quick home audio question

[diymirage]

long story short, I got surround sound at the house
I want to add a second center speaker (behind the couch) and install a simple switch between the two speakers

can i use a simple 2 way toggle switch for this?

 

[mopowers]

That's basically what I did in my garage, so I can turn on the speakers above my patio at the flip of a switch. It worked like a charm. Just put the switch in one of the two speaker wire legs.

 

[diymirage]

That's basically what I did in my garage, so I can turn on the speakers above my patio at the flip of a switch. It worked like a charm. Just put the switch in one of the two speaker wire legs.

that wouldn't kill the other speakers though?
I am not looking to have both speakers going at the same time, I only want one or the other

 

[Phreakish]

Won't hurt anything to only switch one leg. No continuity, no circuit. There are switches with multiple poles though so you can switch both wires at the same time if it makes you feel better.

Some more modern stereo systems let you wire up more speakers and setup multiple "scenes" or speaker configurations so that it's all contained in one system and the remote can be used to make the swap. Of course the fancy ones like that aren't cheap.

 

[diymirage]

I got "scenes" on the amp, but that only allows me to cut out certain speakers (the subwoofer, or the two rear sides, for instance)
but it does not have a provision for a second center speaker

I figured I would get a 6 pole double throw speaker and have the center wire from the amp feed into that

then one position would be the existing speaker, the other position would be the new one

 

[Phreakish]

So long as it's not playing sound as you make the flip, should be fine I think.

 

[mopowers]

that wouldn't kill the other speakers though?
I am not looking to have both speakers going at the same time, I only want one or the other

Correct, the way mine's wired, one set of speakers always plays, then the one on the switch plays depending on the position of the switch. If you're wanting to run yours 'either, or,' just use a double throw switch like you said. It'll work fine. They sell fancy speaker switches for this, but I just used a cheap toggle and it works fine.