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NotTaR of Television Sets : Adding variable volume headphones to a T..  
 Copyright © 1994-2007, Samuel M. Goldwasser. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this document in whole or in part is permitted if both of the following conditions are satisfied: 1. This notice is included in its entirety at the beginning. 2. There is no charge except to cover the costs of copying. I may be contacted via the Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ (www.repairfaq.org) Email Links Page.

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Adding variable volume headphones to a TV

"My Mother-in-Law is hard of hearing. He is not. Is there such a thing as a variable volume headset that can hooked up while maintaining normal volume on the main speakers?"

(From: Filip "I'll buy a vowel" Gieszczykiewicz (filipg@repairfaq.org).)

Greetings. But of course... The cost is $9-ish per set and it includes a 9 foot (yup, 9 foot) cable and a handy, in-line volume control. The setup requires an audio output somewhere on the TV itself - is there a headphones jack? If yes, all you need is a "Y" (splitter) and two sets of headphones. If not, hmmm.... Either you or the local TV repair shop will need to add one. Depending on the circuitry of the speaker amplifier inside the TV, this may be as easy as splicing in a headphone jack and drilling a hole for it on the case, or as hard as somehow matching the impedance of the speaker to that of the headphones. You WILL need to look at the schematic or measure the speaker/signal. See the section: How do I add A/V inputs or outputs to a TV which does not have them built in? for the very important safety issues.

First, however, make sure they have a TV with a headphones jack or have one put in (or get a TV that DOES have one). The 'Y' adapter can be purchased in any Radio Shack. Any cheapo one will do - no need for gold plating (they will try to sell it to you ;-) should be under $5.