What's the bottom stack do?

[tomoki]

Hi, I've attached an image of an old stereo system that I have at home... It's been around ever since I was a kid and it still surprisingly works. I just have a question though. What's that unit on the very bottom of the stereo speak system? Is that an amplifier? 

[GalacticRuler]

It says it's an amplifier on the label. My grandpa has a record player and a stereo system both from the 1980s and they still work.

[Drak3]

Yes, it even says "High Quality Amplifier Drive System" on it.

 

[tomoki]

Yeah I can see that but I'm just not sure ..whether I could use that for anything else huehuehue ~ totally wanting to use that as a headphone amp instead. The plug port says "Mix Mic" though. 

[rhyseyness]

5 hours ago, tomoki said:

totally wanting to use that as a headphone amp instead

If you wanna kill your headphones.

It's designed for driving speakers not headphones I'm afraid.

The mic port at the bottom is an input not an ouptut too.

[tomoki]

1 hour ago, rhyseyness said:

If you wanna kill your headphones.

It's designed for driving speakers not headphones I'm afraid.

The mic port at the bottom is an input not an ouptut too.

Very good to know haha didn't wanna kill my headphones ~ thanks!

[rhyseyness]

1 hour ago, tomoki said:

Very good to know haha didn't wanna kill my headphones ~ thanks!

Good decision 

Glad I could help

 

EDIT: Just noticed the headphone port you're talking about!

That is indeed for headphones (I was looking at the "mic mix" port).

That's likely a line out rather than an amplified output though.

You can try it, but I highly doubt it'll be any louder than your PC already is.

[KaminKevCrew]

58 minutes ago, rhyseyness said:

Good decision 

Glad I could help

 

EDIT: Just noticed the headphone port you're talking about!

That is indeed for headphones (I was looking at the "mic mix" port).

That's likely a line out rather than an amplified output though.

You can try it, but I highly doubt it'll be any louder than your PC already is.

The headphones port second from the bottom is almost certainly a resistor coupled (I think that's what it's called) headphone output. It may or may not sound very good, but it should be just fine for headphones, and I would bet that it can push more power than whatever audio setup is in OP's PC. Whether or not their headphones need that much power remains to be seen, however.

[rhyseyness]

15 hours ago, KaminKevCrew said:

The headphones port second from the bottom is almost certainly a resistor coupled (I think that's what it's called) headphone output. It may or may not sound very good, but it should be just fine for headphones, and I would bet that it can push more power than whatever audio setup is in OP's PC. Whether or not their headphones need that much power remains to be seen, however.

Usually the headphone output on amps is just a line out.

There aren't many amps that I know of which are both speaker and headphone amps.

 

I'm not really sure what you mean by "resistor coupled" though. I've never heard that term before.

What do you mean? (Electronic engineer, no need to dumb it down  )

 

EDIT: Also, yes, we have no idea whether OP even needs a headphone amp or not, lol.

[tomoki]

43 minutes ago, rhyseyness said:

Usually the headphone output on amps is just a line out.

There aren't many amps that I know of which are both speaker and headphone amps.

 

I'm not really sure what you mean by "resistor coupled" though. I've never heard that term before.

What do you mean? (Electronic engineer, no need to dumb it down  )

 

EDIT: Also, yes, we have no idea whether OP even needs a headphone amp or not, lol.

Oh yeah I've been suggested a headphone amp. The Schiit Vali 2. I just have time before I actually receive my new headphones so... I'm just curious and see what's out there. I have another thing I'll be posting but it's irrelevant to this topic hahaha

[rhyseyness]

3 hours ago, tomoki said:

Oh yeah I've been suggested a headphone amp. The Schiit Vali 2. I just have time before I actually receive my new headphones so... I'm just curious and see what's out there. I have another thing I'll be posting but it's irrelevant to this topic hahaha

Use your headphones with your current solution before you decide if you need an amp.

You may not

Indeed, irrelevant for this topic though, lol

[KaminKevCrew]

9 hours ago, rhyseyness said:

Usually the headphone output on amps is just a line out.

There aren't many amps that I know of which are both speaker and headphone amps.

 

I'm not really sure what you mean by "resistor coupled" though. I've never heard that term before.

What do you mean? (Electronic engineer, no need to dumb it down  )

 

EDIT: Also, yes, we have no idea whether OP even needs a headphone amp or not, lol.

Basically, in the case of speaker amps that have a volume control, the headphone out (in my experience) is just the speaker outputs, with a resistor in the middle to lower the power output.