Header banner
Revain logoHome Page
Maurice Stavros photo
1 Level
1334 Review
45 Karma

Review on Maximize Sound Control with Monoprice 108231 Speaker Selector by Maurice Stavros

Revainrating 3 out of 5

Good for the price. Uses multi-level transformers to control impedance and volume. Wire connectors can be used but they are terrible.

Good value for money. Many people have said that it appears to be durable. Perhaps they feel the weight of several pairs of transformers in the box. Transformers balance the impedance and allow you to attenuate the volume. The volume controls click in increments - each step is a different tap on the transformer. So far, so good. I would not overdrive this unit or you would saturate the transformers and end up with distortion that beats the band. Output connectors are terrible for the cheap ones - ferrules or larger crimp connectors would be better. Each connector has a small set screw for attaching bare wire, or better yet, tinned. So make sure there are no bare wires sticking out, otherwise you could short out the receiver/amplifier outputs. A short circuit will likely destroy your receiver/amplifier. The output jacks are wired directly to a single circuit board inside the box, and if you push the box hard enough, the weight and stiffness of the speaker cables can pull the jacks. It is enough to disconnect the connection bar from the board in the box. You can put it back in place, but it's not something you want to mess around with. So when you have everything set up, do not move the box, or you may suddenly lose sound on one or more channels. This is a good box for the money. so be careful not to have any bare wire sticking out or you may short out the outputs of the receiver/amplifier. A short circuit will likely destroy your receiver/amplifier. The output jacks are wired directly to the only circuit board in the box, and if you push the box hard enough the weight and stiffness of the speaker cables can pull the jacks. It is enough to disconnect the connection bar from the board in the box. You can put it back in place, but it's not something you want to mess around with. So once you have everything set up, don't move the box, or you may suddenly lose sound on one or more channels. This is a good box for the money. If you push the box hard enough, the weight and stiffness of the speaker cables can pull on the connectors enough to detach the connector block from the circuit board inside the box. You can use it again, but you don't want to mess with that. So once you've got everything set up, don't move the box or you may suddenly lose sound on one or more channels. This is a good box for the money. If you push the box hard enough, the weight and stiffness of the speaker cables can pull on the connectors enough to detach the connector block from the circuit board inside the box. You can put it back in place, but it's nothing what you want to play around with. So once you've got everything set up, don't move the box or you may suddenly lose sound on one or more channels. This is a good box for the money. If you push the box hard enough, the weight and stiffness of the speaker cables can pull on the connectors enough to detach the connector block from the circuit board inside the box. You can put it back in place, but it's not something you want to mess around with. So once you've got everything set up, don't move the box or you may suddenly lose sound on one or more channels. This is a good box for the money. If you push the box hard enough, the weight and stiffness of the speaker cables can pull at the connectors so hard that the terminal strip detaches from the circuit board inside the box. You can put it back in place, but it's not something you want to mess around with. So once you've got everything set up, don't move the box or you may suddenly lose sound on one or more channels. This is a good box for the money.

Pros
  • Audio and video accessories
Cons
  • Expensive