tfoust Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 I used to put a high priority on the amount of swiching capability a preamp has but in my quest for better sound I see that the high quality units that are in my budget have only a few jacks. I dreamed up the idea of daisychaining two or more preamps to increase the number of program sources. I have never seen anyone do this. Has anyone reading these forums tried it? Does anyone share my concern? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Favog Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Take a look at a McIntosh C34V preamp. It may not have a bizillion inputs but it is a veritable swiss army knife. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik2A3 Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 It's possible to make (or in some cases buy) a stand alone (or along side?) switch box that has the number of inputs you want suitable for the number of positions of the switch you're using on one side, and a single pair of outputs on the other. These would be connected to just one of the existing inputs on your preamp. Switching takes place on the swtchbox, not the preamp. A make before break switch works best for something like this. Erik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USNRET Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Find a DBX-400x for cheap and it'll give you several more inputs on any preamp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tube fanatic Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 I used to put a high priority on the amount of swiching capability a preamp has but in my quest for better sound I see that the high quality units that are in my budget have only a few jacks. I dreamed up the idea of daisychaining two or more preamps to increase the number of program sources. I have never seen anyone do this. Has anyone reading these forums tried it? Does anyone share my concern? Pick up a Niles Audio AXP-1 switch box. It will give you 5 inputs to one output. If that's not enough, you can always get 2!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 I built my own 6 to 2 switch box for about $25 a few years back. Pretty simple to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JL Sargent Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 I ask because I don't know the answer. Couldn't you just have a couple of Y RCA connectors? For instance at the AUX input have two devices (CD player & IPOD) connected by way of the L and R Y adapters. Maybe if you turn both on a full volume there would be a problem? Two of these bad boys: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=240-127 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Esoteric Sound Super Connector. Can take 8 inputs and send them out to 6 pre-amps or amps using the tape deck circuit on the amps. I use two of these in the "Wall of Voodoo" to switch between tape, CD, CD, Tuner, etc. One stop shopping so to speak. Little pricey, but it's a completely "passive" unit (no artifacts/ distortion). Hand made in USA [Y] by the folks at Esotericsound. [H] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rongon Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 All are good answers, if yer askin' me. Best option would be to DIY, but only if you're comfortable with that. A good quality two-deck, five position switch can be had for pretty cheap. You could put the switch in one of those old network switchboxes (nice heavy stainless steel cases, but kinda ugly), or choose the instrument case of your choice (e.g. Hammond Mfg). Five pairs of RCA jacks for inputs, one pair of RCA jacks for outputs, and you've got an input switcher. On the other hand, you might do the time vs. money equation and come out on the side of spending a little more money for instant gratification. In that case, the Niles AXP-1 is pretty good. I needed something like that in a hurry, to audition a new attenuator (volume control) that wouldn't fit into my current line amp. The AXP-1 cost me about $90 and seems to work just fine. http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en#sclient=psy&hl=en&site=webhp&source=hp&q=niles%20axp-1&aq=0&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=8a58e93555963d21&biw=1272&bih=862&pf=p&pdl=500 . It's an all passive, five stereo input to one stereo output switchbox in a reasonably good looking, decent quality steel enclosure. Small and simple. Made in China, though. That Esoteric Sound Super Connector would be the end-all right there. That's $299 list, so is a big step up. Sure does look nice, though. -=|=- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rongon Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Couldn't you just have a couple of Y RCA connectors? For instance at the AUX input have two devices (CD player & IPOD) connected by way of the L and R Y adapters. Maybe if you turn both on a full volume there would be a problem? Two of these bad boys: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=240-127 The problem is that if you have two output devices going into one input, the two output devices can interact with each other in undesirable ways. Even if one is powered off, it's output circuits might look like a partial short circuit to the input of the succeeding stage, and the other output device that's connected to the first output device by the Y-cable. This would be especially bad if the output impedances of the two output devices were very different. The one with the lower output impedance would play much louder than the one with the higher output impedance. The one with the lower impedance could also load down the one with the higher impedance. That could cause frequency response problems, higher distortion, etc. You want a good switch in this situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JL Sargent Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Thanks for that explanation Rongon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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