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TosLink Switcher

Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 27, 2011

I bought a new TV based on your suggestions, but I found a problem when hooking it up. I have a Yamaha receiver that has only two TosLink optical digital-audio inputs and one coax. But in order to hook up my computer, I need a third optical input. Can you recommend a TosLink switcher?

Brad McQuade

I haven't used any such switchers myself, but there are plenty to choose from. Just do an online search for "toslink switcher"; among those I found this way are from CablesToGo (3x1), Monoprice (3x1, shown here), Gefen (2x1), and Specialty-AV (4x2). The CablesToGo and Monoprice units are very inexpensive mechanical rotary switches, which could degrade with use over time, while the Gefen and Specialty-AV models use electronic switching—but of course, they are much more expensive.

If you have an A/V question, please send it to askhometheater@gmail.com.

COMMENTS
MatthewWeflen's picture
Submitted by MatthewWeflen on August 1, 2011 - 2:06pm

I have this very unit in my home. At Monoprice, it is listed as item# 2946, "3X1 Optical Audio Toslink Bi-Directional Manual Switch."

It cost $6.34.

It works quite nicely. I will say that you may want to label the inputs. I think most (including myself) will use only one of them frequently (for me it's the BD player) and may forget which one the other two inputs belong to.

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