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Speaker switching box and "protection mode" ...?

quiet said:
The load match boxes do work. I think you would be happy for a long while. I don't like the theory but need the utility to play with my 18 pair of speakers at will.
So I except the necessary evil. I don't have a problem with the sound other than the #1 position plays louder.
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OK... that's good to hear and you definitely sound like someone who has plenty of experience with this kind of thing. I won't have any issue with one of the pairs playing a bit louder when I play them together and it's not really an issue anyway since this unit has volume controls.

This all leads to even more questions though... I wonder if the particular unit in question is my best bet? Is there something (which is hopefully affordable, maybe easily available on Ebay) other than the Niles which might be an even better for what I'm looking for?
 
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Aaron Hayman said:
OK... that's god to hear and you definitely sound like someone who has plenty of experience with this kind of thing. I won't have any issue with one of the pairs playing a bit louder when I play them together and it's not really an issue anyway since this unit has volume controls.

This all leads to even more questions though... I wonder if the particular unit in question is my best bet? Is there something (which is hopefully affordable, maybe easily available on Ebay) other than the Niles which might be an even better for what I'm looking for?
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So many to try. I use this for my mid-fi endeavors. If I used it with better "$" gear I might find fault in it.
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Bodyblue said:
How about two sets of 8 ohm speakers?
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I started out with two sets of 8 ohm speakers, but then I upgraded both pairs and wound up with 6 ohm ones. I didn't realize when I bought them (or at least when I bought the first pair) that I'd have to give up running them together, but even if I had known all of this in advance, I still would have bought both sets of speakers (Elacs and Warfedales) as they both sound really nice and make my system sound exponentially better than what I had before. The fact that I can't run both of these sets of speakers together is actually a small price to pay. Still, if I can get some sort of box which might allow me to crank both together, I'll be even more happy with my system...
 
spark1 said:
How so?
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As toddalin has already answered, the switch shorts out the pair of speakers which you want to mute. I doubt that the switching box which the OP has in mind will do that though. I think a custom-made switcher may be necessary.
 
rothwellaudio said:
As toddalin has already answered, the switch shorts out the pair of speakers which you want to mute. I doubt that the switching box which the OP has in mind will do that though. I think a custom-made switcher may be necessary.
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You were referring to his solution before he described it? Interesting.

In any case, how is this solution better than a selector box?
 
spark1 said:
You were referring to his solution before he described it? Interesting.
In any case, how is this solution better than a selector box?
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No, I stated that using two pairs of speakers in series wouldn't mean one pair couldn't be switched off. It was late at night and I didn't feel like going into any detail. Toddalin clearly saw the same solution (which is pretty obvious anyway) and took a bit more time to spell it out.
This solution is better than a selector box because a selector box which simply put the two pairs of speakers in parallel would be putting a 3 ohm load on the amp. A selector box with "speaker protection" would waste power in the protection resistor.
 
rothwellaudio said:
No, I stated that using two pairs of speakers in series wouldn't mean one pair couldn't be switched off. It was late at night and I didn't feel like going into any detail. Toddalin clearly saw the same solution (which is pretty obvious anyway) and took a bit more time to spell it out.
This solution is better than a selector box because a selector box which simply put the two pairs of speakers in parallel would be putting a 3 ohm load on the amp. A selector box with "speaker protection" would waste power in the protection resistor.
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About the same amount as would be lost in output potential in the series arrangement.
 
The OP wants the ability to easily run one pair, the other pair, or both pairs, and to do so without risk to his amp.

If he wants to safely run both pairs with the box solution, there is loss from protection resistor (assuming he chooses box which uses resistor solution).

If he goes with the series solution, his power/headroom is reduced by about the same amount. And has to manually place/pull jumpers depending upon which speakers he wants to hear.

Options are nice, but it sometimes seems that responses lose sight of the original question. Another example of this was the earlier suggestion to get different speakers. Sheesh.
 
I have used my Niles SVC-2 many times with 4 speakers connected
to it. sometimes with 2 completely different pairs at the same time.
I have always had to turn the volume on the receiver up a little.
I have not noticed a difference in the sound quality though.
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spark1 said:
If he wants to safely run both pairs with the box solution, there is loss from protection resistor (assuming he chooses box which uses resistor solution).

If he goes with the series solution, his power/headroom is reduced by about the same amount. And has to manually place/pull jumpers depending upon which speakers he wants to hear.
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Yes, but in the case of parallel connection the resistor is wasting power at all times. With series connection the maximum available power is reduced but maybe the OP doesn't need the maximum available power.
spark1 said:
Options are nice, but it sometimes seems that responses lose sight of the original question. Another example of this was the earlier suggestion to get different speakers. Sheesh.
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I get the distinct feeling of being bullied here. Let me recap the thread so far: the OP wants to run two pairs of 6 ohm speakers simultaneously but his amp isn't rated for a 3 ohm load. In post #12 the question was asked "why can't these 6 ohm speakers be run in series for a 10 to 14 ohm load?" I merely replied that they could. When asked if that meant one pair couldn't be switched off I replied that it didn't mean that.

Then posts #24 and #33 appear to be attacking me for something. Why the attitude? :dunno:
 
Ok... Thanks for all of the advice and support here. I decided to pull the trigger and I managed to get a "buy it now" one of these things (the same Niles model that I mentioned before) on Ebay for just $22, including shipping. I saved myself some money (the local Craigslist seller wanted $50 for the thing) and some hassle as the location was a fair drive from where I live.

I figure that for $22 I don't have much to loose because even if I don't end up likening the way that this thing works, I haven't wasted that much money on it and I can probably even sell it on Craigslist and make some of my money back anyway (not that $22 is much of a hardship). I do like the elegance of being able to access any function on my stereo with a button or knob on the amp, but at this point I already have a component switcher box and separate phone pre-amp box... so what's one more thing?
 
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