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
Problem is when the SS is switched to speaker position the tube amp has no resistance. Accidentally turning on the tube amp while not connected to a speaker load will damage the output transformer.

There is a workaround, although it requires a bit of design and construction (I know of no switch that can do this). You will need a three pole double throw switch (position A and position B or ON-ON) with a rating of at least 20-amps. You will also need a box with two pairs of binding posts (call them A and B) on one side for the amp hookup and one pair of binding posts on the other side for the speaker hookup (call this COMMON). Let’s say position A is the tube amp and position B is the SS amp. I suggest you look at a wiring diagram of a 3PDT switch....

Pole 1: Connect pole 1 common to the speaker negative binding post, position A to the Tube amp negative binding post and position B to the SS amp negative terminal binding post.

Pole 2: Connect pole 2 common to the speaker positive binding post, position A to the Tube amp positive binding post and position B to the SS amp positive terminal binding post.

Pole 3: Connect pole 3 common to the pole 1 common, which will ground pole 3 to the speaker negative terminal. Connect an 8-ohm resistor between position B of pole 3 and position A of pole 2. This will put the 8-ohm resistor in series with the Tube amp positive terminal and negative speaker terminal, protecting the amp. Position A of pole 3 is left hanging unconnected.

When you switch to position A, the tube amp is connected to the speakers and the SS amp and the protective resistor are connected to nothing, so the tube amp is the only hot circuit with the resistor having no effect.

When you switch to position B, the SS amp circuit is hot and the tube amp is protected by a circuit with an 8-ohm resistor, so if you accidentally turn on the amp nothing bad will happen.

(This is for one channel. For both speakers you will either need two of these or a 6-pole double throw switch with everything above times 2, i.e., poles 1,2,3 = poles 4,5,6).
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?
I used to run mono tubes; tube receiver; SS. I put 6’ runs from my speakers to female banana connector to receive male bananas. a hook on the wall behind so I didn’t have to bend too much.

each amp it’s own speaker wires with WBT tightening banana plugs which are OFC copper

http://www.wbtusa.com/pdf/0645.pdf

these are similar, but brass

https://www.amazon.com/Locking-Speaker-Connectors-Terminal-Connector/dp/B0811LF7BW/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1...

some nice pure copper wire

https://www.amazon.com/InstallGear-Gauge-Speaker-Wire-Oxygen-Free/dp/B079VJXN1Z/ref=pd_bxgy_2/137-61...

I make my own speaker wires from OFC Cat 8: 22ga x 8 = 13 awg.

a source popped up

https://alitools.io/en/showcase/hifi-audio-4pcs-mca-ofc-gold-plated-banana-lock-plugs-hifi-speaker-b...
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 :)