Sorry if this is covered elsewhere, I haven’t been able to find the answer.
I regularly use two different sources and wondered if I were to add a second RCA input to my amp do I have to add a switch or can I just wire a second RCA input parallel with my first one?
I regularly use two different sources and wondered if I were to add a second RCA input to my amp do I have to add a switch or can I just wire a second RCA input parallel with my first one?
3 Best Ways to Connect 2 Amplifiers Together – Easy Steps Source
For future reference: I just copied/googled your Q and this was the first site. BTW I find most things I now no longer remember this way
For future reference: I just copied/googled your Q and this was the first site. BTW I find most things I now no longer remember this way
Thanks for the help. I don’t see the answer to my Q on your link however. I would like to connect two sources (tuner, CD player) to the input on a small tube amp. Can I just hardwire both sources and turn each on and use as needed or do I have to have a switch for some reason to select between sources?
Point being that this is an answer to the question that was not asked 🙂
Yes it would be best to add a switch and a second set of RCA connectors. When just connecting a second set of connectors you'll wire 2 sources in parallel even when only 1 is in use. Please think of what the results can be of connecting 2 sources outputs in parallel.
Yes it would be best to add a switch and a second set of RCA connectors. When just connecting a second set of connectors you'll wire 2 sources in parallel even when only 1 is in use. Please think of what the results can be of connecting 2 sources outputs in parallel.
What would that be? You're asking a question in an answer, might as well tell what you think of it?
Spoon feeding does not work to motivate people to think.
One could take the time to check a few schematics and discover the general way of doing things and then think of why that is. That is how I learnt it, never asked a question as there was no one that could answer and just made mistakes only to correct them.
Some time ago a guy said to me that DIY has changed to CYDIFM. I see he is right.
One could take the time to check a few schematics and discover the general way of doing things and then think of why that is. That is how I learnt it, never asked a question as there was no one that could answer and just made mistakes only to correct them.
Some time ago a guy said to me that DIY has changed to CYDIFM. I see he is right.
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Yeah, I've made two silly mistakes in two days I'm so burned out answering similar/same Qs ad nauseam on various forums for nearly 26 yrs now, so maybe time to 'hit the road'.
My first power 24VDC supply I built at home didn't have an OFF/ON switch... I mean, I knew what I was doing with those BIG caps I had just bought from the parts bin. Surely, I could do nothing wrong! I was like 22 years old then, a babe.
In my experience, it takes about 2 seconds to blow up big caps that are wired backwards. A lot faster than it takes to realize something is wrong and reach over and pull the plug.
What a mess. ;-)
There is a different way of looking at this.
Some of us do know how to read schematics and how to build and design things, but for several reasons we opt not to. So for whatever reason, we're rusty or we just don't have the time. Heck, I still have my Rat Shack analog multimeter from 1978... yep! I've never burnt it out....
Now, in the DIYAudio forum, and other such, there are people who do know how to build these things, better than I can do, so I'm more than happy to keep those people happy building things. I've had some amps and what not built for me in such forums. So, OK, I am guilty of CYDIFMism. I've asked people to build things for me, and I pay them to do so.
And it's fun reading these forums.
But, with a Physics background and 50 years of audiophile background I understand the fundamental engineering task at hand. I do know what I'm asking for.
Even if I keep questioning why is it that Nelson Pass designs "sound better with a blue LED" on their front panel.
Note, I got kicked out from reddit/audiophile because of people asking the dumbest questions ( obviously not an audiophile forum ) and finding out that their moderator is active in ASR ( obviously not an audiophile forum either ). Actually it was a race between being kicked out or my leaving...
The lack of time of some to solve their own issues only costs other peoples time so now they lack the time to do nice things isn't it? 🙂 It took decades for me to learn it but helping out for free one day will get back at you.
Never mention the blue LED syndrome outside the Pass forums!
Never mention the blue LED syndrome outside the Pass forums!
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I agree.
But, my asking nicely and paying someone to build me a nice amp is not wasting anyone's time, is it? It's a fine line between running a business and keeping someone happy in their hobby. Just ask Tim Rawson.
I admit I feel guilty of not building it myself, but seeing how some people are simply awesome at doing this, much better than I can be, well.... if I can help with kick starting a new batch of boards, I will happily pitch in.
Old fashioned as it may be I see doing things oneself is a sign of character strength. When looking at it that way one automatically searches new challenges outside the comfort zone. In my view one can do almost anything if one wants to. Some time ago I got fed up with it all and decided to make a casing out of stainless steel... with a file as weapon of choice. It came out nice, it took a few drills and files and many hours but I won 🙂
Todays mentality seems to be to always need to depend on others, even with the simplest of matters.
Todays mentality seems to be to always need to depend on others, even with the simplest of matters.
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Use a switch.... the output impedance of the sources is low, the input impedance of the amp is high.. If you keep the one source hooked to the input impedance of the amp (high) and the output impedance of another source (low)... can you guess what will happen?
If you don't know what impedance is, then, I suggest you get a passive preamp with two sources and a volume pot, at the very least.
The simplest answer, though, is just plug and unplug.... I do that often. It's inconvenient and involves wires and boxes... the True Audiophile Way.
Well, it's not like I don't things myself. I just have selected which things I am good at doing myself. I got four tool chests filled with stuff. And another one full of electronic stuff.
I build my own computers, write own programs, I have the most complicated DAC and ADDAC setups you can imagine, there's 110TB of NAS in my LAN, Raspberries, Ubuntu boxes, PLEX servers, 1700 feet of Cat 5E with three managed switches -with spanning tree- in my home LAN... etc, etc, etc...
Besides, I once smoked a $250K not for flight, conformance coated board, back in the 80s. At that point I decided that I am a great engineer but not so good as a technician. And, no, I didn't get into trouble, I actually found one of the failure corner cases, but I had to fill in boatloads of paperwork.
So, you might want to think about that. Another clear sign of character strength is being aware of one's limitations and abilities.
The OP just asked a pretty simple, dumb question - for us. Just tell him to use a switch. Or plumb ignore him. I mean, his question is a lot better than the questions that people ask over at reddit/"audiophile".... Ay!
At some point, we were all asking dumb questions.
I mean, to me doing a Fourier Series, calculating a filter or writing a device driver for a Raspberry is a very simple matter... but if you asked me about it, I would not dismiss you off hand.
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Eh... I was not pointing at you, I used "one" to express that. A very clear sign of character strength is being aware of one's limitations and abilities. "Being aware" is certainly not in the way of trying to surpass ones own limitations and abilities and.. to discover new limitations and abilities. Too bad one sees the contrary more often when dealing with young people/smart phone generation.
I don't need to think about that as I notice it every day!
I don't need to think about that as I notice it every day!
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When you put 69 VDC, 3A limited backwards across the 5VDC inputs of a board.... the caps will blow up first... then the 1/4 watt diodes will eject a one inch white fire flame. It will ruin a conformal coated, ten layer board. I mean RUIN it.
After than, you will have to fill paperwork with the Safety Team for six months.
IMHO, "being aware" is part of self selection. Do I want to spend my time risking burning up another board or do I figure I'm better off at writing software? And it's also a big part of learning. Often times, it's fair to ask questions from "experts". I myself, ask lots of questions, but then, I also am happy to answer lots of questions... the trick is to give more than you take. That's generosity.
Sure, a fair question is, what I'm I doing in a DIY forum. Well.... I have done quite a bit of DIY components in my life. And not smoked them.
I do miss the old Heathkits and Dynacos.
No blue LEDs on them. Plain old incandescent bulbs with a red bezel.
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Hi many, in case you have not been able to decipher an answer from the banter so far you need to add a switch. Your two sources both have a low sending impedance and joining them together will result in one shorting out the other resulting in very low level on both of them.
I used a 'mixer' schematic, with a virtual zero sum point. It works well enough, but has quite a large power transient on power-up and power-down. Eventually I abandoned it out of the irritating thump.
For a different application, I've also made a small 'auto-switcher' with some 5V signal relays and the USB power from respective sources (all of them had such a port). This allows for automatic input switching.
For a different application, I've also made a small 'auto-switcher' with some 5V signal relays and the USB power from respective sources (all of them had such a port). This allows for automatic input switching.