Help swapping Tubes and SS Amps

I have one preamp, one tube amp, one SS amp and have been swapping out the RCA connectors from the pre to the amp to be used along with the speaker wires. Is there a better way to switch out these amps? I listen to 2 channel 80 percent of the time, 20 percent home theater. I do not like to use my tubes with home theater. Reaching behind all of the gear is a pain.

Would appreciate any suggestions.

I have a pair of A-25's shared by a tube system (FM-3,PAS-3X,ST-70) and a solid state system (AF-6,PAT-4,ST-150). I was tired of swapping the speaker wires, even with the convenience of banana plugs. I don't like to leave the tube system on when I'm not in the room but I sometimes leave the SS system on all day. Sometimes I just like to compare so convenience in switching between them was important.

Using a pair of Radio Shack DPDT 12 volt relays, a spare 12 volt wall wart, two barrier terminal strips and a plastic-topped box of a convenient size, I rigged a relay setup to switch the speakers automatically.

The wall wart is plugged into a switched outlet on the PAT using a short extension cord. When the PAT is turned on, the relays are energized and the speakers are connected to the ST-150. When the PAT is off, the relays are relaxed and the speakers are connected to the ST-70.

The idea came from my other hobby of vintage amateur radio. A similar relay setup is used to switch the antenna from receiver to transmitter when energized by the "Push to Talk" switch on the microphone.

In both cases, the desire is to accomplish the switching automatically without having to fool with another switch.

Harry
Maryville, Tennessee

In my eagerness to tell my story, I missed the detail that you're sharing a preamp also so my method won't work for you.

You can get a switch for switching the preamp to different amps from Radio Shack, Best Buy or many others.

I've seen it suggested elsewhere that a switch which switches among multiple speaker systems can be used for your purpose, just in reverse. There are a bunch of warnings about "make before break" and shorting switches.

Maybe someone with experience with these will post.

Harry