Combiner for 5.1 analog inputs

[bluseminole]

So this is a problem many people probably face...

My 7.1 channel receiver does not have HDMI, so I use the analog inputs for BD audio. But I have an SACD player, which means I have to switch cables every time I want to listen to multichannel music. Not convenient.

My question is this: Would it degrade the performance to use a y-"splitter" (one male to two females) to combine the signals from the SACD and BD players and run them into one input for each channel?

I have seen some of the multichannel analog switching boxes, and they are out of my price range for the moment, as is upgrading to a new receiver. I'm saving up to go high-end in a few years, so I'm being pretty stingy with my current system.

Is this a feasible solution?

[Bonifax]

As long as you use a good quality Y-splitter I don't see any problem here, IMO.

[fronn]

I'd think a switcher is preferred, but getting some higher quality splitters might be worth a try (even the higher quality ones should be much).

Just be aware of possible issues in doing something like that, nothing dangerous, but there's possible weird problems that could occur if both devices are powered on at the same time (if the unit is on, there's probably something, however small, coming out of the jacks). I can't imagine two signals on the same wire would be willing to play all that nicely with each other.

[bluseminole]

Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately, an employee at my local HT shop said this was not a good idea because even with the component not in use being powered off, the fact that it is still there could alter the impedance on the line somewhat, resulting in a slight signal loss. Obviously, the whole point of this is to take advantage of high-resolution audio, so signal loss is not acceptable.

Fronn, I believe you were correct wrt those weird issues.

I found a thread over at AVS (the link escapes me right now...) where they discussed this issue, and it seems even multichannel switchers don't cut it. The Zektor MAS-3 (now OOP) and HDS4.1 were both designed for this purpose, but one poster at AVS insisted that it altered the signal somewhat, so noticeably that he returned both pieces of equipment. I also read that a component video switcher (that also had stereo RCA and a digital coax jack, thus yielding 6 channel inputs) could be used for this application, but posters in the same thread said otherwise: the video jacks and the digital coax jacks, regardless of brand, attenuated the input signal as much as -9dB and also rolled off the treble frequencies, while the stereo audio jacks did not have any effect on the signal.

In short, I have found that there is actually no feasible method of accomplishing what I aim to do without somehow altering or degrading the signal. I guess an HDMI receiver is nearer in my future than I anticipated. $H!+