Audiophile Grade A-B Switch?

[pctfe]

Looking for a commercially available audiophile grade A-B switch?

Looking for a high end A-B switch to be able to switch between two different preamps (my solid state system and my tube system). All I could find was the Manley Skipjack which is not in production yet and costs $500 with a bunch of bells & whistles I don't need. Any suggestions? Looking for something small; passive may ok too; make before break may not be required as I'm not using this for sound testing/switching, just basic 1-time input selection when I turn on my system.
Thanks in advance, jrf

 

[Westrock2000]

The following a DIY method, others will have to chime in on commercial applications

Umm, just a dual ganged rotary switch would work here. This is just two outputs going into one input I assume (one SS preamp and one tube preamp feeding into one amplifier??) I would do break than make like most normal rotary switches do, simply because a make before break is going to short the two preamps for a split second...and the short audible pop would be more acceptable than a short electronic pop.

A rotary switch will do, and are avalable from from Mouser and Digikey. How much they "affect" the sound is up to you...I'm grown to be alot more relaxed about the "audiophile" thing over the years. If you would like a very high quality (and audiophile approved) rotary switch, then check out Percy Audio (page 13 on the link provided).

To put it all together, I would recommend these RCA plugs, and this case for a nice solid "Creek" look. Use descent 18ga wire inside, even this 16ga wire would be pretty good. This would cost you ~$100.


Enjoy

 

[pctfe]

David,
Thanks for your reply. I agree with you that I too am relaxed about the 'audiophile' thing, but my living room is being used as a sound test stage for some tube amp equipment, so I need to make sure the switch I put in the loop is kosher. I'm not a big do-it-yourselfer, so I don't plan to build a switch, so I would rather find an off the shelf unit that I could purchase if someone replies along those lines who happens to know of a manufacturer....
Regards,
Jeff

 

[Unregistered]

You may want to check out avsupplystore.com they've got a lot of high end switches.