SP4 Headhone Out load change possible bug?

I just encountered something interesting with my (less than one week old) SP4 and I was wondering if anybody had any ideas what might have happened.

I've been using the Kensington Blackbelt case since I got the device last week, and one issue I've had is that the headphone plug on my favorite pair of headphones is too large to fit through the hole in the case for the audio jack. To solve this problem, I bought a 4in long 3.5mm M-F extender which fits the hole in the case perfectly. On my first time using it, I ran into an interesting issue though.

First, I plugged in the extension cable only and the audio from the speakers cut out as if I had plugged a pair of headphones. I didn't really think that would result in an issue, but when I plugged the headphones into the extension cable, the type cover stopped working. I used the touch screen to shut down the device, but found that the power button was no longer responsive so I couldn't restart it. I unplugged everything and after a few more minutes of trying the tablet finally turned on.

After starting up, I was feeling brave so I attached the whole extension cable/headphone array at once and it worked with no issues. My 5 second theory is that the tablet recognized the extension cable as a pair of headphones, and that the introduction of the load of the actual headphones caused the tablet to freak out on its peripherals.

I'm a little bit hesitant to try and reproduce the issue, but I thought I'd post on here and see if anybody had seen anything similar at all, or could tell me if that theory makes any sort of sense.

Thanks!