Hello all. I've recently joined the forum having 'lurked' for some time. Whilst I do not own any Naim equipment as of yet, I have found the forum threads very interesting, and they have guided me to the satisfying purchase of a (yes, you guessed it) Chord Hugo.
I am considering upgrading to a Chord Hugo TT to avail of its better ergonomics and more convenient use of its preamp capabilities (I appreciate that the improvement in sound quality may not be dramatic) - perhaps ultimately I would combine it with simply a power amp or even active speakers.
But I do have one question which I have been unable to find the answer to online. To any Chord Hugo TT owners on the forum - are the RCA/XLR outputs muted when the headphone sockets are used? My existing Hugo does not mute the RCA outputs when I listen to it directly via headphones. This means that I am still dependent on turning the volume to zero on my integrated amplifier to prevent disturbing others. A similar behaviour on the Chord Hugo TT would presumably limit its suitability for headphone listening when connected directly to a power amp or active speakers.
Many thanks in advance for any assistance, and my apologies for the off-(Naim)-topic nature of my first post!
Posted on: 11 May 2016 by Zipperheadbanjo
I rarely use headphones, but I believe the rca connection is still active when headphones are inserted into the TT.
I understand that Chord will be introducing a power amp that is designed to be paired with the TT in late summer... something you might want to investigate. Check the What Hifi site as I'm pretty sure that is where I read about this.
Posted on: 11 May 2016 by Flumpet
Many thanks for this. The matching power amp (I believe it is called the TToby) would make a nice package if there were a way of preventing the music coming through the main speakers when headphones are in use.
Are there any other Chord Hugo TT owners that use the TT as a preamp? If so, how do you ensure main speaker silence when listening through headphones?
Posted on: 11 May 2016 by likesmusic
I have a TT, it is absolutely incredible - a much bigger step up from the plain Hugo than I was expecting. I can confirm the outputs don't mute when inserting headphones, which is annoying. I have active speakers, so the solution for me is to turn them off. Don't listen to headphones that much, so it's not a big deal given the wonderful sound quality of the TT.
Posted on: 12 May 2016 by Flumpet
Thank you both for your replies - even if it wasn't the answer I was hoping for! It seems that purchasing a Hugo TT won't simplify my system, even if it would offer a sound quality improvement over the standard Hugo. I think that there are other 'lower-hanging fruits' in terms of investment in system improvement - specifically my 18 year-old pairing of a Marantz PM66SE amp and Tannoy Mercury M2 speakers (combined cost GBP380) - so the money for a Hugo TT would be better spend upgrading these!
