[Wayne1]

A lot of people feel that the SB2 sounds best when used straight into their power amps. A problem comes up when they also want to use the same system to listen to vinyl or use it with their HT.

Radio Shack sells a very simple two position switch that will take care of this problem



It looks a little tacky but it will work very well for this purpose.

Only $14.99

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=15-1982

[jonwb]

You must be busy Wayne if you are suggesting one of those beauties!!  

I know you hate making boxes, but it would seem to me that a little selector box w/ a nice switch and some decent RCA's would be better.  parts conneXion has an ELMA selector switch for about $40:



Ron Welborne (Welborne Labs) sells some Grayhill Rotary Selector Switches for $20 each:



Personally, I'd like to have three inputs.  
1) SB2
2) HT Reciever
3) Hifi preamp

Of course, by the time you add up the cost of a switch, four sets of RCA's, a box of some sort, machining/hole drilling for the box, hook-up wire, soldering, assembly and a bit of $$ for your time... this would end up being probably a $150 selector box.  

Pricey compared to the Radio Shack version? Yes... but I'd HATE to loose that direct-to-the-amp magic that the SB2 exhibited; not to mention quality on the rest of the rig.

[Wayne1]

You are absolutely right, Jon.

A nice rotary switch, silver wire, WBT NextGen connectors. All that stuff adds up quick.

My long term dream would be to get Todd Brady, Chris' brother who does all the woodwork for Teres Audio including this new beauty

to build a new Cocobolo case for the SB2. I could build a power supply inside the case and include a switch on the front.

Of course something like that would cost at least $1000.00 or so.

Maybe by next years RMAF I can get something like that made

[BradJudy]

I have used the Grayhill switch before - bought it from Welbourne.  

Of course, for such a basic switch (two inputs - SB2 output and preamp output and one output), I would use a quality, but much more economical, toggle switch.

[sleepysurf]

I am using that exact Radioshack switch.  I, too, was quite concerned that it would have a deleterious effect on audio, but so far, haven't noticed any difference!  Granted, bypassing my pre-amp stage altogether was such a quantum leap in improvement with the Squezebox2, that any small artifact from the switch pales in comparison.

[sleepysurf]

BTW, jonwb, Radioshack makes the same switch with FOUR inputs (otherwise identical).  That should do the trick for you!

[jonwb]

BTW, jonwb, Radioshack makes the same switch with FOUR inputs (otherwise identical).  That should do the trick for you!

You mean this one?



Yeah, I'm probably going to need ANOTHER one of those .  I'm using that exact model already in my basement for a TV that doesn't have enough inputs.  Can't imagine using it in my "fancy" rig.  I won't be able to invite audiojerry over, he'll laugh at me

Hey, remembering an old AC post on external crossovers, I did a little digging around and found this source for boxes.  Also, these look like pretty decent (OK... affordable) RCA jacks.

Ready to startup production Wayne!    Just think... drilling all those holes just right and people will want special finishes and of course you'll have to wood-burn (per order) text onto the boxes to identify RCA jacks and switch positions.     OK, OK, I'll go to Radio Shack...

[BradJudy]

For those who don't want to build their own high quality switcher, I just remembered this old stand-by recommendation for a high quality (not RadioShack cheap, but not audiophile expensive) switcher:

http://fidaudio.com/quintete.html

Multiple switchable outputs too, so it's good for folks like me who also have a headphone amp sitting around.  

[jonwb]

Ahh... I forgot about that one.  I had seen their site once before a while back.  At about $90USD (based on current exchange rate) plus shipping across the pond its probably a square deal.  ...it'd be nice if they could hit it w/ a quick coat of black spray paint before they build it up.

[Robert57]

Wouldn't any switch/ passive controller with a volume control be a slight problem? With the SB2, we have the volume control already. Does anyone know if the new CIA VPC-2 passive controller would be a perfectly neutral switch? It does have a vol. control but I see it also allows for a fixed volume input, which I take to mean a direct path, with no volume adjustment impedences or other issues in the signal path, for at least one input. But this a bit of overkill ($295) for this SB2 switch apllication.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=21062

Wayne, it would be great if you could offer a simple, handsome switch, reasonably priced (say, under $150) with no volume adjustments for this simple SB2 application. It would be hard to abide a Radio Shack switch cluttering up an audiophile rig!

[Wayne1]

Th fidaudio does not have a volume control. It switches between three inputs and the other switch is between two outptus. It looks VERY good.

If I could get a box made that everyone likes the looks of, I might be willing to make a switch.

I am simply not good enough of a machinist to consistently line up all the RCAs with the tools I have.

[lcrim]

My Decware Select amp has a gain pot on the back but only has a single input so prior to getting a preamp I used the rotary input box that they sell.  Here's the link  http://www.decware.com/newsite/rotary.htm
It features six inputs and one output, I never noticed a sound degradation when using it.  Nice clean little black box, decent RCA females and switch.

[bubba966]

I am simply not good enough of a machinist to consistently line up all the RCAs with the tools I have.

With a drill press & one of these http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=121-133 you can drill holes in whatever in a repeatable high precision manner all day long. It's a very easy to use tool. Rahter handy for anyone that owns a table saw/router table/drill press.

[sleepysurf]

Well, it's been a few months, and I'm still using the Radio Shack switch, but itching to get a more robust design.  Turns out, the Fidaudio switch is no longer available.  I'm now debating between the Decware RSB6 ($119 + S/H) and the Niles Audio AXP-1 (about $80 + S/H).  Anybody have any real world experience with either of those?

[Wayne1]

I just noticed that Mapletree Audio offers a 4 in and 2 out line level switch The LR-1.





This is a good looking unit for $150.00!

I also see a used one is for sale in the Trading Post here

[sleepysurf]

The used Mapletree is certainly a great deal!  I ended up getting the Niles, and it worked fine, but now I've REALLY splurged and ordered a Modwright SWL 9.0SE tube Pre-Amp, in order to inject some "tube warmth" into my system.  It includes a home theater bypass, so I can still switch between my Squeezebox/Benchmark DAC for 2 channel, and my HT Receiver for surround.

[creilly333]

I've been thinking about this recently, since I started using my SB2 direct into my Naim power amp.  I listen to a lot of vinyl, so it's becoming a bit of a pain to have to swap over connections every time, which leads me to another issue.

When I started using the SB2 direct to power amp there was a definite improvement, but it wasn't THAT much of a difference.  So as I see it there are a couple reasons for this :

a) My preamp was already very transparent
b) The cable I am using between the SB2 and the power amp is not good enough to highlight the differences

As my preamp was one of Naim's cheapest, I find it hard to believe that it was so transparent.  They make highly regarded preamps costing up to $25k.  Or is there a point where it is preferable to have a preamp in place ?  One would think that a direct connection would ALWAYS be better than adding something else in between.  I realize this is a subject for another thread, but I have been looking for what I would call a passive preamp that would allow me to do the same thing with vinyl.

Colin