listener, the CJ HVA-1 would absolutely give you the top performance.

As for the tubes. It really depends on how many hours were put on them and if they are failing.

[AnotherJohnson]

Proud owner of a New-To-Me CJ ET3 SE. Loving it.

I'm wondering how, or even if I can add headphones or a headphone amplifier. Rumor has it that the tape-loop may be an option but a lot of rumors floating around these days. I'm going directly to the faithful.

Also, the factory shipping box has a shipping date to the dealer of 2022. As I have no idea how the previous owner used it I'm wondering if I should replace the 6922 tube. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

Dave

Although I did not use this feature when I owned an ET3SE, it looked to me like the theater loop might be the best choice for using a headphone amp. The signal from the source is fed at unity gain out to your external processor. If the external processor were your headphone amp, and if you did not return the signal to the ET3SE, it seems like you could use the headphone amp by choosing this external processor loop to switch the headphones in or out of the system.

Can you borrow a headphone amp and see if it would work? There are headphone amps that are not as expensive as the CJ headphone amp, and they offer more features for control. McIntosh and Sennheiser both come to mind quickly. If you were to deal with a vendor who has a generous return policy, like The Music Room, you could buy used and check it out. How much do you want to spend on headphones? If they’re real important to you, you might want to consider the headphone options along with the headphone amp option. Sennheiser is a good brand, but there are others.

Personally I would not fool with the CJ headphone amp unless it had a generous return policy. It is silly priced, spartan in capabilities, and at least the McIntosh has adjustments for gain and load.

You could call Safe and Sound or Crutchfield and get advice over the phone. Paragon Sight and Sound is also a good source for phone advice. If you’re in New Hampshire, a trip to Safe and Sound in MA could be easy. Bring your ET3SE, and they will gladly set up a demo if you make an appointment in advance.

FWIW, many CD players have digital inputs for their DACs, and headphone jacks too.

Also many non-CJ preamps, like Burmester, McIntosh, Marantz, etc have built in headphone amps.

[Wuzzissdo]

Thanks to both for the replies!

My headphones usage is limited to just a few hours about once a month. It wasn't a deal breaker when I bought the Et3se and hoped to find a work-around but wouldn't be crushed if there was none.

I'm going to look around for a used headphone amplifier and see what happens. Really don't use the phones enough to justify the CJ or Sennheiser. Looking quick it seems most have integrated DACs which I don't need. It likely costs more to find one w/o the DAC than with it.

Thanks!!!!!

[admin]

If you only use headphones seldom and don't want to invest too much money, I do recommend looking at Schiit. Made in the USA, relatively inexpensive.