Speaker selector switches are the most common item bought from Amazon
through this website (with over 400 units sold). Therefore I thought it is high time to look a little deeper at the different speaker selectors and the features available. I also present a table (or 3) outlining the models, features, price and popularity of what readers have bought.
The main reason speaker selectors are used is to distribute sound to multiple speakers while protecting the amplifier from too much load (due to too many speakers).
Please note, speaker selector switches are designed for multi-room installs in a home or small low power installs (like an office or cafe). They are generally suited for low power (under 100 watts) amplifiers. They should be not be considered in a commercial install or for use with high output power amplifiers.
For a more detailed explanation of the issues regarding speaker load and impedance, see my article on connecting multiple speakers to your HiFi. For an explanation on using the various type of speaker selectors and how to wire them, see my article on wiring 4 speakers.
For a good overview on speaker impedance and how speaker selector switches help overcome the issues, watch the video (particularly the 2nd half) in Understanding Speaker Impedance.
Protecting the Amplifier with a Speaker Selector
There are two main technologies employed by a speaker selector to protect the amplifier from overloading due to a low load impedance:
- Series Resistor: this is used on lower cost speaker selector switches. It normally means there is a resistor (4-6 ohms) wired in series with the speakers. This gives the total circuit a minimum resistance which will protect the amplifier. However, this resistor gets hot at higher volume levels. That is why most speaker selectors using a series resistor for impedance “matching” have air vents in the chassis. Obviously there is some energy lost in these resistors as they produce the heat. Most speaker selector switches employing a series resistor have a “protection” or “impedance protection” switch. This switches the series resistor in and out of the circuit. When you are using more than one set of speakers at the same time, the “protection” switch should be activated. When only one set of speakers are being used, or you are using impedance matching volume controls, the series resistor can be switched out to allow “direct connection” with no losses.
- Impedance Matching Transformer: this is used on higher power and higher cost speaker selector switches. An impedance matching transformer inside the speaker selector multiples the impedance of each speaker which effectively keeps the total impedance around the same as any of the individual speakers (providing the speakers are the same impedance as each other). For example: a 4 zone speaker selector with an impedance matching transformer would multiple each of the 8 ohm speakers by four (making them appear as 32 ohms), and 4 lots of 32 ohm speakers in parallel makes a total impedance of 8 ohms. As one of the speaker selector promo says, they “maintain a safe operating load at the amplifier while distributing maximum power throughout your system“. There normally is not by-pass switch on a speaker selector with impedance matching transformers.
A few speaker selector switches connect the speakers in various series and parallel combinations to limit the overall impedance. These should only be used with 8 ohm speakers.
Some very budget speaker selector switches have no impedance protection what-so-ever. They are just a switch turning each speaker on or off. These are not recommended.
For a better understanding of how the different types of speaker selector switches work, see my Speaker Selector Switch Simulators. These show how each type helps with impedance, as well as how they distribute power to each speaker.
The Ins and Outs of a Speaker Selector
A speaker selector is normally known by how pairs (left and right) of speakers can be connected to it. Each pair of speakers is normally in a different room, or zone. Hence, a speaker selector might be a 4 zone, or a 6 zone speaker switch. Sometimes they are also referred to as 4 way or 6 way. This means they are capable of connecting 4 pairs or 6 pairs of speakers respectively. Be aware some manufacturers also confusingly use the word “channels” for the number of output pairs their speaker switch can connect to.
Some speaker selector switches connect to one stereo amplifier, allowing the speaker selector to connect the one amplifier to each speaker connected to it. This allows the same program (music etc) to be heard in every zone or room.
Other speaker selectors allow two different amplifiers to be connected to them. Then for each zone, you can select amplifier A or amplifier B. These speaker switches are marketed as having A/B inputs. Using two amplifiers with different programs allows each zone to select between the two programs available.
Other Features
Other features often promoted for a speaker selector are:
Volume Controls: These allow the volume of each zone to be separately controlled at the unit.
Power Handling: This states the maximum power (RMS) per channel of the amplifier that should be used with the selector.
Labels: Some manufactures supply pre-printed labels that make your installation look professional.
Speaker Selector Types
There are 4 basic types of speaker selector switches sold by Amazon through this website:
- Simple Speaker Selector Switches: these simply switch between 2 or more sets of speakers (60% of units sold)
- Speaker Selector Switch with volume control: As well as switching between 2 or more zones, they have separate volume control for each zone (20% of units sold)
- Speaker Selector Switch with A/B amplifier input selection (0.5% of units sold).
- Speaker Selector Switch with volume controls and A/B selection (20% of units sold).
How Many Zones?
Speaker selector switches are also categorized by how many zones (or channels of speakers) they can switch. Readers of this website who have purchased speaker selectors from Amazon have mostly bought 4 zone selectors, but other configurations are also useful:
- 2 way selectors are useful when the speakers are only 4 ohms, as two sets of 4 ohm speakers is too much load for most amplifiers (13% of units sold).
- 4 way selectors are the most popular. These can be used for 2, 3 or 4 zones (66% of units sold).
- 5 way, 6 way, 8 way or 10 way speaker selector switches can be used to wire many speakers. With this many speakers, impedance protection is very important (21% of units sold).
The following tables list the speaker selector switches bought from Amazon through this website. I’ve added as much helpful information as possible including:
- the supplier/seller
- the model number and/or description of the product
- the maximum RMS power (watts) the unit can handle from each channel of the amplifier(s) connected to the selector switch.
- the average price of each product bought from Amazon
- the percentage of sales of each item in its class (2, 4 or 5+ zones) through this website
- a description of the impedance protection method used, warnings and features
- a link to download the manual, if I’ve been able to locate one
- a link to each item on Amazon – click on each picture to go to that item on Amazon for further information. Disclosure: If you buy through the Amazon links Geoff receives a small commission from each sale.
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Summary of 2 way Speaker Selector Purchases
Disclosure: If you buy through the Amazon links Geoff receives a small commission from each sale.
Summary of 4 way Speaker Selector Purchases
| Brand | Item | Watts/ Channel | Average Price | % sold | Comments | Link to item on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Speaker Selector Switches | ||||||
| Monoprice | 109995 4 channel Speaker selector | 70 | $26.88 | 27% | Uses 5 ohm Series Resistor Monoprice 9995 Manual 1432 Downloads | |
| Pyle | PSS4 4 Channel Switch | 100 | $30.53 | 15% | Uses Series Resistor Pyle PSS Manual 1584 Downloads | |
| Part Express | SS4 4 zone Switch | 70 | $36.65 | 10% | Uses 5 ohm Series Resistor Parts Express SS4, SS6, SS8 Manual 993 Downloads | |
| Radio Shack | Four Way Switch | 50 | $14.36 | 5% | Uses series - parallel switching. Not recommended to use with 4 ohm speakers Radio Shack Speaker Selector Manual 3526 Downloads | |
| Niles | SS-4 Speaker selector | 100 | $69.96 | 3% | Uses 2.5 ohm Series Resistor 72 Labels supplied Niles SS speaker selector Manual 1158 Downloads | |
| OSD | ISS4 4 Zone Speaker selector | 70 | $48.77 | 2% | Uses Series Resistor OSD ISS Speaker Selector Manual 1046 Downloads | |
| Wired Home | SS4 Speaker Selector | 70 | $29.90 | 2% | Uses 5 Ohm Series Resistor Wired Home SS speaker selector Manual 789 Downloads | |
| Niles | HPS-4 High Power Speaker selector | 250 | $140.95 | 1% | Uses 2.5 ohm resistor 72 Labels supplied Niles High Power selector Manual 904 Downloads | |
| Sima | SSW4 4 Speaker Selector | 100 | $38.94 | 1% | Uses 3 ohm series resistor Labels supplied Sima SSW Speaker Selector Manual 1114 Downloads | |
| Jamo | JSS4-HP Speaker selector | 175 | $49.99 | 1% | High Power | |
| Monster Cable | SS4 Multi-Speaker selector | 150 | $99.99 | 1% | Uses series resistor Monstor Cable Mulit-Speaker Selector Manual 4688 Downloads | |
| Russound | SS-4.2 Speaker selector | 100 | $59.95 | 1% | Uses series resistor (switch at rear) Russound SS Speaker Selector Manual 1123 Downloads | |
| Speaker Selector Switches with Volume Controls | ||||||
| Pyle | PSPVC4 4 Zone with volume control | 100 | $115.99 | 13% | Uses Impedance matching transformer, for use with 8 Ohm speakers Pyle PSPVC Speaker Selector Manual 1468 Downloads | |
| Niles | SSVC-4 4 Channel with Volume | 100 | $204.35 | 7% | Uses Impedance Matching Transformer Includes 72 labels Niles SSVC Manual 2633 Downloads | |
| Speaker Selector Switches with A/B Inputs and Volume Controls | ||||||
| Monoprice | 108232 4 Channel A/B with Volume | 100 | $83.07 | 8% | No information on impedance protection Includes labels | |
| Specialty AV | 600 watt 4 Zone A/B with Volume | 200 | $169.95 | 4% | Uses high power rating impedance matching transformer | |
Disclosure: If you buy through the Amazon links Geoff receives a small commission from each sale.
Summary of 5+ way Speaker Selector Purchases
| Brand | Item | Watts/ Channel | Average Price | % sold | Comments | Link to item on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Speaker Selector Switches | ||||||
| Pyle | PSS6 6 Channel Switch | 100 | $39.29 | 26% | Uses Series Resistor Pyle PSS Manual 1584 Downloads | |
| Pyle | PSS8 8 Channel Switch | 100 | $47.70 | 16% | Uses Series Resistor Pyle PSS8 Speaker Selector Manual 1021 Downloads | |
| Dayton Audio | SS6 Speaker Switch | 70 | $47.72 | 2% | Uses 5 ohm Series Resistor | Currently not available |
| Sima | SSW-6 6 zone selector | 50 | $41.24 | 2% | Uses Series Resistor. Includes lables Sima SSW Speaker Selector Manual 1114 Downloads | |
| Speaker Selector Switches with Volume Controls | ||||||
| Niles | SSVC-6 6 Channel with Volume | 100 | $239.00 | 16% | Uses Impedance Matching Transformer Includes 72 labels Niles SSVC Manual 2633 Downloads | |
| Theater Solutions | TS6DV 6 Zone with volume control | 300 | $120.99 | 2% | Has 2 inputs but only able to select one input at a time. No individual input switch for each zone. | |
| Speaker Selector Switches with A/B Inputs only | ||||||
| OSD | DSM8 8 zone switch with A/B inputs | 70 | $94.99 | 2% | Uses series resistor | |
| Jamo | JSS6-HP Speaker Selector | 175 | $59.99 | 2% | Uses series resistor | |
| Speaker Selector Switches with A/B Inputs and Volume Controls | ||||||
| Specialty AV | 2 x 5 Zone with A/B and Volume | 100 | $209.95 | 9% | Uses high power impedance matching transformer | |
| Monoprice | 108230 Speaker Switch | 100 | $37.58 | 9% | Uses Series Resistor | |
| Specialty AV | 2 x 6 Zone with A/B and Volume | 300 | $159.95 | 5% | Uses heavy duty impedance matching transformer | |
| Pyle | PSPVC6 6 Channel Speaker Selector | 50 | $153.99 | 5% | No Information on impedance protection Pyle PSPVC Speaker Selector Manual 1468 Downloads | |
| Specialty AV | 10 Zone/pair with A/B and volume | 500 | $259.95 | 2% | Uses heavy duty impedance matching transformer | |
| Theater Solutions | TS6DV Dual Source selector | 300 | $122.72 | 2% | No Information on impedance protection Labels Included | |
Disclosure: If you buy through the Amazon links Geoff receives a small commission from each sale.
Use the above summary information as a guide only. There are also many other models of speaker selector switches available.
If you have an install you need further advice on, please read the FAQs before submitting your question. Alternatively, you may find a similar install in the comments below.
Hi Geoff,
I recently set up our ceiling speakers with a Yamaha R-S202 2 channel receiver and Monster 4 channel speaker selector (model MSS4). For some reason only one side will work at a time. For instance, when I connect the left receiver output into the left selector input all the left outputs to the speakers work, however, when I add the right, the right does not work. If I connect just the right, all the right outputs work. Do you know why only one side works when all are connected?
Thanks
Brian
Hi Brian,
I assume that each pair of speakers works fine when connected directly to the amplifier without the switch.
That being the case, there are a couple of things to consider.
The switch could be faulty. No likely, but possible.
The wiring could be wrong. This is the likely issue. I’d particularly be checking that the negative speaker terminal for each channel is connected to the negative of the switch in all instances. If the negative and positive are swapped on one of the channels it could cause your issue.
Does this help at all?
Geoff
Hi Geoff,
Thanks for your reply. It ended up being a fault aux cable (simple fix).
Brian
Geoff,
A quick question. I’ve a Niles SVCC-4 hooked up to a ReVox B750 MKII amp. Speakers are Celestion Ditton 15XR (4ohm), KEF 304 (8ohm) and Dynaudio Emit M20 (8ohm). I just got my a BK Electronic XLS200 active sub. Can I simply hook it up to the spare speaker connection? I have the resistance selector set on 3/4 currently, but I noted that you said maybe it should be 2?
Thanks a bunch. Your website is oft visited by yours truly.
Craig
Hi Craig, It is nice to have a regular reader! There are a couple of ways you could connect your sub. You could connect the high level input to the fourth channel of your switch. This will work and it gives you an easy way to effectively switch the sub on and off. Alternatively you could connect the low level input to the pre-amp out of your amp (with the pre-amp switch set to normal). This will also work, and may possibly give you more level if you need it. Regarding the switch setting on the speaker selector. Your amp… Read more »
Hi Geoff, Thanks very much for all of the info. It has been very helpful. I was just about to purchase a Jamo speaker selector (JSS4-HP) or similar. I came across an older JSS-4 model and have since bought that from Ebay. Specs on the JSS4-HP say 250W peak, but I was wondering if you happen to know if the JSS-4 has the same rating. I couldn’t seem to locate a manual or documentation for it on the Jamo website. Another question I had is if you know of a selector that is can handle high power (say a 200… Read more »
Hi Aaron,
I’m pleased you found the info useful.
I did find this manual, which might help you. It suggests the JSS-4 is good for 100 watts RMS.
This switcher from Specialty Audio clams to handle up to 300 watts RMS and is reasonably priced. It is designed for 6 channels but will also work with only four. A number of readers have commented on how much they like their Specialty Audio switchers, although I haven’t had the chance to play with one myself.
hope this helps
Geoff
Hi Geoff, First of all, great website. The information that you presented here is super informative. I am planning on wiring a total of 8 outdoor speakers (4 zones), with each speaker being at 8 ohms, rated at 250w RMS. That being said, I am still going back and forth on picking a strong enough amp or receivers to power them all. My backyard faces a busy street which makes for a lot of background noise during the day so I need something powerful enough. Because of this, I will need a speaker selector that can handle higher outputs going… Read more »
Hi Joe, The Niles 4 channel switch says the 250 watts refers to the power rating of the amplifier into 8 ohms. The major limitation is the capacity of the series limiting resistor. The next limitation is the current capacity of the switches. This brings us to needing to know what power amplifier you require. To do this you need to establish how loud you need your speakers to be to overcome the traffic noise, and how loud you like to listen to your music – and have some consideration for your neighbors (if applicable). It will also depend on… Read more »
Geoff,
Great website, thanks.
I recently purchased the Niles ssvc-4 speaker selector to run three sets of speakers. the pairs are the mains, kitchen and outdoor. I had to purchase the kitchen speakers and bought a set of what I thought were 8ohm, but when I got them they are 4ohm.
Given that the other two sets are 8ohm, can I run these using the niles selector, and if so do i choose a different setting than that described in the manual (i.e selector would be 3/4 on the impedence corrector).
Thanks for the help.
Hi Clive,
Good question. The answer is: “it all depends”.
It depends on whether you will run the Kitchen at full volume. I say this because running the kitchen volume control at one click off full, doubles the impedance seen by the amp. So as long as all volume controls are not flat out, there should be no problem with running the Niles at x 2.
hope this helps
Geoff
Hi, I have an amp feeding a 4 position switch box – currently radio shack but just ordered Niles). I have two sets of speakers on it and both on. One set is in bedroom, one set in bathroom. The set in bathroom has a AudioSource AE100VC Impedance Matching Volume Control on it. When I turn this volume down in the bathroom, it also turns down the bedroom. Any idea why? I have the input and output correct-
Thanks
Hi Lenny, I can think of only two reasons the one volume control would control both sets of speakers. 1) Both sets of speakers are connected to the volume control. This is unlikely if you have a direct run from each set of speakers to the 4 way switch box. 2) The speakers are wired in series. This could be happening in the switch box. Some speaker selectors connect zones 1 and 2 in series when both are selected. To test this, if you just select the bedroom, the bathroom volume control should not control it. However, when both bathroom… Read more »
Thanks For the reply Geoff, spot on! The Niles switch box fixed the problem.
Thanks again!
Geoff, I’ve searched but can’t find the answer to this question. Can I hook up two speaker selectors to one receiver? One to Zone A and the other to Zone B? This is assuming the receiver has A/B speaker capability. I want to run 6 speakers on A and up to 3 on B. The receiver is rated 80 wpc. Also, I would never be running all 9 speakers at once.
I’m not sure if you are wanting to run 9 speakers or 9 pairs of speakers. Either way the basics are the same. On most amps, the A/B speaker selector is just a simple two way switch, with a third option of having both on at once. This is the same as having both speakers in parallel. Therefore both speaker selector switches would be in parallel. This would work if the total load presented by each switch was 8 ohms or more, as then the two in parallel would give the amp a total load impedance of 4 ohms –… Read more »
Hi Geoff I am planning to connect a sonos amp to two pairs of Krix speakers, bedroom and bathroom. One set of speakers is rated 20-100W and 6 Ohm, the other 20-100W and 8 Ohm. I am getting confused between impedence matching and impedence correcting and manual vs automatic. The Niles SSVC-2 appears to do this through manual switching but the The Pyle Home PSS4 does it automaticaly? I only need switching between two speakers so the Niles looks like doing the job but just wanted to check that it will and give me good sound in the two rooms?
Hi Graham, Yes, marketing terms are often confusing. If anything, I would say that the Pyle is manual and the Niles is set once and forget about it. With the Pyle selectors, and any of the “series resistor” type, you need to press the “protection” button in to put the series resistors in circuit. They do this so that if you are only running one set of speakers you can run them straight (no series resistance, because they are 4 ohms or above). When the resistors are connected, some power (like almost half) is lost in heat through them. With… Read more »
Thanks Geoff. Is there a speaker selector that can impedence match automatically, i.e it will know when one or two speakers are running. Also is there one which will not halve the output power to each speaker or is this inevitable?
Graham
Hi Graham, Power sharing is a fact of physics. Without increasing the output, the signal going to one speaker is always going to less when going to two speakers. In power terms, this is 3dB, so you only need to turn the amp up by 3dB to overcome these losses. Then going through a speaker selector switch with a series resistor is going to drop the power to each speaker by around another 3db. However for most domestic situations, you don’t need any where near the maximum power available from modern amps so this isn’t a practical concern. I’m not… Read more »
Hello. First of all congratulations for the clarifying guides. I want to setup my Home Theather at the main room and an ambient sound with 6 pairs of 30W speakers. I`ll use the Yamaha Receiver a1050 or a850 in the main room. I don`t know if the Zone 2 channels can handle the 6 pair. If not I thing I`ll have to use the “2X6 Matrix Speaker Selector Switch Switcher Volume Level Control, 2-AMP 6-ZONE 900-Watt” with the “Pyle Home PT1100 1000-Watt Power Amplifier”. The Speaker Selector handles 900W and the amplifier has 1000W. It will be a big problem?… Read more »
Hi Fabricio,
If you only want nice background music around your house, then the zone 2 output of around 80 watts should be fine from either of the Yamaha amps you mention. You could also use one of the lower power, lower cost 6 way switchers too.
My suggestion would be try this first, and if it isn’t loud enough, then we can look at other amps. However many houses use less power this to drive many speakers for background or ambient music.
Geoff
Thank you for your help. There is no need of an impedance matching system on the Speaker Selector to protect the Receiver? Thank you.
You are correct, you will need some impedance protection. I think all the 6 way switches should either have a series resistor, or a transformer to do that for you. If it has a series resistor, you just nee to press the “protection” button on.
Geoff
Geoff, I am wanting to run a Yaquin mc13 tube amp from the front speaker preouts of my HK AVR20 receiver. The receiver will accommodate my turntable, CD player and computer inputs. The Yaqin will run 2 sets of speakers both rated at 8 ohms. I will run cable from the left and right Yaqin speaker outs (the Yaqin has 8 and 4 ohm speaker outs) to the Monoprice 109995 4-Channel Speaker Selector. The 2 sets of speakers will run out from the selector box. I want to make sure the amp is not damaged while switching between speaker sets.… Read more »
Hi Brendan, There are a few issues you raise: 1) As you seem to understand, these speaker selector switches are designed for solid state amps, not really for Tube amps. Therefore the role of the “protection” switch is to limit the minimum impedance the amp sees. However a tube amp is more concerned about always wanting some sort of a load, which the speaker selector does not intrinsically provide. To accomplish this, I suggest you follow the guidelines in figure 3 of the Niles Speaker selector manual regarding tube amps. You can download it via this link. 2) Given your… Read more »