Double Wiring Speakers

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  • trevorjdaniel
    Automated Home Jr Member
    • Jan 2005
    • 39

    Double Wiring Speakers

    Hi,

    A question about speakers....

    I have a lounge with in-ceiling speakers setup for 5.1

    I have decided I would like to either feed the speakers from a local source in the room or from a Sonos box in a comms cabinet.

    So, the idea that occurs to me is "double wiring" the speakers. A speaker will therefore have 2 feeds. 1 from the local 5.1 system and 1 from the sonos box.

    What are the pitfalls that may arise from this?

    The one's I can think of are:

    1. It will be possible to have music from 2 sources playing at the same time.
    2. It might be possible to exceed the power of the speaker when both sources are feeding the speaker at the same time at full volume.

    Are there any more, or even a better way to do it please??

    Thanks

    Trev
  • n07tv
    Automated Home Sr Member
    • May 2004
    • 52

    #2
    Re: Double Wiring Speakers

    One main problem will be having 2 outputs driving one load ... this is a big no-no in electronics. You would likely damage one of the driving units.

    This can be done if some form of switchover is added, such that only one unit drives the speaker at any one time.

    Cheers,
    n.

    Comment

    • toscal
      Moderator
      • Oct 2005
      • 2061

      #3
      Re: Double Wiring Speakers

      The sonos box allows you to connect an external sound source, so this would be the best way to go. Also you can stream this external sound source to any other sonos unit on the network.
      NEVER EVER, wire 2 sources directly to your speakers. You can by remotely controlled switchover boxes. But if you are thinking of getting a Sonos then use this.
      IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
      Renovation Spain Blog

      Comment

      • trevorjdaniel
        Automated Home Jr Member
        • Jan 2005
        • 39

        #4
        Re: Double Wiring Speakers

        Hello Chaps,

        Thanks for the advice. So it looks like i need somekind of switch.

        Can anyone suggest one for me?

        Thanks

        Trev

        Comment

        • TimH
          Automated Home Legend
          • Feb 2004
          • 509

          #5
          Re: Double Wiring Speakers

          Lets Automate have a couple of X10 modules that could form the basis of a home-brew box. There's this one:

          Which provides a contact closure on receipt of an X10 signal, or this one:

          which will turn on an integral power supply.

          You'd feed the power supply to the coils of a bank of relays and connect the speaker cables to the contact sides.

          When the system is "off" all the relays are in one state (either home cinema or Sonos), and when energised the relays switch the other source over to the speakers.

          I may not have described that too well, but I hope you got the gist. Let me know if you'd like a sketch and I'll knock one up :-)

          HTH,

          Tim.
          My Flickr Photos

          Comment

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