Will Two into One still go these days?

Tesler

New member
Oct 2, 2007
38
0
0
Visit site
I’ve not worked on the HiFi trade for about 11 years now, I know there used to be a switching unit that did this, but just out of a matter of interest, is there a high quality switching device available now, that will allow two Amps to be connected to one pair of speakers?

Of course, not both at the same time.

Tes.
 

Tesler

New member
Oct 2, 2007
38
0
0
Visit site
Well it's like this, he Cambridge works OK with CD, all be it a little cold and dry but better detailed, it is less successful however with the DVD and Humax Fox T2 thingy, The Pioneer works better with the Humax and DVD and lovely with the CD, It's just that I can't quite gel with the Cambridge as an all rounder!
 

Tesler

New member
Oct 2, 2007
38
0
0
Visit site
Ok I see what you mean. I used to install a switch box by QED, in both domestic and commercial situations, I lived in Jersey in those days and things these were very easy to come by. Now I live in Scotland, I've got the Blackhills TV transmitter nearly in my back garden, and fields full of sheep in abundence near me but no civilisation, Guess I wont find any thing like QED round here? I'm going back many moons, when I installed kit, Do you know if QED still exist?
 

fr0g

New member
Jan 7, 2008
445
0
0
Visit site
Personally I would ebay both, and buy one you could live with for all tasks... There is no way I would trust a unit that swapped amps. Sounds like a disaster for a recipe... and vice versa!
 

Tesler

New member
Oct 2, 2007
38
0
0
Visit site
I want to use the cambridge for playing CD's and I want to play the Humax and DVD through the Pioneer, but through one pair of speakers!
 

John Duncan

Well-known member
Oh god yeah, purveyors of fine cables to the cognoscenti - www.qed.co.uk. But - they don't do two amp/one speaker boxes, only the other way round. And I'd be a bit wary anyway, if the switch is in any way dodgy and the signal gets routed from amp to amp.......kaboom.

I can't think of any reason why you'd want to do it though, besides doing a demo?
 

Tesler

New member
Oct 2, 2007
38
0
0
Visit site
fr0g:Personally I would ebay both, and buy one you could live with for all tasks... There is no way I would trust a unit that swapped amps. Sounds like a disaster for a recipe... and vice versa!

Personally I would never, ever buy anything off e-bay, even if someone else was paying for it.
I cannot get to grips concept of sending someone some money for something I have't seen or I'm convinced that it exists. I know people do it, but to me it's beyond me why anyone would part with money without having seen or tried the goods first. Just my opinion.
 

John Duncan

Well-known member
Tesler:Well it's like this, he Cambridge works OK with CD, all be it a little cold and dry but better detailed, it is less successful however with the DVD and Humax Fox T2 thingy, The Pioneer works better with the Humax and DVD and lovely with the CD, It's just that I can't quite gel with the Cambridge as an all rounder!

OK sorry I missed this. If everything works best on the Pioneer (I may have read that wrong), why not just use that?

Alternatively, how about taking the tape out from the pioneer (sound tends to be defined more by the preamp, not the power) to a spare input on the Cambridge (or vice versa), and plugging the appropriate sources into the appropriate amps?
 

fr0g

New member
Jan 7, 2008
445
0
0
Visit site
Tesler:fr0g:Personally I would ebay both, and buy one you could live with for all tasks... There is no way I would trust a unit that swapped amps. Sounds like a disaster for a recipe... and vice versa!

Personally I would never, ever buy anything off e-bay, even if someone else was paying for it.
I cannot get to grips concept of sending someone some money for something I have't seen or I'm convinced that it exists. I know people do it, but to me it's beyond me why anyone would part with money without having seen or tried the goods first. Just my opinion.

I meant sell.

I wouldn't buy an amp from ebay either, as I always insist on trialling first.

I have bought cables and stuff though. (There are plenty of legitimate shops using ebay these days...)

Oh and one thing that IS wrong with the world these days, is a lack of trust.
 

John Duncan

Well-known member
Tesler:fr0g:Personally I would ebay both, and buy one you could live with for all tasks... There is no way I would trust a unit that swapped amps. Sounds like a disaster for a recipe... and vice versa!

Personally I would never, ever buy anything off e-bay, even if someone else was paying for it.
I cannot get to grips concept of sending someone some money for something I have't seen or I'm convinced that it exists. I know people do it, but to me it's beyond me why anyone would part with money without having seen or tried the goods first. Just my opinion.

I have a 1600 quid amp and player that I got off eBay for 500 quid. QED (to be topical). Requires thought, indeed, but I have never had a bad deal (except as a seller).
 

John Duncan

Well-known member
Tesler:I want to use the cambridge for playing CD's and I want to play the Humax and DVD through the Pioneer, but through one pair of speakers!

Right, I have caught up now and am totally with you.

Connect the tape out from the Pioneer to a spare input on the Cambridge. Connect the CD Player and speakers to the Cambridge. Connect the Hummy and the DVD player to the Pioneer. Select correct input on Pioneer depending on whether you're using the PVR or DVD, and select the spare input on the Cambridge. Try it and see if that gives you the best of both worlds. Maybe then swap them as master and slave and see which sounds best?

If that doesn't work for you, then look for a switcher (still say it's fraught with danger), or do what fr0g suggests and get a different amp.
 

Tesler

New member
Oct 2, 2007
38
0
0
Visit site
JohnDuncan:Oh god yeah, purveyors of fine cables to the cognoscenti - www.qed.co.uk. But - they don't do two amp/one speaker boxes, only the other way round. And I'd be a bit wary anyway, if the switch is in any way dodgy and the signal gets routed from amp to amp.......kaboom.

I can't think of any reason why you'd want to do it though, besides doing a demo?

No john, I'm not doing a demo. I've had the Pioneer for 18 years, it has suffered from varoius dry joints which I have repaired on several occasions over the years. I bought the Cambridge last year, and I can't get myself to like it with any other source other than CD. For example I watched Nigel Kennedy's bash for the Proms on the Beeb, via the Humax with sound through the Cambridge last week. I thought his violin sounded like it was being squeezed through a tube, I quickly changed the Cambridge for the Pioneer and the sound was much better, the violin sound was much less restricted, it was more open, warmer and more fluid. That's when I thought, " what If I could connect both amps to the Speakers via some sort of isolation switch, and just switch them as I needed". Thats the full story!
 

Tesler

New member
Oct 2, 2007
38
0
0
Visit site
JohnDuncan:Tesler:fr0g:Personally I would ebay both, and buy one you could live with for all tasks... There is no way I would trust a unit that swapped amps. Sounds like a disaster for a recipe... and vice versa!

Personally I would never, ever buy anything off e-bay, even if someone else was paying for it.
I cannot get to grips concept of sending someone some money for something I have't seen or I'm convinced that it exists. I know people do it, but to me it's beyond me why anyone would part with money without having seen or tried the goods first. Just my opinion.

I have a 1600 quid amp and player that I got off eBay for 500 quid. QED (to be topical). Requires thought, indeed, but I have never had a bad deal (except as a seller).

Interesting that!! Why do you get a bad deal as a seller? Do you not have to receive payment before you despatch the goods?
 

John Duncan

Well-known member
Just unlucky - was selling some concert tickets and the buyer reneged, but too late to resell - ended up practically giving them away outside the gig. Only time I've ever had a problem, in nigh-on 100 trades.
 

Tesler

New member
Oct 2, 2007
38
0
0
Visit site
JohnDuncan:Tesler:I want to use the cambridge for playing CD's and I want to play the Humax and DVD through the Pioneer, but through one pair of speakers!

Right, I have caught up now and am totally with you.

Connect the tape out from the Pioneer to a spare input on the Cambridge. Connect the CD Player and speakers to the Cambridge. Connect the Hummy and the DVD player to the Pioneer. Select correct input on Pioneer depending on whether you're using the PVR or DVD, and select the spare input on the Cambridge. Try it and see if that gives you the best of both worlds. Maybe then swap them as master and slave and see which sounds best?

If that doesn't work for you, then look for a switcher (still say it's fraught with danger), or do what fr0g suggests and get a different amp.

HMMM Yes, but is that not the concept of Bi-amping? Am I not still only connecting the Cambridge to the speakers ? I did try connecting the Pioneer to the Tweeters and the Cambridge to the Woofers (Do people still call them that)via the two pairs of terminals on the back of the B&W's. This gave an interesting sound, Um, interesting to say the least, I decided against it after a few miuntes, extremely difficult to get anything like a balance like that.
 

John Duncan

Well-known member
It's not biamping, and yes you;re only connecting the Cambridge to the speakers - in the scenario I outline above, you're basically using the preamp from the Pioneer (which tends, generalising, to shape the sound most) for DVD and TV, the Cambridge preamp for the CD, and Cambridge power for both. That's not quitetrue since the pre of the Pioneer is actually going through the pre of the Cambridge as well, but it's near enough. And if you say the Cambridge is lean, the Pioneer preamp may warm it up.

Try it and see - no harm done if it doesn't work.
 

Tesler

New member
Oct 2, 2007
38
0
0
Visit site
Sorry phone went, Missus needs picking up later, couldn't get off the phone. I wouldn't say the cambridge is lean, it sounds restricted and very edgy at the top end, almost like it's and distorting andstruggling to get out, you know, instead of "sssting" it's a bit "Shhhting" it get's muddled and flattened when there's a lot going on, bass however is tight and not bad. Is this amp supposed to be like this?
 

John Duncan

Well-known member
Tesler:Sorry phone went, Missus needs picking up later, couldn't get off the phone. I wouldn't say the cambridge is lean, it sounds restricted and very edgy at the top end, almost like it's and distorting andstruggling to get out, you know, instead of "sssting" it's a bit "Shhhting" it get's muddled and flattened when there's a lot going on, bass however is tight and not bad. Is this amp supposed to be like this?

Hm. You might find that the more revealing cambridge is showing up your sources, while the pioneer (built when vinyl was king) is being more forgiving. Go and try it now! The missus can wait!
emotion-5.gif
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts