[polar316]

ok now this question even i find absurd... i have a cheapo insignia (5.1) receiver as well as my cambridge audio 340a (soon to be a NAD C372  ). i will listen to music through the NAD but i want to install a $200 polk audio subwoofer as well as two definitive book shelves that i have for gaming. i still want to use my main fronts (B&W 684's) with the bookshelves as well as the sub woofer for gaming, but only use the B&W's for audio listening. can i wire up my B&W's  to both the insignia and the NAD? either by wiring into the bi-wiring posts or by adding some sort of switch? i do not have the money to purchase a 5.1 "high quality" receiver so here lies my issue..

thanks boys,

Zach

[honesthoff]

Doesn't the C372 have a pre-out that can be used for the sub?

[polar316]

yes it does but its not a 5.1, and i do not want the sub being used for music listening as it is not up to par with the 684's

[Speedskater]

OK, get some Neutrik Speakon 8 pole speaker connectors. Get 2 of one type and 1 of the other type (I think that the auto censor might not like the correct word). It's a lot cheaper the a heavy duty multi-pole speaker switch.

[polar316]

Kevin,

Have you recommended these because they are far superior to banana jacks?

Thanks,
Zach

[Speedskater]

I don't know if they are far superior to banana plugs.  Banana jacks are fine, it's the plugs that loosen up or get damaged when not connected.  Plus they have 8 wires in one connector. And the cost per wire is often lower.

[avahifi]

YOU MUST NOT WIRE A SET OF SPEAKERS TO TWO AMPLIFIERS AT THE SAME TIME!   

Doing so connects the output of one amp to the outputs of the other amp through the speaker wires.   The low output impedance of each amplifier will look like a dead short to the other amplifier.  The result will likely be damage to one or both amplifiers.

If you turn the systems off, and then reconnect the speaker wires to the other amplifier, you might get away with the scheme for a while, until somebody connect both sets of speaker wires at once, then BOOM!

If you use a switch network to do this, make sure the switch is a break before make type or BOOM again.

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine

[Wayner]

Have you considered making a "banana jack" patch bay? This would prevent both amps from being connected at the same time, but you would have to move 2 dual banana jacks from two sets to the other two sets (with amps off) to change systems. It could be kind of fool-proof.

Wayner

[Mr Peabody]

I am in your same situation.  Because I use tubes for stereo and solid state for HT, I prefer running two separate sets of cables, one set from each amp, one for stereo and one for HT.  I use bananas and plug in the amp I want to use at the time.  I don't think you will find a reverse switcher any where and it is very true you do not want to hook both amps to one set of speakers, bad news.  Bananas allows a quick connect and it's really not that inconvenient.  I've been doing this for some time now and the connectors are holding up fine.  I'm using pretty good cables though, Siltech for stereo and Transparent for HT.  The Siltech are holding up much better.

Another way, since you are getting a new stereo integrated any way, is to look for one with a "theater bypass" feature/input.  What this does is allow you to only have the stereo amp hooked to the speakers, you connect the main preamp outputs of the Insignia into the "theater bypass" input.  When this input is selected it will allow the stereo integrated to be a slave to the receiver.  The input signal will bypass all preamp controls.  Of course, this is a dead issue if the Insignia don't feature preamp outputs.  Your best bet then would be the manual switch of cables AT the speaker.