Do you know of any serious ABX switcher ?

[Rja4000]

Hi
Is anybody aware of any serious ABX box ?

Ideally, computer-controlled, and being able to switch Balanced or unbalanced stereo sources.
Switching a pair of amps to a single pair of speakers would be interesting too.
(I'm not interested in switching more speakers, thanks)

The only one I could find, and I have no clue how serious it is, is the Audio by Van Alstine ABX switch Comparator
and it's not measured, expensive and not matching my tender book.

Note: level matching is a must, obviously

 

[somebodyelse]

I'm not aware of another off the shelf one. There are a few DIY designs around if that's of any interest.

 

[mhardy6647]

Hi
Is anybody aware of any serious ABX box ?

Ideally, computer-controlled, and being able to switch Balanced or unbalanced stereo sources.
Switching a pair of amps to a single pair of speakers would be interesting too.
(I'm not interested in switching more speakers, thanks)

The only one I could find, and I have no clue how serious it is, is the Audio by Van Alstine ABX switch Comparator
and it's not measured, expensive and not matching my tender book.

Note: level matching is a must, obviously

So... no, but...
Back in the olden days, one of these would (could) probably have worked pretty well.

Scan0023 by mhardy6647, on Flickr

source: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-Audio/70s/Audio-1978-11.pdf

 

[Rja4000]

Does anybody here own the Audio by Van Alstine ABX switch Comparator ?

 

[DonH56]

I haven't used a stand-alone unit for years, but have used both Arny's original and Frank's units in the primordial past. Either worked OK, though IIRC the van Alstine version had a bit higher resistance but had a more advanced control interface. Honestly not sure, too long ago. Both were "professional" units. Back then (70's/80's) there were also a number of switch boxes that were not really ABX, just a box with a bunch of connectors and switches to compare components and speakers. Usually controlled by the salesman, natch.

These days, were I to get back into it (in my non-existent spare time), I would probably use a Raspberry Pi to control some relays for the switching. Probably reed relays for the low-level signals, and some nice power relays for speaker-level switching. SS relays would provide silent switching and less drive current. Level matching I would control at the source rather than in the switcher box, though you could add volume control for low-level signal easily enough using analog pots or digital volume control (either pure digital - ADC/DAC - or digitally-controlled attenuators like most equipment uses these days). The RPi could also be used to record the results (I think the boxes full of notes and results I had from all the tests back then are long gone).

 

[anmpr1]

Below links to a review of Frank's ABX box. The review is a bit odd since the reviewer compares two complete hi-fi systems, each with different brands of loudspeakers. He does pretty well distinguishing the two, but gets confused sometimes. He admits it's not an easy test to concentrate on.

What is generally done with ABX is to compare like electronic components (such as DACs or amps) inserted into the same speaker system. Of course we know how those results would be, so perhaps it is more interesting to compare two complete but differing hi-fi setups.

Frankly (no pun) I don't recall ever reading a double blind ABX review of differing loudspeaker brands. I know it is difficult to distinguish the same brand's different models when A/B against each other (say, the JBL 305 v 306 v 308 powered speakers might be impossible to tell apart in many instances). I've been in hi-fi stores featuring speaker selection switches, and with a wall of speakers have been unable to specifically localize the loudspeaker that was playing.

https://www.dagogo.com/audio-by-van-alstine-abx-comparator-review-part-1-audio-store-wiring/

 

[Dennis Murphy]

Does anybody here own the Audio by Van Alstine ABX switch Comparator ?

I don't own one, but I've used it at audio shows. It's very flexible--you can compare any electronic equipment you want and randomly mix up the ABX sequence. It's silent and to my ears transparent. Differences in loudspeakers are readily apparent--amps and preamps, not so much. But that's not the switcher's fault. I would just go to his site to see if it has all of the features you want. I have a custom-built switcher, but it uses outboard switchers that aren't silent. Still, I've found it indispensable in speaker design, evaluation, and auditioning.

 

[preload]

If you're open to a manual switcher:
Goldpoint make some high quality XLR switchers. There's the Switchwitch. And there are also some cheaper options on AliExpress. And of course, you could always make your own with a project box.