Yes, it’s definitely worth doing. As for which input - any that’s not the same as the one I’m listening to.
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Richard, a noob question - for the 252 - cd & aux2, I supposed it’s either rca or din input and not both? Thanks.
Either/or for each, both never both together.
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For future reference, I once accidentally connected the rca from my cd player and din from streamer to the same input. It’s easily done when fiddling blind down the back of my Nait 5si. No damage was done but I noticed when playing the CD that the gain was lower than it should be. Soon sorted it out.
You can connect 8 inputs to a 252 but you have to select between RCA and DIN to reach the last two, might still be better than pulling plugs all the time. Just keep track of how many signal ground to earth connections there are, there should be only one so two Naim CD players aren’t optimal.
Plug order on the mains block might take some sorting out too.
More interesting is accidentally connecting the turntable to the phono input but forgetting to turn off the built-in phono stage on the turntable. I did this once. Interesting result. Not to be repeated.
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I currently use five inputs: turntable, streamer, 78 rpm turntable, digital recorder (both record and playback) and tape (playback only).
Increasingly pre amps seem to have fewer and fewer inputs, and line level outputs (be it for recording or for a headphone amp) are fewer still.
Of course this is partly due to streamers combining digital music playback and radio functionality, and also that recording is less relevant to most users than it was ten or twenty years ago.
I’ve got a 72…
Currently…Turntable - Rega Fono MC
CD - CD5
Tuner - swithbox; Sony FM, Cambridge DAB, Google Chromecast, CD multiplayer
Tape 1 - Technics RS-B55 (Still haven’t rebelted my Nak)
Tape 2: switchbox; MD, CDR, DCC
So yeah, nowhere NEAR enough inputs!!!
You’d be surprised how quickly those costs add up, and you’re going to end up paying up to 10x that cost at the retailer. 6 inputs is already 12 relays and if you do it balanced throughout it’ll be 24 relays - and maybe more if you must have dedicated single-ended inputs. Relays can easily be a fiver each if you’re not cheapskating it. The sockets aren’t exactly cheap either, especially if you want them locking. And of course they could go rocketing up in number in a balanced system. These all need buttons and drivers, some logic, and their own low noise power supply - and the number of those can go up if you want a sophisticated Tape loop - or maybe even a mixing/karaoke capability and don’t want to be permanently injecting noise into your input. There’s also a pretty good argument for putting some electronics and gain trimming right at the inputs so that the signal voltages around the amp are higher. If you do that on every input then you’re talking real money. I’m sorry to say this but the real world truth is that the number of inputs is probably the first place a manufacturer/designer looks to save money, especially if there’s a choice between an extra input and doing something that will improve the sound quality of the unit.
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