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I just had a thought about wiring all 3 inputs directly without a selsctor switch. The idea being that I would never be running more than one device at a time. would this work? what are the drawbacks? I would assume it would sound better without a switch, less is more.
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This idea was prompted because I have some crosstalk in the switch and was thinking about a better sounding switch. I alos need to make a switcher for my girlfriend's system. Any ideas?
There seems to be several things going on here. Obviously, there will be huge crosstalk if all inputs are paralleled!
The issue addressed by others below is that the output of one device will likely interact with that of another device. There are a lot of ways for that to happen, so unless your components are known to be compatible and you intend to never get another one, it would be unwise to dispense with switching entirely.
Now if you want to reduce crosstalk, the most common remedy is to get a switch with more positions and wire every other position to ground. This makes a partial electrostatic shield between signals. 5 or 6 position switches are readily available, but limited to 2 poles per deck. The current Foreplay III uses a 4-pole switch so that the grounds are switched as well as the signal lines. Thus you can get a 2-deck, 5 or 6 position 4-pole switch, or you can switch only the signal lines with a single-deck switch. The latter means all grounds are connected all the time, which in some cases can produce enough ground current hum to be noticeable. I would suggest checking for that problem using clip-leads before investing is a switch.
On top of the very good reasons that Grainger pointed out is the noise issue. With three sets of cables plugged in, you will get the noise compounding from all 3 of them.
There are a few ways to work around what you are discussing:
1. Wire one pair of RCA jacks into the circuit, leaving the other two pairs of input jacks off. Swap cables as needed to change inputs.
2. Buy a Goldpoint selector switch, or Digikey Part 360-2082-ND (reqires some adaptation in the hole size). The Goldpoint attenuator is also a nice idea.
3. Wire the unit in stock configuration, installing bypass jumpers on one set of inputs. Test to hear if you can discern the difference, progress from that point.
(For those who may read this in the future, this seems like a fun experiment, but not likely something to yield significant changes)
I agree with Grainger's solution, but I favour just one input.
Bernie.
First, one of the enhancements of the FP III over the FP 2 is the selector switch. It switches the Signal Ground of each input as well as the Signal Hot when switching. This eliminates a source of hum.Answering your question, it will not work as well as you think. Each source, CD/Phono/Tuner, has an output impedance (resistance). All of them hooked up at the same time, even with two of them off, are paralleled. That causes an interaction.
Say you are playing your CD player. Not only does it feed into the input resistance of the FP III but it also tries to "drive" the output of the phono preamp and the tuner too. This will cause distortion that you don't want.
And finally, if you don't want to use the input selector switch, the best way to do that is to swap input cables when you want to swap inputs.
I would use the selector switch. It is a good one.
Remember, YOU are the only one who needs to be happy with the sound of your system
Grainger Morrison
There Is Only One (Grainger Morrison, it seems)
Edits: 10/05/09 10/05/09
in addition to what Grainger says, less is not always more. Sometimes more is more. I ran a cd direct into my Paramours for awhile, and it sounds much better with a Foreplay, selector switch and all. Better is always better!
Are you saying you just have one source? if so, just wire one set of input jacks. I'd wire 'em all, tho, and use the selector switch.
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