Two amps, one set of speakers

Ernest · « **on:** 19 Jan 2005, 06:17 pm »

Is there a way to run a home theater setup and 2 channel setup in parallel, with everything different except for the speakers? Can I just run speaker cable from both amps to the speakers as long as I only turn on one at a time? Or would I need some type of speaker input selector doohicky?

I guess running with both amps connected would send juice up the wire to the amp that is turned off. I don't have any idea if that would be bad or not.

Thanks,

Ernest

mcgsxr · « **Reply #1 on:** 19 Jan 2005, 07:10 pm »

Hmmn, from reading various stuff online, I know that having two amps hooked up at the same time is not the preferred way - something about the load that the 2nd amp represents along with the speaker can make for some awkward amplifier activity...

This is why some 2 channel preamps have an HT bypass that allows you to feed the HT signal directly THROUGH your 2 channel amp - is this not something that you want, or is this not something that you can do with your present gear?

This IS why I had an HT bypass added to the preamp that is currently in the works for me... so I could leverage the same amp and speakers for both.

bubba966 · « **Reply #2 on:** 19 Jan 2005, 07:18 pm »

Quote from: Ernest

Is there a way to run a home theater setup and 2 channel setup in parallel, with everything different except for the speakers? Can I just run speaker cable from both amps to the speakers as long as I only turn on one at a time? Or would I need some type of speaker input selector doohicky?

You'd have to use a speaker selector switch of some sort

Quote from: Ernest

I guess running with both amps connected would send juice up the wire to the amp that is turned off. I don't have any idea if that would be bad or not.

Yeah, that's what it'd do & yes it'd be bad. I'm pretty sure that doing such a thing would blow the output of the amp that's not on as it's not made to handle current flowing into the outputs.

Why not just do what Mark's talking about with an HT bypass in the 2ch pre?

Adarsh · « **Reply #3 on:** 7 Feb 2005, 08:16 pm »

Perhaps this isn't related directly but is it possible to use 2 integrated receiver s at low output with 1 pair of speakers. Will this improve sound quality in any way?

jmzzz01 · « **Reply #4 on:** 7 Feb 2005, 08:29 pm »

I had a similar setup for a while and simply had two pairs of speaker cables. I didn't switch that often, but it only took a couple of seconds to do it. It was easier to get to the back of the speakers than the back of the amps.

Some amps, such as Bryston, have two inputs (RCAs and XLRs). They are separated by a switch so that you could use two different pre sources, if you have, for example a preamp that uses XLRs, and a HT receiver that runs RCAs. Then you just have to flip the switch in the back.

Jeff Aguilar · « **Reply #5 on:** 8 Feb 2005, 12:25 am »

I have both my two channel system and my home theater system hooked up to the same speakers. I am using a Niles switcher to go back and forth between amps. Here is a link to it.

Niles DPS-1 Switcher

It works really well in my system.

Jeff Aguilar
My Home Theater

Adarsh · « **Reply #6 on:** 14 Feb 2005, 12:02 pm »

Perhaps this isn't related directly but is it possible to use 2 integrated receiver s at low output with 1 pair of speakers. Will this improve sound quality in any way?

What if I use a preamp with an integrated receiver will it improve sound?

-A