Protecting headphones from amp and tube faults.

Bipabew42 · 1305

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Offline Bipabew42

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on: January 24, 2012, 08:37:45 AM
Hi all,

I posted on the forum last about 6 months ago regarding a stock Crack build that had some bad solder joints that came loose and took out my DT770s.  All of that has long since been taken care of with a better soldering iron and sending the amp off to Ed Fallon for some help.  I have been using the Crack with low impedance headphones since which while not the best match did sound pretty good.  I recently got a pair of DT880 Pros (250 Ohm) to use with the Crack.  The wiring has been solid as a rock since I reflowed the joints after that wire came loose, however I'm still concerned about protecting the headphones from tube failure. 

My questions are:

1.  Can I put something in the circuit to stop unusually high voltages from appearing at the headphone jack should something go wrong?  (for example reversed Zener diode to ground or fuse in series)
2.  When a tube fails can it short the full B+ supply into the headphones?
3. Would modifiying the circuit to protect the headphones just cause problems elsewhere?

Thanks,
Chris

Chris Koenig
Gear:  Crack OTL Headphone Amp - Carver SDA-390t Tube CD player - 1978 Yamaha CA-610II Integraded Amp