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julesf
Contributor II
August 10, 2018

Impedance matching speaker selector switch

I want to run 3 pairs of speakers from my Connect Amp (2 pairs are 8 ohm, 1 is 16 ohm), and therefore believe I need to use a speaker selector switch to do this. Does anyone know if this one is suitable?

https://www.pyleaudio.com/sku/PSPVC4/4-Channel-High-Power-Stereo-Speaker-Selector-Wvolume-Control

Thanks!
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    4 replies

    buzz
    buzz
    Grand Maestro
    August 10, 2018
    No, this model is not appropriate. Use a model with "Autotransformer" in its description, such as this Russound unit or a similar Niles unit (Niles uses the word "magnification" to describe its autotransformer controls)

    I don't know how your house is wired, but I prefer Volume controls to be located near the speaker location. Both Niles and Russound offer in-wall controls that are appropriate. In order to be able to use these controls you need to run both left and right speaker wires from the amplifier to the control, then run from the control to the speakers.
    julesfAuthor
    Contributor II
    August 10, 2018
    Many thanks for this. I'm not sure these items are available in the UK though? What about something like this?

    https://www.tech4.co.uk/av-link-2-4-audio-management-speaker-selector-with-volume-controls
    buzz
    buzz
    Grand Maestro
    August 10, 2018
    Not a great idea either. The "protection" description indicates that a resistor is being inserted rather than using autotransformers. A big clue that autotransformers are being used is that there is a jumper to set -- usually one for each pair of speakers. This jumper selects the proper matching. Inserting resistors is similar to dragging a foot in order to regulate car speed.

    I'm not suggesting that the resistor based contraptions will damage anything, only that they don't sound as good.

    Walls are different in the UK. Those in-wall controls that I showed will probably not fit in your walls.

    A quick search turned up some Russound controls in the UK, but they are not in a neat box. You could build your own mounting scheme. My quick search did not discover any pre-made multi-control boxes.
    Stanley_4
    Stanley_4
    Grand Maestro
    August 10, 2018
    Many resistor based devices also use a fair amount of your Amp's power in the resistors, leaving less for the speakers and with the Connect Amp not being that high powered that may be an issue.
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