Description
Spread your sounds around your home or business with this Monoprice 2-Channel AB Speaker Selector with Volume Control!Each destination zone can be independently enabled or disabled and individually connected to either source. Each destination zone has its own volume control so you won’t have to suffer to excessive volume in one room or insufficient volume in the other. This selector switch supports up to 100 watts per channel with a frequency range of 20 Hz to 20 KHz. The speaker wire connectors on the back accept bare wire up to 14AWG. The selector switch maintains a constant 8 ohm load to the amplifier(s) even when both zones are assigned to the same source. Note: It is recommended to use only 8 ohm speakers with this selector and to connect no more than one pair of speakers to each zone.
Monoprice 2-Channel A/B Speaker Selector with Volume Control
Monoprice brings everything within reach of the average homeowner by offering a wide selection of Home Audio Distribution accessories.
A Key element of any home audio distribution system is a speaker selector. The speaker selector allows you to distribute your source signals to several sets of speakers distributed throughout your home. 2-channel A/B selector listed here, will allow you to have different source audio sent to different rooms so that someone in one room can be listening to something different in another room. Most importantly, a speaker selector provides impedance matching, which ensures that the additional speakers do not overload or damage your amps.
Important information
Visible screen diagonal
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CJ –
Sound quality is horrific!!!!
Terrible. Terrible. Terrible.Just Terrible.The sounds is horrendous, dull, muted and unclear.Such a waste of money. Never ever buy!!!!It was given as a gift, and was used once, just after the return date (as was a birthday gift). And low and behold, I look like a fool because I bought a faulty or more likely an ABSOLUTE TERRIBLE PRODUCT. I’m stuck with this POS as I had to purchase another unit as a gift.What a joke!!I would be absolutely ashamed if I sold this.
B. Bingham –
Does the job, but really knocks down the signal..
I purchased this because we have two sets of speakers outdoors – one set mounted up in our patio and the other set being rock-looking speakers out in the yard (imagine the four speakers forming the corners of a square). Our receiver has A and B speaker connections but due to the difference in the brand and design of the speakers, the set under the patio was much louder. The receiver does not have a way to control the loudness of A vs. B speakers. So I purchased this as a way to control the volume of each set of speakers and get a nice balance. It works, but the unit introduces a lot of loss; with both sets of speakers connected and turned on I had to set the volume in the receiver at 90 out of 100 for a pleasant listening level.I ended up reconnecting the “B” (rock) speakers to the receiver’s B speaker output and leaving this unit in for the “A” speakers so it serves as a sort of L-pad. With the Monoprice unit connected there is enough loss introduced so I only had to reduce the volume on the unit by one click. Ultimately, it provides what we need, but not as I had envisioned.
Baran W –
If you care about sound quality, don’t buy
I have 2 pretty nice sets of speakers. Nothing over the top. But nice. As soon as I added this switcher in the mix, the quality of sound became very bad! And I had to crank all volume sources to max to get a decent listening level and then it was distorted. I wondered If i was wrong and it was the speakers, so I switched back without the switcher and everything sounded much better again. If you only need very low listening levels this might be ok for you but I don’t recommend it. This is going straight back in the box and getting returned.
DrJB –
Solves a Common Problem Affordably and Well
This is a solid component that solves a common problem at a reasonable price. I already had a distribution unit, but it sent the same voltage to each selected speaker set. In order to reproduce enough volume from an outdoor pair, it had been necessary to disengage the indoor pair, because the indoor volume would be unacceptably high. With this component in place, balancing the two pairs became simple. I doubt I’ll often touch the volume limiters going forward, and cutting out the patio pair when not in use is a simple matter of pushing one button.At least from external observation, this is a really well-made component, much heavier than I expected with few plastic parts. I disagree with other reviewers that the speaker wire connections are cheap or inadequate. They’re are merely designed to be semi-permanently connected with screw down closures, which is precisely what you want, in my opinion.I cannot inspect the internal circuits without disassembling the unit, of course, but there is no discernible tonal drop-off or detectable distortion from incorporating the device. The cabinet remains cool after hours of use. I have every reason to think that the internal quality is as high as the external.Highly recommended!
Jeff A –
Nice speaker switcher with volume control for each of 2 sets of speakers
This is a good piece of equipment, although rather larger than it seems like it needs to be. I purchased a small Yamaha receiver for our kitchen and never thought for a moment about whether it had two separate speaker outputs. Imagine my surprise when I was hooking it up and couldn’t find a place to connect the 2nd set of speakers! The whole point of buying this nice Yamaha receiver was to save space (it’s barely wider than a CD case), but with this switcher, the two take up almost as much room as the old receiver this replaced 🙁 But anyway the switcher itself works great, and since there are actually “volume” knobs for each set of speakers, I can now choose the level I want in the kitchen and the family room (before I was at the mercy of the efficiency of the different speakers). I put “volume” in quotes because these knobs are not potentiometers but rather stepped switches (this is to be able to handle more power output from the receiver). I would give this unit 5 stars if it weren’t for the cheap plastic knobs on the volume controls. And the fact that it’s kind of big and clunky. But it does what I need it to and I would buy it again.
h,s (s h) –
Okay for the price. Uses multi-tap transformers for impedance &volume control. Wire connectors are usable but kind of awful.
Okay for the money. A number of people have said that this feels solid. It could be they are feeling the heft of the several pairs of transformers inside the box. Transformers balance impedance and allow attenuating volume. The volume control knobs click in steps–each step is a diffrent tap on a transformer. So far, so good. I wouldn’t overload this unit or you will saturate the transformers and get distortion to beat the band.The output connectors are kind of cheaply awful–lugs or larger crimp connectors would have been better. Each connector has a small set screw to hold a bare wire stub, or better yet, one tinned with solder. Each wire connection is very close to one or two others (8 on each 2″ connector strip), so be careful no bare wire is sticking out or you can short your receiver/amplifier outputs. A short would likely turn your revceiver/amp into a brick.The output connectors are attached directly to the single circuit board in the box and, if you nudge the box much, then the weight and stiffness of the speaker wires can pull on the connectors enough to disconnect the connector strip from the board inside the box. You can pop it back in place but it’s not something you will want to mess with. So, once you are all set up, don’t move the box around or you can suddenly lose sound in one or more channels.This isn’t a bad box for the money.
Scott Gregory –
does the job nicely
Exactly what I needed, very happy with this item. The separate volume control to each set of speakers was the key for me. I can set quieter indoor set, little louder for the outdoor set etc…. For installation, the removable wiring ports were handy too, pop it out, make all your connections, then pop it back in, very handy. I’d recommend this item to anyone. And the remote control for my receiver still worked fine, no interruption from adding this speaker selector switch.
GerardJ –
Solid build, simple setup and it works
I was in a situation where I need to use one amp with single speaker outputs to drive two sets of speakers. Unfortunately the speaker impedances are different and so they play at different loudness levels at the same amp setting. I found this product and figured for the price, why not try it; I know Monoprice and they’d never sold me a bad product before.When my selector arrived it was in pieces. The three long screws on the bottom and their nuts were loose or out. I took the metal casing apart, located the missing parts and re-attached them without issue the put the whole thing together.Hookups are straight forward but it would be nice if there were a little more room; one stray strand of speaker wire and you could short out both speaker channels. I only needed one input, two output so I’ve got room to grow with this two input system.Amp to input A. local speakers to output 1, remote speakers to output 2. Front source selectors to “A”, turn both outputs “ON” and turn to full volume on the switch. A quick test or three with my DB meter at both speaker sets and turning the local speaker volume down by about ⅓ and output level of both pair is even enough to suit my needs.I don’t think I could have build a rig for less than this and I get an all metal enclosure with dual inputs to boot.
Paul Clarke –
Well built and excellent design
This switch works well. I like the level controls which prevent sudden loud results when switching amps (or speakers). It is well built and has excellent rubber feet.However, one weakness is the speaker/amp connections on the rear. They are very small and will be very difficult to use if you’re not running 14 gauge wire – smaller wire will present problems. They are also difficult to use if you don’t have excellent close vision. Also, the wire needs to be stripped back only 1/4 inch and no more or else shorts may occur.
Yves –
ce produit fonctionne merveilleussement bien aucun défaut et facile à installer
ce produit est parfait pour controler le volume entre mon amplificateur de guitare et les haut-parleur ainsi je peux équilibrer le volume entre les deux pour un petit local où je dois respecter un certain niveau de puissance sonore pour mon environnement c’est à dire pas trop élever ce produit est parfaitement adapter pour le faire de façon parfaite et précis.