# Putting a switch inline to speakers



## urban79 (May 2, 2012)

Here's the scenario:

I have a gym on campus that had an airwall added after the sound system was put in place. They want to use the system, but can't normally have both sides of the room playing at the same time.

What I'd like to do is put in two switches, one on each of the speaker runs. This would allow you to turn on one or the other or both depending on use. Is this as simple as it sounds? Am I missing anything? It seems like such a simple problem/solution, but I've made the mistake before of assuming that I'm correct!

Thanks!
Chris


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## Morte615 (May 2, 2012)

Do you want an either/or setup? If one system is playing the other is not? If so then I would connect a relay in the system. The switch can throw the relay and redirect to the intended speakers. Just make sure that the switch, relay, and wiring are rated to handle the amount of wattage going through them.


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## museav (May 2, 2012)

What is the system and how is it wired? I may be pretty easy to do but it might also be problematic, it would take knowing more about the specifics of the system concept and wiring to assess.


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## urban79 (May 2, 2012)

I will have to get the specifics tomorrow (have not been able to visually inspect the system yet). In general it's a Rolls mixer, with a couple of mic inputs, CD player, tape player, etc. From the mixer goes into EQ, followed by a Compressor/Limiter, and amplifier. It then goes out to 2 Yamaha speakers hung from the ceiling in the gym.

Because whoever installed the system really didn't think through the location, the rack was placed in the back corner of a closet located outside the gym. It constantly gets blocked by equipment, and so they have been plugging in an additional mixer to one of the XLR inputs in the gym. I'm not sure what other quirks I might find when I inspect.

Morte - They want to be able to use either side, or both. For classes only one side or the other is used, but for assemblies they need the whole gym covered. What I'm hoping the final solution might look like is what we have in a small multipurpose room, where we have two toggle switches, one for the far speakers and one for the near speakers.

Brad - is there something in particular about the setup and wiring that I should be looking for?

Thanks!
Chris


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## Morte615 (May 2, 2012)

OK When I first read this I started thinking standard house light switches but those would not be the best switches to use  I would recommend getting some high quality project switches if you want to do it that way.

For quick and dirty you may look at the amplifier, if it is a stereo amp run the left channel to the near speakers and the right channel to the far speakers and just turn down (or off) the volume for the side you are not using.

But if you want to do switches, and if you are not sure who will be using the system I can see why you would want to, then I would recommend using some decent switches and just placing them inline on the way to the speaker. Though not sure if that would harm the amp to have the signal just cut out without going anywhere.

I would think about placing the mixer, cd player, eq, ect in a rolling rack that can be locked up when not in use and rolled to the gym when needed. Then leave the amps where they are and place the XLR jack directly into the amp. That way when needed you can roll the mobile rack into the gym, plug it in to the XLR jack they already use, do what you need to (where you can actually hear it) then disconnect the system and roll the mobile rack away.


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## Lambda (May 2, 2012)

I'm fairly certain that having no load on the amplifiers won't hurt them at all. Unless they're tube amps, which is unlikely.


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