# Can I hook up 2 receivers to 1 pr speakers?



## Machine7 (Nov 17, 2010)

I have a tube amp for vinyl and a modern receiver/amp for home theater. Can I hook up 2 sets of speaker wires to the speakers? 

No intention of playing both at once just would like to eliminate two speakers from my living room. Thanks!


----------



## Sounds_Insane (8 mo ago)

I don't think it's a good idea, the power from one amp would go into the other.

You can pick up an A-B switch, either manual or an automatic one.


----------



## clange2485 (Dec 10, 2020)

I was gonna say you could use something like this but anything additional in the chain is going to take away from the sound quality.









Amazon.com: OSD Two Sources, Two Pair Stereo Speaker Select Box with Volume Control SSVC2 : Electronics


Amazon.com: OSD Two Sources, Two Pair Stereo Speaker Select Box with Volume Control SSVC2 : Electronics



www.amazon.com





we used to use this back in the day to switch surr sound speakers over to house audio and vise versa. I might have a couple laying around. Either way the quality won’t be as good if you just chose one amp.






Niles SPK1 Speaker Level A-B Switcher 12V-Triggered | iElectronics.com


The Niles SPK-1 Speaker-Level A-B Switcher is a two channel, speaker level A-B switch. The SPK-1 can be used to switch amplifiers, speakers, surround ...




www.ielectronics.com


----------



## daloudin (Nov 2, 2020)

Machine7 said:


> I have a tube amp for vinyl and a modern receiver/amp for home theater. Can I hook up 2 sets of speaker wires to the speakers?
> 
> No intention of playing both at once just would like to eliminate two speakers from my living room. Thanks!


The only way to know if it will be a problem is to do an impedance sweep of both amplifier's outputs to see if there would be any reactance while powered off... if you get anything less than about 20k Ohms then I wouldn't recommend connecting them to each other even when powered off.

Better to purchase a quality A/B Switch and avoid any problem all together...








Russound AB-2.2


Tabletop A/B selector




www.crutchfield.com


----------



## Old Skewl (May 30, 2011)

I have banana plugs on on each amplifiers wires and just swap them when I want to listen to my tube amp through my HT speakers. Takes about 30 seconds to swap them. Just a thought. Not as easy as flipping a switch though.


----------



## Machine7 (Nov 17, 2010)

I have an old Phoenix Gold speaker selector box but it degrades the sound quality too much. 

I wonder if the $80 Russound would be any better?









Russound AB-2.2


Tabletop A/B selector




www.crutchfield.com





The amps are on opposite sides of the room so not feasible to switch plugs on the amps unfortunately.


----------



## Machine7 (Nov 17, 2010)

daloudin said:


> The only way to know if it will be a problem is to do an impedance sweep of both amplifier's outputs to see if there would be any reactance while powered off... if you get anything less than about 20k Ohms then I wouldn't recommend connecting them to each other even when powered off.
> 
> Better to purchase a quality A/B Switch and avoid any problem all together...
> 
> ...


I’ll have to look up how to do an impedance sweep. It’s done with the power on? With music playing? Any dangers even if it checks out ok?


----------



## Old Skewl (May 30, 2011)

I have 2 sets of wires. One to each amp. And then I unhook one set from the speaker and plug in the other set.


----------



## daloudin (Nov 2, 2020)

Machine7 said:


> I’ll have to look up how to do an impedance sweep. It’s done with the power on? With music playing? Any dangers even if it checks out ok?


No, with the power off to simulate what you're attempting to do... this will tell you if the outputs are reactive when the amplifier is off. The danger is mostly to the Tube Amp, both in reverse power flow and also if the MOSFETs are reactive on the receiver where they'll source current from an amplifier meant to be voltage drive.

This is all making a huge bunch of assumptions about the type of amplifiers you are running. It would be helpful if we could look up the output stages on each one to see if there's any buffers on the output. Negative feedback, possible crosstalk, there's a bunch of things to consider...

It would also help to know if this setup is purely for convenience or if you are expecting audiophile results and what kind of speakers you are using and their impedance as well.


----------



## Machine7 (Nov 17, 2010)

daloudin said:


> No, with the power off to simulate what you're attempting to do... this will tell you if the outputs are reactive when the amplifier is off. The danger is mostly to the Tube Amp, both in reverse power flow and also if the MOSFETs are reactive on the receiver where they'll source current from an amplifier meant to be voltage drive.
> 
> This is all making a huge bunch of assumptions about the type of amplifiers you are running. It would be helpful if we could look up the output stages on each one to see if there's any buffers on the output. Negative feedback, possible crosstalk, there's a bunch of things to consider...
> 
> It would also help to know if this setup is purely for convenience or if you are expecting audiophile results and what kind of speakers you are using and their impedance as well.


I would like to retain audio quality. As previously mentioned I hooked up a Phoenix Audio speaker selector and sound quality really took a hit. 

The two amps:
Denon AVR-1804 
Yaqin MC-13S 

Speakers:
Infinity Reference Six which are 6 ohms. 

Thanks for all the input!


----------



## daloudin (Nov 2, 2020)

Based on the impedance matching outputs on the Yaqin and the Class D output on the Denon you definitely don't want to have these hooked together and the switch that you are using probably has a common ground which is enough to cause a problem by itself...

Read here for more information: Connecting 2 amplifiers to one set of speakers: making an amp/speakers selector switch |

You need a break before make switching device.


----------

