Bottlehead Forum

Bottlehead Kits => Crack => Topic started by: Welderboy on January 25, 2021, 11:09:02 AM

Title: Dummy load headphone plug for the Crack
Post by: Welderboy on January 25, 2021, 11:09:02 AM
I'd like to make a dummy load headphone plug for my crack so I can burn in tubes without having the headphones plugged in.

Just wanted to confirm I have this right. Since the impedance on the HD650s is 300Ω and the crack Crack output 0.3W, all I need to do I solder 2x 150Ω 0.5W resistors as show below correct?

Title: Re: Dummy load headphone plug for the Crack
Post by: Paul Birkeland on January 25, 2021, 11:21:32 AM
You can run the Crack with no headphones plugged in and it will be loaded (heavily).
Title: Re: Dummy load headphone plug for the Crack
Post by: Welderboy on January 25, 2021, 11:49:57 AM
You can run the Crack with no headphones plugged in and it will be loaded (heavily).

Good to know! I have two new tubes coming in and they HD650s are loud enough that it's a bit of a bother.

Curious, do you know if the above approach would have work correctly? I already bought the plug so I might still make it to remind myself the amp is on and burning in.
Title: Re: Dummy load headphone plug for the Crack
Post by: Paul Joppa on January 25, 2021, 12:01:00 PM
The phones are 300 ohm per side, so 150 ohm resistors would match. Not that there's any problem with 150 ohms for a break-in load.

If you are breaking in an output capacitor, I think you would want a load so the cap carries some current. I have no evidence one way or the other that current through the cap is important for break-in load, but it is often claimed to be important.
Title: Re: Dummy load headphone plug for the Crack
Post by: Paul Birkeland on January 25, 2021, 12:28:24 PM


Curious, do you know if the above approach would have work correctly?
With no headphones plugged in, the output is shorted, which is a 0 ohm load (plus the ESR of the coupling cap plus its reactance at whatever frequencies might be playing through the amp).