Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Which processor/direction is right for me?

I'm confused. Why add a switcher? When I say flip switches I simply mean turn one amp off and the other on. Besides, my 4 channel surround amp (Anthem PVA 5) is no sonic match for my stereo McCormack DNA-125 that drives my music surrounds. I wouldn't want to drive the surrounds and backs with two different amps, nor drive the SP Tech Continuums with a PVA-quality amp. Also, the switcher adds to the signal path as much as a y-jack does, I would think.

Thanks for all the help and advice. It's not as complicated as it sounds. And when I listen to hirez surround I seldom need to immediately switch gears and watch a movie, so turning one amp off and the other on is no biggie. Would I like to have dual outputs as I have today, yes..but short of an 861 with several cards and $20k I can deal with it.

Instead of a Y cable running to both amps you use an A/B switchbox instead. One more switch to flip. This would be to get ideal impedance match between the preamp and the amp. A switcher would not do near as much harm as an unpowered amp input load sitting on the active one. Yuck.

I don't believe an 861 will do it either.

Ah, ok, I was picturing a speaker level switchbox. I have a nice clean rocker switch-style switchbox around here (QED I think) so I'll use that instead of a y-adapter. Thanks for clearing the brain fog.