March 2016
Is there a method or modification to prevent the loud pop when removing the headphones from the jack on my tube audio system?
I tried a capacitor across the jack to minimize the pop which worked, but at the expense of all the highs in the music. I’m kind of an audiophile type, so a reduction in sound quality is unacceptable to me. Anyone have a better solution to try?
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The pop is caused by DC reaching the jack. Even if there is a blocking capacitor in the headphone line, you still get the pop before the capacitor charges. Whatever you do, you must reduce or eliminate the DC on the jack. A 470 (?) ohm resistor across the jack will moderate it. If that doesn't suit, get one of Jameco's 1:1 audio transformers. Connect the primary from the set output to ground. Connect the secondary from the jack tip to ground. That should eliminate even the worst case.
I would wire a 100 ohm resistor across the socket so there is always a DC path across the amplifiers output.
