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Topic: Hook two receivers up to one source, lose stereo? (Read 5669 times) previous topic - next topic
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Hook two receivers up to one source, lose stereo?

I have a 'y' stereo headphone splitter hooked to the analog out on my computer. From there, I have cables that end in RCA jacks that are then hooked up to two different receivers (one to my 'main' stereo, one to an amp that powers speakers throughout the house). When I do a speaker test on my computer, they both play the left and right channels. If I unplug one of the cables to a receiver, the speakers play what they're supposed to. Do I have things wired incorrectly, or is there some other way I should be doing this? I should also note that the right and left speakers and quieter than my center channel when both receivers are connected. Thanks!

Hook two receivers up to one source, lose stereo?

Reply #1 –
I think you have the wrong Y-Splitters.  What you are trying to do should work.  It's generally OK to connect two inputs together, such as connecting two amplifiers to one CD player or soundcard, but it's NOT OK to connect two outputs together.

Your 3.5mm plugs should be  TRS type (with 3 contacts - Tip, Ring, and Sleeve) and it should be sold as a "stereo" cable.  Look at the one in this picture.  See the three silver contacts separated by 2 black insulators?

Your 3.5mm to RCA adapters also need to be stereo with TRS connectors.

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I should also note that the right and left speakers and quieter than my center channel when both receivers are connected.
So, you have connected two outputs together...  The left & signals are "shorting each other out" except for the center-channel part of the signal which is coming-out of both channels together.

Hook two receivers up to one source, lose stereo?

Reply #2 –
Quote from: DVDdoug on
I think you have the wrong Y-Splitters.  What you are trying to do should work.  It's generally OK to connect two inputs together, such as connecting two amplifiers to one CD player or soundcard, but it's NOT OK to connect two outputs together.


I was wondering about that too, but if I plug the splitter into an input and plug headphones into one side of the split, I do get stereo. Is it possible that I could have the right and left crossed on one receiver? Could that cause the problem?

Hook two receivers up to one source, lose stereo?

Reply #3 –
Quote from: zipr on
I was wondering about that too, but if I plug the splitter into an input and plug headphones into one side of the split, I do get stereo. Is it possible that I could have the right and left crossed on one receiver? Could that cause the problem?


Just beware that some amp/receivers will load down the signal when they are turned OFF. I'm running 2 Technics receivers on my PC, one for speakers and the other for headphones. I was getting some odd distortion to the point where I opened a trouble ticket with the motherboard manufacturer. Turns out the solid state input switching in each of the Technics has protection diodes that go into conduction when the power is off and soft clips the signal at 1.4 Volts peak to peak which was what I observed with my oscilloscope. The solution was to replace the 'Y' cords with a Niles Audio DA (Distribution Amplifier) I picked up on eBay. The turned off receiver still conducts into the protection diodes but the receivers are isolated from each other so it always sounds good.

G²

Hook two receivers up to one source, lose stereo?

Reply #4 –
Quote from: zipr on
Quote from: DVDdoug on
I think you have the wrong Y-Splitters.  What you are trying to do should work.  It's generally OK to connect two inputs together, such as connecting two amplifiers to one CD player or soundcard, but it's NOT OK to connect two outputs together.


I was wondering about that too, but if I plug the splitter into an input and plug headphones into one side of the split, I do get stereo. Is it possible that I could have the right and left crossed on one receiver? Could that cause the problem?


Line level outputs generally have moderate source impedances, as opposed to the very low impedances we commonly see with speaker outputs and headphone outputs.

Therefore if you hook two line level outputs in parallel, the results are usually not nearly as disastrous as they are for power amps, and to a lesser degree headphone amps.

Active line level splitters can often be found as A/V accessories - just ignore the video sides of the things.  The audio and video sections are separate and independent. Models for component video and single-RCA jack video should be dirt cheap because they are obsolete for most situations.

Line level A/V splitter on eBay

Hook two receivers up to one source, lose stereo?

Reply #5 –
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I was wondering about that too, but if I plug the splitter into an input and plug headphones into one side of the split, I do get stereo.
Weird...    But, you can tell if the connectors are mono or stereo by looking at them (if I described it well enough).

What happens with the headphones plus one amp?  What about headphones plus the other amp? 

Maybe one of the cables/adapters is defective.

Is the whole-house amplifier stereo?    If it's mono and you are combining left & right at its input, there's your problem.

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Is it possible that I could have the right and left crossed on one receiver? Could that cause the problem?
No, it shouldn't.  That would just switch left & right for whatever amp is backwards.



Hook two receivers up to one source, lose stereo?

Reply #6 –
I did a little more investigation. One thing I noticed is that if I plug a pair of headphones into one side of the Y and the output to the whole house receiver (which is stereo), one of the headphone speakers acts as a mic -- if I tap on it, I hear the thump in the speakers.

Hook two receivers up to one source, lose stereo?

Reply #7 –
Quote from: zipr on
I did a little more investigation. One thing I noticed is that if I plug a pair of headphones into one side of the Y and the output to the whole house receiver (which is stereo), one of the headphone speakers acts as a mic -- if I tap on it, I hear the thump in the speakers.
I don't think that's a clue to your problem...  I'm a little surprised that you are getting enough output from the headphones and enough gain from the amplifier that you can hear it, but a speaker (including the little speaker in your headphones) and a dynamic microphone are both made the same way...  A movable coil around a magnet and connected to a diaphragm.  Headphones & speakers will work as a microphone, but not as a good one for normal recording...  Some people use a speaker as a bass-drum mic.    You should get a weaker "microphone" signal with that set-up plugged into the soundcard and a stronger signal with just the headphones connected to the amp.  But, that's not helpful to your problem...

So... Did connecting either amp along with the headphones mess-up the stereo sound in the headphones?  If you've got good-stereo with the headphones plugged-into the "Y" and nothing plugged into the others side,  plugging-in one of the cables/adapters, or connecting one of those amplifiers to the other side of the "Y" should reveal the source of the problem.    If everything is working as expected, adding the amp (or just the cables/adapters) to the other side of the "Y" shouldn't affect the sound in the headphones (although you might hear a "click" or something when you plug something else in). 


I think you'll just have to swap things around and/or add/subtract one thing at a time until you track down the problem.  You may need to get some extra cables & adapters to swap in & out.

It might be helpful to make a test-file.  If you have a laptop with a microphone built-in, or if you have a microphone, make a recording of yourself saying "Left", "Right", and "Both",  and pan your voice left/right/center accordingly.  You can record and edit (pan, etc.) with an audio editor such as Audacity.

Hook two receivers up to one source, lose stereo?

Reply #8 –
Looks like it was a bad splitter after all. I replaced it, and everything is ok. Such an odd thing to not work properly.

Hook two receivers up to one source, lose stereo?

Reply #9 –
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Looks like it was a bad splitter after all. I replaced it, and everything is ok.
Woohoo!!![/size]

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Such an odd thing to not work properly.
Actually, cables and connectors are some of the most-likely things to fail.  People who work with live sound usually carry extra mic & guitar cables...  Your symptoms did suggest a wrong or bad cable/adapter...  "Wrong splitter" was my first guess...      But a short (which is what you apparently had) is rather unusual.  It's also unusual to have a bad cable/connector if they were new.