An odd idea


Got a question for all of you . . . .

I've been battling with the problem of optimizing 2-channel performance without compromising the coherence of my HT setup. I only have one room which is usuable for A/V gear, and it's loaded to the gills with speakers for HT.

I'd like to upgrade my amplification for 2-channel, but don't want to have to buy SEVEN channels of "good stuff," since that's a healthy chunk of cash and I'm happy with the HT performance of my Rotel gear.

So here's the question -- anybody ever tried hooking up one set of speakers to two different amplifiers? I'm thinking of a modified shotgun biwire cable, run backwards -- single end to the speaker, split ends to two different amps. Obviously you'd have to make sure you NEVER had both of the amps turned on at the same time . . . .

It seems to me that this would be preferable to using a switcher box, because that would put an additional "thing" in the signal path, where the split speaker cables would not.

Of course, my understanding of electronics would fit into a Vibrapod, so there might very well be a screamingly obvious reason why this would be a disaster in the making . . . .

Would this work? If it did, it would allow the use of completely different amps for 2-channel and HT without having to worry about the interaction of one with another, same for preamps.

I'd really appreciate any feedback anyone had here . . . .

Thanks!

Pat
tsrart

Showing 1 response by sdcampbell

One of the regulars on this forum who is also an electrical engineer can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that having your speakers connected simultaneously to two amps -- even if one of them is turned off -- may produce an undesirable electrical interaction. The electrical signal coming in from one set of speaker wires can still feed down the speaker cable going to the unplugged amp (assuming both sets of speaker wires are connected to the same binding post), which can lead to anomalies in the resistance/impedance, and may even produce undesirable EMF (electromotive backforce) similar to the current produced by the rearward movement of a speaker cone.

In short, even if one amp is always turned off and you NEVER make a mistake of leaving both amps on, this is probably a very BAD idea from both an electrical and audio viewpoint. I'd recommend doing what I do, and what others above have suggested: use a 2-channel amp for your main speakers, and a separate 5-channel amp for your center and surround speakers