I'm really after a headphone amp with a balance control because my wife is
mutt an' in one ear. ATMIT she is using an Arcam amplifier without speakers,
just to watch TV. It's a waste.
So far all the HA's I've seen do not have a balance control. Anyone any
ideas? help.

--
John the West Ham fan

In article , housetrained
wrote:
I'm really after a headphone amp with a balance control because my wife
is mutt an' in one ear. ATMIT she is using an Arcam amplifier without
speakers, just to watch TV. It's a waste. So far all the HA's I've seen
do not have a balance control. Anyone any ideas? help.

Your main problem may be that the makers of audio kit these days seem to
regard a balance control (and tone controls) to be the spawn of the devil.

If you can solder, etc, you could simply put a balance pot in a box and use
it along with an amp without a balance control.

CPC do a range of headphone amplifiers. I have found some examples on page
79-80 of my printed catalogue. I can't see that any have a balance control.
However some have two outputs with individual volume controls. So you could
play the trick of using one output for the LHC and the other for the RHC,
then use the two volume pots to get balance. e.g. part number AV15810.

Good trick if you do this is to buy one whose box is easily openable so you
can mod the wiring inside. :-) Indeed, if you buy a suitable balance pot
you could replace one of the volume ones and rewire to get the desired
result. Easier to use that way.

Personally, I regard it as daft that makers are so scared of including a
balance control. But I'm afraid this is 'fashion' perhaps with added
meanness...

Alternatively, you could try an old amplifier which does have a headphone
socket and a balance control. The one I know most about would be an
Armstrong 621, made about 20 years ago. Many people still use these. You
can probably find one via one of the dealers advertising at the back of a
mag like 'Hi Fi World' or via eBay. If in good condition might be better
than the CPC amps.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Change 'noise' to 'jcgl' if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

Thanks Jim for your detailed reply. I can't solder and know nothing of
circuits etc. Looks like the only way forward, when the time comes, would be
to buy a HA with twin sockets, get 2 pairs of HP's and cut and join, making
one pair from the two. Unless, of course you are offering to do the wiring
for me? :-))
--
John the West Ham fan



"Jim Lesurf" wrote in message
...
In article , housetrained
wrote:
I'm really after a headphone amp with a balance control because my wife
is mutt an' in one ear. ATMIT she is using an Arcam amplifier without
speakers, just to watch TV. It's a waste. So far all the HA's I've seen
do not have a balance control. Anyone any ideas? help.

Your main problem may be that the makers of audio kit these days seem to
regard a balance control (and tone controls) to be the spawn of the devil.

If you can solder, etc, you could simply put a balance pot in a box and
use
it along with an amp without a balance control.

CPC do a range of headphone amplifiers. I have found some examples on page
79-80 of my printed catalogue. I can't see that any have a balance
control.
However some have two outputs with individual volume controls. So you
could
play the trick of using one output for the LHC and the other for the RHC,
then use the two volume pots to get balance. e.g. part number AV15810.

Good trick if you do this is to buy one whose box is easily openable so
you
can mod the wiring inside. :-) Indeed, if you buy a suitable balance pot
you could replace one of the volume ones and rewire to get the desired
result. Easier to use that way.

Personally, I regard it as daft that makers are so scared of including a
balance control. But I'm afraid this is 'fashion' perhaps with added
meanness...

Alternatively, you could try an old amplifier which does have a headphone
socket and a balance control. The one I know most about would be an
Armstrong 621, made about 20 years ago. Many people still use these. You
can probably find one via one of the dealers advertising at the back of a
mag like 'Hi Fi World' or via eBay. If in good condition might be better
than the CPC amps.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Change 'noise' to 'jcgl' if you wish to email me.
Electronics
http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

"housetrained" wrote in message
...
Thanks Jim for your detailed reply. I can't solder and know nothing of
circuits etc. Looks like the only way forward, when the time comes, would
be to buy a HA with twin sockets, get 2 pairs of HP's and cut and join,
making one pair from the two. Unless, of course you are offering to do the
wiring for me? :-))
--
John the West Ham fan



"Jim Lesurf" wrote in message
...
In article , housetrained
wrote:
I'm really after a headphone amp with a balance control because my wife
is mutt an' in one ear. ATMIT she is using an Arcam amplifier without
speakers, just to watch TV. It's a waste. So far all the HA's I've seen
do not have a balance control. Anyone any ideas? help.

Your main problem may be that the makers of audio kit these days seem to
regard a balance control (and tone controls) to be the spawn of the
devil.

If you can solder, etc, you could simply put a balance pot in a box and
use
it along with an amp without a balance control.

CPC do a range of headphone amplifiers. I have found some examples on
page
79-80 of my printed catalogue. I can't see that any have a balance
control.
However some have two outputs with individual volume controls. So you
could
play the trick of using one output for the LHC and the other for the RHC,
then use the two volume pots to get balance. e.g. part number AV15810.

Good trick if you do this is to buy one whose box is easily openable so
you
can mod the wiring inside. :-) Indeed, if you buy a suitable balance
pot
you could replace one of the volume ones and rewire to get the desired
result. Easier to use that way.

Personally, I regard it as daft that makers are so scared of including a
balance control. But I'm afraid this is 'fashion' perhaps with added
meanness...

Alternatively, you could try an old amplifier which does have a headphone
socket and a balance control. The one I know most about would be an
Armstrong 621, made about 20 years ago. Many people still use these. You
can probably find one via one of the dealers advertising at the back of a
mag like 'Hi Fi World' or via eBay. If in good condition might be better
than the CPC amps.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Change 'noise' to 'jcgl' if you wish to email me.
Electronics
http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html


Although you may consider the Arcam amplifier to be a waste, it being used
purely as a headphone amplifier, I think it is probably the most efficient
and sensible way of achieving what you need. I too can't think of any
headphone amp with a balance control, so the amplifier route seems the most
sensible. You don't say which Arcam amplifier you're using, but if it's an
Alpha, what they're fetching on EBay isn't so far removed from what a
headphone amp alone would cost, and we've already established that won't do
the job.

So, my advice is use your Arcam, or buy a cheaper amplifier on EBay which
does the job.

S.

--
http://audiopages.googlepages.com

Thanks Serge, the Arcam is an Alpha 10 which I used before I got a separate
pre-amp, amp setup. The missus tried a NAD 320BEE before the Arcam but said
the boost was not enough. The NAD is now in the office rigged to the TV. The
Arcam is so big taking up a whole shelf plus it gets quite hot even with the
speaker switches turned off. Let's hope it's a cool summer!

--
John the West Ham fan



"Serge Auckland" wrote in message
...
"housetrained" wrote in message
...
Thanks Jim for your detailed reply. I can't solder and know nothing of
circuits etc. Looks like the only way forward, when the time comes, would
be to buy a HA with twin sockets, get 2 pairs of HP's and cut and join,
making one pair from the two. Unless, of course you are offering to do
the wiring for me? :-))
--
John the West Ham fan



"Jim Lesurf" wrote in message
...
In article , housetrained
wrote:
I'm really after a headphone amp with a balance control because my wife
is mutt an' in one ear. ATMIT she is using an Arcam amplifier without
speakers, just to watch TV. It's a waste. So far all the HA's I've seen
do not have a balance control. Anyone any ideas? help.

Your main problem may be that the makers of audio kit these days seem to
regard a balance control (and tone controls) to be the spawn of the
devil.

If you can solder, etc, you could simply put a balance pot in a box and
use
it along with an amp without a balance control.

CPC do a range of headphone amplifiers. I have found some examples on
page
79-80 of my printed catalogue. I can't see that any have a balance
control.
However some have two outputs with individual volume controls. So you
could
play the trick of using one output for the LHC and the other for the
RHC,
then use the two volume pots to get balance. e.g. part number AV15810.

Good trick if you do this is to buy one whose box is easily openable so
you
can mod the wiring inside. :-) Indeed, if you buy a suitable balance
pot
you could replace one of the volume ones and rewire to get the desired
result. Easier to use that way.

Personally, I regard it as daft that makers are so scared of including a
balance control. But I'm afraid this is 'fashion' perhaps with added
meanness...

Alternatively, you could try an old amplifier which does have a
headphone
socket and a balance control. The one I know most about would be an
Armstrong 621, made about 20 years ago. Many people still use these. You
can probably find one via one of the dealers advertising at the back of
a
mag like 'Hi Fi World' or via eBay. If in good condition might be better
than the CPC amps.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Change 'noise' to 'jcgl' if you wish to email me.
Electronics
http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html


Although you may consider the Arcam amplifier to be a waste, it being used
purely as a headphone amplifier, I think it is probably the most efficient
and sensible way of achieving what you need. I too can't think of any
headphone amp with a balance control, so the amplifier route seems the
most sensible. You don't say which Arcam amplifier you're using, but if
it's an Alpha, what they're fetching on EBay isn't so far removed from
what a headphone amp alone would cost, and we've already established that
won't do the job.

So, my advice is use your Arcam, or buy a cheaper amplifier on EBay which
does the job.

S.

--
http://audiopages.googlepages.com