[Fredly]

I’m planning on putting an Elma 04-1261 Selector switch in my TLP.  

Having never hooked up a selector switch, nor having any documentation come with the part, I am a bit confused as to how the pin-outs go.

Can someone point me to an easy tutorial or explanation on how to correctly hook-up?

Thanx much in advance, Fred in Toronto Canada

PS: I’m a recent Squeezebox 3 owner (analogue modifications done by Red Wine Audio) and am VERY impressed with the sound quality. Highly recommended.

[PSP]

Fredly,
I am unfamiliar with with this particular switch, but I can tell you how to figure it out.

For each channel, there will be several input solder tabs that will all be lined up and clustered together (one for each source the switch can handle... e.g., six in the Grayhill that I used) and one output tab off by itself.  If you have a stereo selector switch (I imagine that's what you have) there will be two sets of these input and output tabs.

So, look for a single tab off by itself... that will be an output tab (there should be two of these loners, one for the right channel, the other for the left channel).  Pick one of these single output tabs (doesn't matter which one), and attach a clip lead from your ohm meter to it.  Now, with the other ohm meter lead, hunt through the cluster of input tabs and find the one which reads zero ohms... now you know which input tab is connected to the output tab for one channel given the current position of the selector switch knob.  As you move the selector switch to another position, you will find that another input tab is connected to the single outut tab.  Now, you basically play around with your ohm meter and build a map of the switch you have.  

Eventually, you will connect the hot lead from an input RCA to one of the input tabs of the selector switch.  The tricky part is to make sure that you get both channels connected correctly.... I make little tape labels for each input lead and use an ohm meter to be sure that I've got things figured out correctly before I mount the switch and do all that careful soldering.  

BTW, I find that it works best to build the ground bus for each channel (see below), then attach all the input and output wires to the selector switch, label them, get the wires cut to the correct length (plus a little extra), strip off a little insulation from the ends, mount the switch to the chassis, and then solder the labeled hot wires to the appropriate RCA hot.  

The Right channel output tab of the selector switch will be connected to the TLPs volume control that controls the Right channel (and similarly, the left channel, of course).  For the return, I build a 14awg bare copper wire bus that connects all of the input RCA earth tabs (one bus per channel) and then run a wire from that bus to the ground tab for that channel on the volume control.  

I've put a couple of pictures in the gallery:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery;area=browse;album=678

This setup is absolutely quiet and has worked in my bedroom system for several years now.  Since I had hum issues in my intial build (I tried to build my TLP into the same enclosure as my AKSA 55 and could never make that work), I designed this layout with the source and volume controls very close to the input/output RCAs to keep the signal path very short and well away from the power supply.

If you need more info, please send me a note.

Good luck,
Peter

[Fredly]

Thanx for getting back to me Peter, very much appreciated.

I get the thrust of what you are saying.... makes sense. I'll need to mount the selector switch in an enclosure, then peck away at it with the ohm meter. Its is absolutley IMPOSSIBLE to turn the selector switch by hand, to figure out the pin-outs.

And.....if I'm understanding what your saying, grounds do NOT hookup to the actual selector switch itself. Correct?

Thanx once again, Fred in Canada

[PSP]

Hi Fred,
Mount a knob to the selector switch... if it won't move then, you have some sort of a problem, yes?

The ground bus (one for each channel) gets connected to the gnd on the volume control (one gnd tab for each channel).  In the setup I've outlined, the selector switch only switches the hots.  Of course, if you have a four ganged switch you could switch the hots and grounds for both channels of each source.  This would be better I suppose, but I haven't had any gound-loop hum issues with the ground bus setup.

I would do all of the ohm meter pecking outside the chassis, where you can easily get at all of the small tabs on the switch.  I also use a stand-mounted illuminated magnifying glass, this makes it easy to look for markings on the switch... the input positions Grayhill switches I use are numbered, 1-6 for one channel, 7-12 for the other channel.  

So, I would get all the wires attached to the switch (it looks like an octopus), trimmed to the correct length, labeled,  and pointed approximately the right direction before mounting in the chassis.... once the switch is mounted it can be really hard to reach some of the solder lugs on the switch.

If you can't make the Elna move, I've used the Grayhill RT-2, $20 at Wellborne labs: http://www.welbornelabs.com/switch.htm .  They also have extender kits for mounting the switches away from the front of the chassis (but they are expensive... if you are at all handy you can buy brass rod and sheet aluminum at the hardware store and build your own).

Good luck,
Peter

[rabbitz]

They're a nice switch but do need a knob to make them turn. I got mine from Michael Percy http://www.percyaudio.com/ and will have to fit it to the GK-1 one day when I work out what wire to use.... any suggestions.

Here's a pinout for the sucker.
http://www.hificollective.co.uk/pdf/elma.pdf

Merry Xmas to all.

[Fredly]

Rabbitz, thanx for the pin out diagram!

I searched high and low on the web for such a diagram, and just could not find it!

Like yourself, I bought the Elma switch well over 6 months ago, and have been procrastinating from installing.

But, with the season holidays coming up, and a little bit of time off work, I hope I can FINALLY get this baby in my TLP.

As for wire to use, well that’s a VERY good question.

I'm VERY cheap, and in the past have used Belden 75ohm cable cores, Belden Cat 5, Chris Venhaus Pulsar cable (which is currently my favorite), all for internal wiring.

As of late I have been investigating cryo magnet wire as internal wire (http://www.takefiveaudio.com/mall/Cables/vampire_cable_21_mag.html ) after having been blown away by the results achieved by the anti-cable speaker wire. (http://www.anticables.com/testimonials.html).

All for now and thanx again, Fred in Canada

[stvnharr]

Fredly,
Hopefully you are on the right track now with connecting the switch.  I have the same switch in my GK-1 and it's very easy to hook up.  It's a 2 pole switch so you are only switching the "hots".  Grounds all connect together, each channel separately of course.  Output is "output +".  If you have less than 6 inputs then you can move the stop screw to the proper postion if you wish as that avoid inadvertent switching to a "dead" input, but it's not critical by any means, just convenient.
Best wire to use is same as you use for interconnect.  I heartily recommend magnet wire, cryo or not though I believe mine all is cryoed, as excellent wire for everything.

[Fredly]

Thanx as well for your input stvnharr, very much appreciated.  

As for internal wire/magnet wire.

Have you compared a cryo'd magnet wire to the big boys for internal wiring and find it equal or better in sonic resolution?

I'd love to know your findings since I do not know of anyone personally who has gone this route and would be able to comment on the sound.

Again, I was so impressed with the Anit-cable mag speaker wire, I totally rewired my speakers internally with it as well. And the results, in my case, were very audible!

Thanx again, Fred.

[AKSA]

Fred,

I'm sorry I've come to this late;  but it's very clear that the instructions from Peter (PSP), Rabbitz (also Peter!), and Steven are top class and beautifully explain it all down to the last detail.  Thanks guys!  

And yes, all earths are conjoined (the GK1 M and R actually switch earths as well as the 'hot' termination;  this is to prevent earth loops as different sources often use different earthing regimes), and the left side of the switch handles Left Channel and the right side handles Right Channel.

Since you only need single strand connections, you might as well use CAT5E.  It's a good idea to enclose all the wiring behind a ferrous shroud to keep emissions from the trafo etc at bay and thus minimise noise.

Cheers,

Hugh

[Fredly]

Thanx as well Hugh!

As you stated both Peter, Steve & Rabbitz did an excellent job of explaining and as such I'm confident I'll have no problems (famous last words, eh?) in hooking the Selector Switch up.

All the best and a very Merry Xmas and healthy and prosperous New Year!

Fred in Canada

[rabbitz]

Since you only need single strand connections, you might as well use CAT5E. It's a good idea to enclose all the wiring behind a ferrous shroud to keep emissions from the trafo etc at bay and thus minimise noise.

Good CAT5E in Oz.... "Where do you get it?"... (in that shrill advertising voice that Aussies will remember well from the 80's).  

[stvnharr]

As for internal wire/magnet wire.

Have you compared a cryo'd magnet wire to the big boys for internal wiring and find it equal or better in sonic resolution?

I'd love to know your findings since I do not know of anyone personally who has gone this route and would be able to comment on the sound.

Again, I was so impressed with the Anit-cable mag speaker wire, I totally rewired my speakers internally with it as well. And the results, in my case, were very audible!

Thanx again, Fred.

Fred,
I've been using the cryoed magnet wire from Dennis Boyle, (Chimera Labs) for everything since summer of '03.  I started with an interconnect kit and seeing how cheap and simple it all was, I just started making everything, and then selling the high priced stuff (Cardas and Coincident) that I had.  I found the sound to be the same.  I never really played the swapping game as my not-so-golden-ears wouldn't have been able to tell any difference as any difference would have been exceedingly small to me.  When I built my second Aksa it just made sense to use this wire there for the signal wiring, not the high current wire, as well.  I also rewired the speakers with same.
I now have a big roll of the non-cryoed stuff, from Michael Percy, as it's incredibly cheap but I have yet to use any of it.  I'd be surprised if I hear any difference if I ever get around to using any of it.
I've read the Anti-cable website.  It looked to me that it was essentially the same as I use, only a single strand of a larger gauge wire rather than a braid of a smaller strand like I use.
I don't fuss too much about wire.  I think it's more important to use the same wire throughout to minimize any differences, rather than mix up a bunch of different stuff.
When I rewired by GK-1 last January with the magnet wire and got rid of the assorted mix of wires, everything came into focus that was easy to hear from the first sound.

OH BTW, I read on John Chapman's website or forum quite some time ago, year or two that is, that the CCC(continuous cast copper) type wire is made only in 2 or 3 plants in Taiwan, and that everyone sources their wire from one of these places.  Most folks tend to be drawn to a brand name when in actuality it's all the same stuff regardless of brand.  And you can be assured that these plants in Taiwan aren't making the stuff for just the audiophile cable "industry".