Sweetfoot Stereo to Mono RCA Switch

Anyone try one of these stereo to mono switches from Sweetfoot Pedals?

Stereo to Mono RCA Switch - HANDMADE IN THE USA by sweetfootpedals.com

 

I just ordered one today. I'll post some pics and impressions when I can.

 

The sweetfoot is a very quality build. The construction is very much like guitar pedals, which are built to take abuse. The circuit inside is very simple, as it should be. I suppose that a fancier built would include shielded wiring inside, but I cannot discern any added hum or noise at all.
This is my first foray into the mono switch world. It has no discernible effect on normal stereo operation when switched out. When switched in with an appropriate mono record (Revolver vinyl reissue) I had a hard time hearing the difference between the switched in & switched out modes. However, using headphones made it easier to hear the benefits. I could hear rumble and windy sounds in stereo mode that disappeared in mono mode.
Why I couldn’t hear much thru my speakers may be because of my modest system or my trashed ears (too many concerts and band practices).
At the crazy low price of $25, I consider the purchase worthwhile and a fun experiment. Any suggestions in improving my performance would be welcome.

 

@BeauZooka , it does look nice.
Does it go from full stereo to full mono?
From the picture of the inside...
Full stereo (left in-> left out, right in-> right out)
Mono (left in-> left out, right in-> right out +right summed to left)
I may be missing it, but it looks like depending on your input or output connectors will sum left with right to only one of your outputs when you throw the switch into MONO?
Is that what you want? Are you planning to use only one speaker for MONO listening?
I expected a MONO switch would sum left and right and output l+r at the left output and output l+r at the right output.

 

Maybe a little off the point, but I think my first receiver, a 20 Watt per channel Pioneer sx(?) purchased in the early 1980’s had a stereo to mono push button. Out was stereo. (This may seem hard to believe but 20 per channel was more than enough for my living room which was about 150 sq ft). I believe most amps and receivers had this feature.

When in mono, there was a drastic reduction in distortion. This was a nice touch when listening to FM stationS just in the fringe of good reception. Switching to mono helped a good bit. It was also used when playing a badly recorded or old/worn cassette tape.

Nonetheless, back then, most of the group I ran with seldom used the mono control. It seemed to deaden the music.

How things change.

 

@Cherrycherry - In mono mode, it sums to both channels. So you get the same mono signal to both left and right speakers.

 

Okay, looking at the picture of the wires and switch inside the box, maybe I misunderstood.
Thank you.

 

Umm. You know there is someone on this forum that, for a while now, sells stereo to mono switches, right?

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/stereo-mono-switch.386061/

 

I do know that. But they start at double the price, so this is a nice option.

 

Just got my Sweetfoot mono switch today, and I’m loving it for all the same reasons, but I can hear the difference even in my speakers. It’s especially apparent on my Miles and Coltrane mono reissues. Well worth the modest price imo.

 

I got one last month after doing a few years using the Y-cable trick for mono, and have been test driving it with great results. Sweetfoot's mono switch is sturdy (like a guitar pedal, as someone else mentioned) and works like a charm. At <$30 shipped, it's a no-brainer.

 

Hi folks.. I want to use one Speaker to listen to music. My path is Tidal app on phone > chromecast audio > stereo amp > one high quality tower speaker. I assume this sweet foot Switch will work for my purposes.

Should I place it between the chromecast audio and the amp?
Will it affect the quality of music, specially because it's hi-fi from Tidal...

 

I’m pretty certain that would work. The placement also seems correct to me.

 

Just now ordered one based on the recommendations in this thread.

 

I also ordered one, should have by end of week. Thanks!

 

Based on the photos of the internal, I made one of my own. Really easy with very rudimentary soldering skills.

 

I considered doing that myself, but I didn’t have most of the parts on hand. So I took the lazy route and ordered the Switchfoot.

 

Ha ha I hear that.

 

Received mine today. I realize that the logical positioning of this would be between phono pre, and preamp, but my phono pre is the Puffin which does some DSP EQ on the signal, so curious if feeding the Puffin the mono signal, and accepting whatever capacitance or load between cart and phono pre inputs happens, might be a better starting position? Thoughts?

 

I would still put it after the phono pre personally - but it would be easy to try it both ways and let your ears decide.

 

I’m curious why you don’t just use the mono mode built into your Puffin?

 

Oooh, that’s a cool feature! I wish my phono pre had a mono switch.

 

The puffin is really cool. I recently played some Edison 78s. You need to change the phase to actually hear them properly, although you could probably play just the right or left signal. The Puffin also allows you to change the equalization curve to something more appropriate. Combine that with a DJ style turntable with a pitch slider and a 78 cart and you can play just about anything.