fastlane Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 I have recently purchased a HK 730 and love the sound. I have my Forte II's hooked up to my Onkyo 5.1 receiver. My question is this: can I leave both sets of wires connected to one pair of speakers? If one is off while the other is running, or do I need some sort of switching device? I would rather make this work since I don't have the room for a separate 2-channel setup. Thanks in advance for your input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 I think you could use a Niles speaker selector box in reverse to accomplish this. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 Or the radioshack speaker selecter in reverse as well (I dunno the difference in price) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klewless Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 My Niles speaker switch WILL NOT WORK FOR MULTIPLE AMPLIFIERS. The switches just keep putting themselves in parallel. You need a switch that works like the old car radios did. Punch one button and the other one pop out. IOW only one can be engaged at a time. Will need to find a switch specifically designed to switch amps. Could easily build a box using a 4-pole 2-position rotary switch. Or a pair of double pole double throw toggles, one for each channel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 The radioshack speaker selector only activates one at a time as well...I think they might even have a remote version (it's been a while since i've been in there). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 Niles Audio should have something. http://www.nilesaudio.com/products.html Klewless, you're correct, the speaker selector does not provide the degree of protection against having multiple amps hooked up simultaneously. I stand corrected. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 The Niles box works fine. It's the DPS-1. I've been using mine for over 2 years now. 2 amps in, 1 set of speakers out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T2K Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 I have a Russound box that will accept 2 amps and 2 pair of speakers. Good quality. If interested I can get you the model number( in original box in closet)and if interested I'll ship it to you for a tryout, if you pay shipping. I haven't used it in years. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hwatkins Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 ---------------- On 3/14/2005 10:20:33 PM garymd wrote: The Niles box works fine. It's the DPS-1. I've been using mine for over 2 years now. 2 amps in, 1 set of speakers out. ---------------- Yo Gary - I thought the same thing until I started work on testing and tweaking my current JBL project a couple of weeks ago. As I was moving between the HK AVR40 and the Fisher 400 connected in the dps-1 I was getting a distict influence from the fisher to the HK (nothing noticable vice versa). I am not sure what was happening there but it has been a bit disconcerting ever since. There is clearly much less (if any) effect when the other reciever is unpowered, but since I use the HK as a pre for the CD to the fisher I will be doing abit more fiddling to see what may be happening here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastlane Posted March 15, 2005 Author Share Posted March 15, 2005 Thanks for your help guys. I picked up the RS 4-speaker selector today. I'll probably wait to hook it up this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 ---------------- On 3/15/2005 9:10:04 AM hwatkins wrote: ---------------- On 3/14/2005 10:20:33 PM garymd wrote: The Niles box works fine. It's the DPS-1. I've been using mine for over 2 years now. 2 amps in, 1 set of speakers out. ---------------- Yo Gary - I thought the same thing until I started work on testing and tweaking my current JBL project a couple of weeks ago. As I was moving between the HK AVR40 and the Fisher 400 connected in the dps-1 I was getting a distict influence from the fisher to the HK (nothing noticable vice versa). I am not sure what was happening there but it has been a bit disconcerting ever since. There is clearly much less (if any) effect when the other reciever is unpowered, but since I use the HK as a pre for the CD to the fisher I will be doing abit more fiddling to see what may be happening here. ---------------- Wow. That's weird. I never have both on at the same time so I guess I'm safe. Let me know how that works out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 This could be a first I'm about to actually beat the experts. Sometimes the simplist solution is also the best. Forget the switching boxes. I have a surround sound and 2 channel setup running through my two mains using two different receivers and three different sources. It's simple. Go to www.partsexpress.com or your local Radio Shack and buy two sets of banana plugs. The first set has a sideways connector. Run your speaker wires from either amp into that set. The second set of speaker wires go from your other amp/receiver "plugs" into the back of the the first banana plug set and the speaker wires go into the back of that plug. As far as sources go I run my dvd player using the digital output into the HT system receiver, and it's analogue output into any spare input on my 2 channel receiver/amp'/pre-amp. My Cd player and turntable are input into the appropriate slots on my 2 channel receiver. Here's a pic: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sputnik Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 ---------------- On 3/15/2005 8:31:43 PM thebes wrote: .........I have a surround sound and 2 channel setup running through my two mains using two different receivers and three different sources..................... ..................As far as sources go I run my dvd player using the digital output into the HT system receiver, and it's analogue output into any spare input on my 2 channel receiver/amp'/pre-amp. My Cd player and turntable are input into the appropriate slots on my 2 channel receiver. ---------------- Thebes, What happens if both receivers are on and playing separate sources at the same time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jheis Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 Fastlane: Klewless & Michael are right, I don't believe that RS speaker switch will do what you want it to do. A speaker switch is usually used to connect muliple sets of speakers to one source and provide some level of circuit protection should the overall system impedance fall below 4 ohms. The Niles DPS-1 is designed to connect one set of speakers to two different applification sources (and switch back and forth). If you're interested, I have two of them that I'm not using. One is brand new in the box - never opened, the other one was used for about two weeks before I upgraded my whole system. $60 for the new one, $50 for the used one (also with original box, etc.) - obo. They retail for about $90 I believe. Thebes: Current flows into whatever it is connected to, so whatever signal is being applied to your speakers is also being applied to the output stages of your other amp. I'm not an electrical engineer by any stretch of the imagination, and I may be completely wrong, but I don't think your amps are designed to be "back flushed." Your hook up looks like a recipe for disaster to me. Maybe some one with a background in electronics can weigh in here. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 ---------------- On 3/15/2005 10:43:42 PM jheis wrote: Klewless & Michael are right, I don't believe that RS speaker switch will do what you want it to do. A speaker switch is usually used to connect muliple sets of speakers to one source and provide some level of circuit protection should the overall system impedance fall below 4 ohms. ---------------- If you have ever opened up the RS speaker switch, then you'll know there is no fancy circuitry inside. The leads from the input run along a PCB board to a series of switches designed to only allow passage through one speaker at a time...precedance goes in alphabetical order. Basically, you can have the A and the B on, but the signal will only pass through A (because depressing A breaks the circuit that goes to the other switches). Then when you depress A, it will now go through B (that way you only have to push one button, instead of two). After the switch, the signal runs back through the PCB and then out to the speaker terminals on the back. No circuit protection, no paralleling of circuits. The current only gets to flow through one path at a time. Reversing the use of the switch to use multiple amplifers would just be like runing it backwards...connect amp A to A and amp B to B and then select both A and B on the switch. The signal will only pass through A and then out to the speakers. Unselect A and now the signal will pass through B and then the speakers. I too originally thought the box would allow you to use multiple speakers at once, also with impendance protection. This is however not the case, which means another device would need to be purchased for such an application (which isn't the application in this thread). As far as connecting two amps to the same speaker, this is very much a bad thing that will probably result in both speaker and amp failures. First, you end up presenting a very low impedance to both amplifiers which causes them to send crap loads of current (which can cause VC burnout as well as melting the output transformers). If this doesn't happen, then you have the negative feedback from each amp interacting causing even more strain on the now very complex impedance, which again puts the amps into overdrive. I know I'm not explaining it well, but I know from experience that the result is lots of smoke. The easiest way to accomplish this by accident is trying to bi-amp without breaking the connection on the crossover between the HF and the LF (this would be the binding posts on klipsch home speakers). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jheis Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 My mistake. Listen to your Doctor. I was not familiar with the RS switch and assumed it operated like the Niles. I've used a Niles SPS-1 for many years. It allows you to connect up to four pairs of speakers to a single source and does provide circuit protection. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 Yoiks! I had been told on this very same forum that it was quite allright to do what I've been doing and have listened to the speakers with only one set of wires hooked up at a time and noticed no difference in sound. Why would they sell these types of banana setups if this was a bad idea anyway? The backs are easily available to me so I guess I'll just switch the bananas as needed. Thanks for the heads up Doc, and my apologies to everybiody for putting out bad information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 Was it possible that you were told it was alright to do that kind of connection on the amp end with two sets of wires running to two sets of speakers? (so one amp, two speakers instead of two amps, one speaker). The reason those connectors are built that way is to make it easier to run parallel connections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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