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Looking for a switching box for five tonearm inputs and two outputs.where can i find one with minimum loss possible ? ( silver wire, gold plated connectors, silver welds, etc...)
Edits: 02/03/16 02/03/16Follow Ups:
A Fidelity Research FRT-4
I have tried to build one and to date have been unsuccessful. I even tried silver contact switches with solid silver wire. I have been able to build them hum-free, but the sound difference from straight connections is noticably better. I recommend that you just switch the connectors when using another tonearm or perhaps use a DSA phono stage that has multiple phono inputs. I am not associated at all with DSA.
Have you tried using shielded cabe for the internal wiring?
Dave
Yes i have tried using Shielded cables internal. But the problem is not the RF or IF interference, it is the degradation of the small signal going through a switch. The best way to switch it is after it is amplified a bit. So, if you used separate phono preamps for each input and switched it afterwards, it would work great.
Interesting. My Fidelity Research FRT-3 has a Pass-30ohm-10ohm switch. I never had a problem with noise. I wonder how they did it!
Dave
That's an amazing product. Three entirely discrete phono stages, each with adjustable gain and load, and each with both XLR and RCA inputs (into balanced phono circuits). If only it weren't solid state, but if it weren't solid state it would be prohibitively large. Have you heard it, and if so what did you think of it? I had to put it out of my mind, mostly due to its cost.
I heard it at RMAF 2015 with a three-armed VPI and Joseph Audio floorstanders. I saw it with the top off(an impressive build with densely packed mil-spec looking PCBs), and spoke with the designer, a nice fellow. The room sounded very good, but down a notch from the best at that show. IIRC DSA sells direct or in partnership with a single reseller and offers an in-home trial period. He claimed that they have had just one returned. Not bad considering the finickiness of audiophiles buying at this price level. On the other hand, maybe they have sold just one unit... something that often occurs to me when looking at rare and high priced beasts at shows.
I know one guy who owns one, out in Colorado. He absolutely loves it. Bought it in favor of a high end tube phono stage that he previously owned. He is the one who connected me with Doug Hurlburt (sp?), the designer, and Doug subsequently came to my house where we listened to each of his two products; the Phono1 is a simpler (and less expensive) design where the box holds only one stereo phono stage, not 3 as in the Phono2. Doug was then living in Northern VA, so he did not have to travel very far to my house. I think he's re-located since.I am sure that at least the early units were built with cost no object. And Doug is clearly a smart guy who has spent his life in electronics, knows what he is doing.
Edits: 02/05/16
Thanks everyone for the precious help.
I'm now convinced that the switch box is not such a good idea specially in the case of multiple tone arms.
I'll keep on changing manually the connectors. It's not so difficult because I have a ortofon spu verto and only have to change the connections from the multiple tone arms to the step up. The connection between the step up and the phono doesn't need to change.
I have a dual-turntable setup. I finally caved and got a small mixing board for dedicated turntable use. The connections are post-preamp for both decks. Bye-bye noise.I'm not saying you should go with that solution. I'm just telling you what I did.
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It's amazing that hipsters who insist they can hear sampling remnants in interpolated 24/96 digital waveforms can somehow fail to detect surface noise from their own vinyl LPs.
Edits: 02/04/16
Don't do it!
At least I wouldn't - as at such low signal levels, the switch will degrade the signal (ie. it's not just a matter of voltage loss).
Andy
2 MM and one MC phono input... Only use one now. for a while I used all three (TD125mkII with Rabco SL8E and Grace 704 arms on a custom built in the cabinet wall plinth + Technics SL10.
When LP was king I could pick my playback poison!
"The hardest thing of all is to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no cat" - Confucius
This is an extremely bad idea. With such tiny voltages and currents, I can't imagine any switch that would not cause a substantial loss in sound quality. I'm not just talking about the contacts, but the added stray capacitance in the switch itself. A better idea would be to use two phono stages that feed two different inputs on your preamp.
Enjoy!
Jim
I don't know where you can find one with 2 outputs, you might have to go DIY. I use a Niles SV-5 passive preamp, a Headroom passive preamp and one from MCM Electronics, you will have to upgrade wiring, though. All are dead quiet. I don't use the volume control.If you want one with 2 outputs prebuilt, try one of the online preamp builders like Vacuum Tube Audio, or Don Sachs, perhaps. Be prepared to pay a fair amount. Do a search on Ebay for passive preamplifier, there are a few builders who may do it for you.
Edits: 02/03/16
Thanks !
I was thinking something like this one with low level option for tonearms but with five inputs;http://www.decware.com/newsite/ZSB.html
Edits: 02/03/16
Also found this one with 4 inputs and cheaper;
https://www.don-audio.com/Classi-Phoenix-Stereo-Switch-Box-High-End-Rotary-Source-Selector
That's a nice one, I may have to look into one. The truth is, the cheaper selector switch boxes are pretty crappy. It takes some work to get them noise free.
Thomas
it seems that for tonearm inputs you also need to have low level output levels;
Application: Line level simply means sources like CD players, DACs, tape machines, output from a phono stage, TV's, Computers, Ipods, DVD players and so on. Low level is for tonearms only and should not be mixed with line level devices due to the extreme difference in output levels between the two.
Do you want something with buttons? A knob? I find that passive selectors that aren't balanced, especially when connected to turntables, tend to be kind of noisy.Maybe you'll have better luck.
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It's amazing that hipsters who insist they can hear the little steps in interpolated 24/96 digital waveforms can somehow fail to hear the surface defects in their own vinyl records.
Edits: 02/03/16
with knob maybe.
I suspect you'll have fewer issues with a knob. You can get cheap, multiple-input RCA boxes all over the place. Knobs, metal cases. But they're cheap for a reason.
Maybe someone else can point you towards something that works for him. I gave up on RCA selector boxes a while ago. The only selector box I use now is a TRS unit.
At any rate, here's a source of cheap-o selector boxes. I can't say I endorse any of them, but you might find something you like:
http://www.mcmelectronics.com
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It's amazing that hipsters who insist they can hear the little steps in interpolated 24/96 digital waveforms can somehow fail to hear the surface defects in their own vinyl records.
https://www.kabusa.com/rsx1.htm
I don't know about other people, but I've already done as well as that for a lot less than $300. Thanks, though.
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It's amazing that hipsters who insist they can hear the little steps in interpolated 24/96 digital waveforms can somehow fail to hear the surface defects in their own vinyl records.
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