Headphone Preamp Hook Up Questions

How do I connect an outboard Headphone Preamp to my 976? I want to bypass the op-amp in the 976 and introduce a higher quality preamp since I listen to headphones a lot.

I want to be sure that the main speakers are "off" when I listen on headphones.

Is the 976 not meeting your need for headphones through its internal op-amp? Hard to say where to connect an external device without knowing what type of input you have for your headphone amp. Assuming it is RCA connectors you could try the L/R channels of the 7.1 analog inputs to the 976 but I don't see a way to shut off your speakers without physically disconnecting them.

To continue what Xenonman is saying, you could connect to the left and right front channels and switch it to stereo mode. That would disengage the other channels. You could use RCA splitters for these two channels, sending two lines to your amplifier, turning off the headphone pre-amp when not using the headphones.

What about hooking up the 976 HDMI2 output to a headphone amp with HDMIA input? Does such a thing exist? Can the 976 output audio to HDMI2 but not the pre-outs?

I don't know the answer-just throwing it out there for conversation.

If you listen to vinyl through the headphones, skip the 976 and connect your headphone amp directly to your turntable.