Connecting Multiple Amplifiers To One Source
By Robert Jones · 2020-08-29
There are many options available to connect multiple amplifiers to one source.
It's a question I get asked a lot, this one. "Can I run more than one amplifier from a single source?" And the short answer is, yes, you can. But it's not always as simple as just plugging things in. You've got to think about a few things first, otherwise, you could end up with a right mess, or worse, damage your gear. ### Why Bother? More Power, More Control Now, why would you even want to do this? Well, there are a few good reasons. Maybe you've got a bi-ampable speaker and you want to give the tweeters and woofers their own dedicated amplifiers. That can really tighten up the sound, give you more detail. Or perhaps you're building a cracking home cinema system and you need separate amps for your main speakers, your surrounds, and your subwoofers. Believe me, when you start getting into serious home cinema, one amp just doesn't cut it. I remember back in the day, helping a mate set up his first proper home cinema in his garage. He'd gone a bit overboard, bless him, with huge floorstanders and a couple of active subs. Tried to run it all off one chunky AVR, and it just sounded… squashed. We ended up getting some old Rotel power amps on eBay, a couple of two-channel jobs, and using the AVR as a pre-amp. The difference was night and day. Suddenly, the explosions had impact, the dialogue was clear as a bell. Made me realise just how much a dedicated power amp can do. ### The Heart of the Matter: Your Source First off, you need to think about your source. Are we talking about a CD player? A streamer? Your TV? Whatever it is, it's the starting point for your signal. You'll typically be looking at line-level outputs – those RCA phono connections, or maybe XLRs if you're going for something a bit more professional. You want a clean signal here, otherwise, you're just amplifying rubbish. ### The Splitter Conundrum: Y-Cables and Distribution Amps Right, so how do you get that single source signal to multiple amps? The simplest, and often cheapest, way is a Y-cable. It looks like a