Will this work with a power amp and patch bay?

  • Thread starter Thread starter J Wah
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J Wah

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I am using a power amp for my passive studio monitors. For live jams I would like to use the same amp with a PA speaker (not using the monitors at the same time). Could I run the amp output, the monitors, and the PA speaker to the back of a patch bay and switch between them by using jumpers on the front?

At this time I only have one PA speaker. If I use the above setup, the amp would go to the patch bay but only one side would go to a PA speaker. Would having one side unconnected hurt the amp?

Thanks a lot.
 
Not recommended at all.... the wiring/jumpers in a patchbay is not rated to handle the high-power output of an amplifier. Patchbays are typically for line-level signals.

Amp output is WAY beyond line-level...
 
I believe radioshack sells a cheap speaker switching box for this very purpose. You could also build yourself one pretty cheap. As far as hurting the amp with one speaker, that depends on the amp. I believe some are designed to work with no load, but I'd check your manual.
 
Thanks Bruce and ebeam.

I have seen the Radio Shack switch box. Seems pretty cheap. I'll go that route if I have to but is there a better way of doing this?
 
don't think so...is it that much effort to swap the leads?
 
there are several higher end switchers as well, but they
are pre-power amp designs... you'd still want seperate power amps for each set of speakers.

I think that's the best idea anyhow, as then you can match the drive of the amp to the output of the speakers so that as you A/B between sets there isn't a drastic volume change (and you don't have to ride the control room volume knob)

Velvet Elvis
 
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