Niles DPS1 Black (FG00003) Amplifier/Speaker A-B Selector

Boy, when a place like Amazon aggregates merchandise from absolutely everywhere, the universe of possibilities can get totally bewildering! Especially in the jungle of home electronics where amateurs like me, just smart enough to get my shoes on the right feet, set out to try to find something a little exotic.My challenge: I have been civilizing and rehabbing my basement for the last ten years with mostly great success. Wrestling with the question of what to do with my two basically obsolete (but still completely functional) CRT TV's, I chose to hang them from the basement ceiling, connecting each to its own receiver along with separate DVD players and a PS2. (See my previous review  Orbital 65021 SkyClamp Ceiling Mount for 19 Inch to 27 Inch CRT Television (Black)  for the "down low" on ceiling mounting CRT's.) Now the question was: HOW do I get these two independent systems to share one set of speakers?Enter the Niles Audio DPS-1, each "black box" bearing 8 input terminals (for two pair of R-L speaker wire from your two receivers) and two output pair to connect to your corresponding speakers. That's TWELVE terminals total, and yes, the tangle of speaker wire gets pretty thick rather quickly.However, the Niles DPS-1 does exactly what I want--it's simple "A-B" toggle button design allows me to switch which system I want to feed to my speakers. HOWEVER--and this is IMPORTANT--each unit handles only TWO CHANNELS of stereo. IF you want to switch a complete 5.1 array of speakers, YOU WILL NEED THREE OF THESE. (1-Front, 2-Surround (Rear), 3-Center/Sub)So I went ahead and did it; Three DPS-1 boxes stacked atop each other and suspended from a custom-designed ceiling shelf, wiring feeding in from two receivers and out from the DPS-1 units to four  Polk Audio TSi100 Bookshelf Speakers (Pair, Black)  and one  Polk Audio RM7 Center Channel Speaker (Single, Black)  center. I must add that while I do have subwoofers for both systems, I still haven't worked out how to integrate them yet; because they're connected via RCA jacks to the corresponding LFE outputs on both receivers, I probably can't run these through the DPS-1 switches.However even with this caveat, the set-up as it stands works PERFECTLY. Although it's three button clicks instead of just one, I'm able to select whichever system I choose, and with both systems running simultaneously I detect no signal bleed from the non-selected system. Put simply, the DPS-1 does exactly what it was designed to do, and does it well. The boxes are a solid, sturdy sheet metal chassis with rubber feet, however because of their small size and light weight, you'll still need to support the unit with one hand while you punch the toggle button with your other. (They DO stack neatly in an application like mine.) As other reviewers have mentioned, the DPS-1 is a completely "passive" device, it simply routes your signal, with NO extra AC power or "wall wart" required.Although theoretically simple, the practical difficulties of pulling off this set up are fairly daunting. I estimate I used at least 150 feet of 14 gauge speaker wire for about a 14 x 20' space. I would guess that anyone considering such an installation doesn't need me to tell them that you MUST carefully label each wire and CONCENTRATE on maintaining matching polarity correctly when making all connections so your speakers are in phase once you're done. Think also about the aesthetics of your completed job; having spent years priming and painting all basement surfaces (YES-including the subfloor underside and floor joists) I was unwilling to slum things up by simply tacking long runs of bare speaker wire perpendicular & parallel to the ceiling joists in order to make the connections. This enormously complicated the installation, not only in trying to figure out the optimal path to install flex tube for the speaker wire runs, but also the extra COST for terminal boxes and speaker terminal plates  High Quality Banana Binding Post Decora Style Wall Plate for 1 Speaker - Coup...5.1 Surround Sound Distribution Wall Plate 2-gang , plus cable pass through plates  DataComm 45-0002-WH 2-Gang Recessed Low Voltage Cable Plate (White)  to properly dress & finish the job. For me this was all worth the extra cost and (considerable) headache it added to the installation. The neat, finished look definitely justifies the extra sweat, I think.I concede there are probably other units out there that can do what the Niles DPS-1 does without having to "triple up" as I did here to get five speakers toggled between two systems. However all my searching yielded ONLY the DPS-1 as the product that met my need, however imperfectly. Nevertheless, I'm VERY pleased not only that I was able to find something to route my two systems as desired, but also that they work SO well and justify my big effort to make the installation. I'm going FOUR stars only because it's a costly jury rig to re-orient the DPS-1 for a 5.1 system. However I hasten to add that I have NO complaint about the DPS-1's design or functionality! It works exactly as it's designed to, albeit for ONLY two speakers per unit. For fellow intrepid "weekend warriors" I think this is a worthy project with a big AV (and personal "I did it") payoff once accomplished!

I wanted to switch signals going to a pair of in ceiling speakers and found this device to work as advertised. The speakers are in a great room area where we mainly listen to Sonos through a Sonos Connect AMP. The Connect AMP is great because you don't have to ever turn them on as they are always at the ready. I also want to use those speakers for a 2nd Zone out of my Pre/Pro for Cable TV and Blu Ray. Enter this device which can switch back and forth between these two signals.Be aware that my 16 gauge wire barely fits in here. I am not positive if 14 gauge or lower would fit. You need screw drivers to open the slot for the wires which I thought was a bit strange on a device of this price. Also, I have a subwoofer connected through speaker wire and I could not fit that speaker wire along with the ceiling speaker wire in to the slots so I had to choose if I wanted the subwoofer connected to the Sonos Amp or the other amp powering my AV stuff. That was less than ideal. Be aware of these limitations but this device does work as promised. The sound is excellent and I cannot tell a difference with this device vs previously when this device does not exist.

This solved my problem, but I found it to be frustrating to set up and overpriced.The wiring terminal is labeled 1 through 12 on top. It's divided into 3 blocks labeled A, Common and B. Below the terminals are labels indicating the wire to attach: L+, L-, etc. But these labels don't align with the terminals -- they are shifted to the left. Also, they are not consistent. They are labeled L+, L-, R-, R+. So don't get in the pattern, as I did, of assuming the + connector is always the left side of the pair.I found it really difficult to get 14 gauge stranded wire into the terminal slots, as the opening is really tight for this wire size. Three tips that helped me: 1) be very serious about cutting the leads to the recommended 1/4". Any longer and its a bad fit. 2) Once stripped, don't cut the the wire again to get the right length. This fill flatten the end and make it tough to round it again to fit into the terminal slot. 3) Insert both leads at once. It may be tough to align them together, but inserting one and tightening it down then inserting the other is a difficult stretch because the terminals are so close together.Finally, this is an industrial looking unit. The top of the terminal block is open, so the screws and wires are fully exposed. For the price, they could at least include a simple snap on cover. Speaking of price, the unit seems expensive. Before Radio Shack croaked, I'm thinking you could get a similar switch for less than half the price.

Needed a solution to switch one set of speakers between 2 amplifiers, and this was the only thing on the market that I could find to do it, after hours of researching. Speaker selectors can't be used inversely, without the risk of shorting/damaging both amplifiers if you (or your kids) accidentally selects both amplifiers at once. (Ooooh let's watch fireworks when we press these two buttons at the same time!) Another option is active switched input selectors, and while they offer much more flexibility on connection options, they are powered, and I didn't have space for another large electronic device to have running in my entertainment center.The product is durable and works well so far, but feel very ripped off, as a consumer. Considering this is a simple push button in a steel enclosure with cheap connections on the rear, and costing ~90 bucks. I've never dropped stars for price before, but this was beyond reasonable, and couldn't ignore that fact. Also, it is not aesthetically pleasing at all, looking very utilitarian, and as such, is best utilized hidden away from other components.