2. misc-audio
  3. 167674-162951

Amp switcher with tube amp protection

Hi there, I'm a bit of a beginner, so stick with me please :)

I'm looking into buying a tube amp (muzishare X7), but would prefer to also keep my solid state amp for movies and tv so I don't waste away the tubes on unimportant stuff :) Would prefer to use just 1 set of speakers as i got rid of my surround setup and settled for some Klipsch rp600m.
I'm looking for a amp switch that will protect the tube amp from not being hooked up to speakers. I know i can turn it off, then switch. But I'm sure I will one day make a mistake there.
I did stumble upon a thread here about somebody building his own switch. But are there commercial options out there? Because I couldn't find any.. or maybe I'm searching with the wrong search terms.. 
Also preferably not too expansive as my setup would be quite low end in terms of audiophile gear...

Hope someone can point me in the right direction!
BestMartijn
mw000

Showing 4 responses by mw000

mw000 OP
4 posts
 
Thanks for your great explanation, makes sense to me even without much proper knowledge of electronics.

For me to build this would maybe be a bridge to far at the moment though. Although it sounds like a cool project, making a nice casing etc. I just don't have any tools to do this, plus would be afraid to mess it up and fry my amp 😅

I find it hard to believe there aren't any commercial solutions though. It doesn't seem like a crazy rare use case to me?
mw000 OP
4 posts
 
So in other words, you don't use a switch but change your cables all the time.. ;)

Soooo, would be great to hear if there are switches out there that can do the trick :)
mw000 OP
4 posts
 
Also interesting to think about, the amount of music vs. tv usage, and limiting turning the amp on and off.
During the week I typically use my system for a couple of hours of tv each night. During the weekend a mix of music and tv.
So I guess in my case solid state during the week, tubes for the weekend.

In terms of the Specialty-AV SP-71, any idea if the resistors have an effect on your sound? Or do they only get "activated" when you switch to the other amp?
mw000 OP
4 posts
 
Thanks for all the info everyone! This switch seems to be the easiest option in my case.

As i have never went above 40% of my current amp's volume (35watt) I also doubt I will mis that 10% of output power. The tube amp will have 25/45 watt output power. So should also be totally fine.

Cheers!
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