Preamps?

[cleatus]

Not sure if this is the right place for this or not (still very new to the forums), but It seemed to fit to me. . .

Anyway, I'm trying to set up a very modest audio system using an old Realistic Reciever + speakers I've obtained, but I've run into the problem of having more things that I want to run into the reciever than there are Aux inputs. The reciever only has a single Phono input and a single Aux input. Right now I've got a turntable in the Phono input and a CD player in the Aux, however I would like to add a cassette player and possibly my computer to the lineup. How would I go about making a switching system for this? Is a preamp what I'm looking for?

Sorry for my ignorance, but this is my first system that doesn't have built-in speakers (boomboxes!), and I really have know idea how to do this. . . or where to go with it next

[janusz]

Hi,

Adding a preamp would be a more or less expensive solution. There is another way around it. A cheaper one but you have to do it by yourself. Simply find a soft steel case which looks good enough for you. Drill a whole in its front plate to put a switch shaft through it and install a good six poition stereo switch.

At the back plate drill twelve plus two holes to install six pairs of stereo inputs and one output pair, connect them via a board to the switch and the output from the switch connect to the output sockets. Using your favourite connectors connect it to aux on the receiver.

Now you can plug in up to six sources to your new Selector except for a turntable, which goes straight to your receiver phono input.

cheers,

[Cal Weldon]

Doesn't it have tape monitor in/outs?

[janusz]

Hi,

Good point cal. I forgot about tape deck. Three more holes needed or in fact four to do it right.

Another hole on the front panel to accomodate a source - tape switch. Tape position on the main is tape in. If tape-souce swich is activated then its tape out ready for recording and tape input disconnected. Recording needs another pair of output sockets.

The fourth hole on the back if for a grounding socket. It takes screen ground to the real ground (eg. Earth socket on mains or to some independent grounding). Internally it is connected to a network of screening tracks on board, which separate every input channel. I think that would do.

cheers,

[janusz]

One more correction. There are three head decks so the tape input on the main switch may be kept permanent. Tape-source switch should not diconnect tape input. I think that is all but there is still room for other suggestions and heaps of room for detailed solutions.

cheers,

[cleatus]

Sounds simple and clean, well, except for the tape deck part
I'll probably forgo the tape deck stuff until later (like when I actually have one!), because I don't know if it's because I'm tired or just plain stupid, but EVERYthing just flew over my head. . . I'll give it another look over in the morning, but It was just way too hard for my brain to follow right now.

The regular Aux stuff seems like cake, though! Anything special I should be looking for in the switch? Any recommended ones?

[janusz]

It depends how good (expensive) it is to be. You may get a cheap Lorlin switch or a much better ELMA from Michael Percy Audio. The latter costs $34 and may be an overkill in your case. All depends how much you are prepared to spent.

cheers,

[cleatus]

Okay, had a bit of trouble looking through Mouser to find the right Lorlin switch, but I think I might have found what I need:

http://www.mouser.com/search/Product...105-CKAEAA1500

Is this what I'm looking for? If not, please point me in the correct direction. . . Mouser is very confusing to me

Also, as for the tape deck thing, I believe my reciever already has connections for a tape deck, so I'm not going to worry about it when building this.

[janusz]

Hi,

Check Jaycar USA on-line catalogue. You can write to them explaining what you are after.

When buying from Mouser one must know precisely what one is after. A few word decription may be tricky to judge. Getting reply from Mouser takes ages. When ordering from Mouser do not mix items in stock with items out of stock as you may wait for ages for parts to arrive. Jaycar is small and single user oriented so communication is much easier.

I'll check in my Australian catalogue what they currently have but most of my ordinary switches came from Jaycar and worked fine.

cheers,

[janusz]

Hi,

I have checked in my Jaycar catalogue. They have no Lorlin switches any more here. You need 2 pole 6 position, sealed rotary switch. Jaycar Australia has such switches (SR-1212) but from a different manufacturer. They may be good enough but who knows.

Mouser has 2 pole up to 6 positions Lorlin rotary switch; cat no: 105-2455. It has PC mounting pins and short 9mm shaft. Lorlin code is: CK2369. Price: $3.58 and it is in stock. Contacts are silver and life span about 10,000 cycles. It may be good enough for you. Take a look at its data sheet.

cheers,