Miller’s suggestion about changing the preamp’s input selector switch while disconnecting RCA cables between the preamp and a source component will usually work ok, assuming that one remembers to do that.
But if the source component is solid state I would still not feel entirely comfortable about the possibility that depending on the specific designs a large transient could be briefly injected into the output of the source component during the instant the connection is broken, as I described earlier.
Also, if the preamp has a built-in phono stage it would be best to not set the input selector switch to phono mode when disconnecting RCA cables from a line-level source. If that were done it is possible that crosstalk of the brief transient I referred to could occur into the input of that phono stage, where it would then be greatly amplified by the phono stage, ultimately resulting in a significant thump in the speakers given that the preamp and power amp would still be powered up.
Regards,
-- Al
But if the source component is solid state I would still not feel entirely comfortable about the possibility that depending on the specific designs a large transient could be briefly injected into the output of the source component during the instant the connection is broken, as I described earlier.
Also, if the preamp has a built-in phono stage it would be best to not set the input selector switch to phono mode when disconnecting RCA cables from a line-level source. If that were done it is possible that crosstalk of the brief transient I referred to could occur into the input of that phono stage, where it would then be greatly amplified by the phono stage, ultimately resulting in a significant thump in the speakers given that the preamp and power amp would still be powered up.
Regards,
-- Al