Any recommendations for an affordable component switch box?

[attakid101 | 267]

I have 6 consoles connected to a single CRT and they’re component ready. I currently have a cheap switch box but the problem is it only has 3 inputs. 
 

Any recommendations for a box with more inputs? I know there are some expensive ones out there but I’m not trying to spend $300 for a switch box, ya know?

Edited November 30, 2022 by attakid101

[RH | 4,900]

Vintage Extron hardware FTW!  Seriously. (And oddly, this is my second reference to this hardware today.)  An example is linked below but you might need to do a bit of research and careful description reading before buying.

Extron was/is a pro-grade A/V equipment maker and this old Composite/Component hardware is out dated and, thus, pretty cheap.  It is excellent, though.

From my observation when I was hunting my desired type of switch, I think these things were made-to-order, so you will need to pay attention to the number of inputs vs. outputs.  Regardless, most of these Switches tend to have more inputs than outputs, so something like an 8x4 might suit your needs, but you can find these in 8x8, 12x8 or even as high as 16x16 configurations, which is a bit ludacris.

You will also want to be sure that it comes with the correct audio output blocks.  If not, you may need to hunt some down.  Mine came with most of what I needed, but I did find a guy who made some homemade ones that I bought to finish off my unit.  Anyway, it does take work to setup and use Extron equipment, but it's not hard. The biggest requirement is time.  You can't beat the price though.  This stuff is dirt cheap for what you get.

Example of what you might be looking for below.  Note, with patience, even a model like this might be "expensive".   I got mind for something like $75, shipped.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304716168901

[nrslam | 474]

If it won't degrade the signal too much for you and are willing to set 2 switches, you could try stacking switchboxes. I've got 4 of them used that way: the first 3 give me 9 console connections and feed into the fourth which determines which of the other 3 boxes are active.  I picked up all the boxes at thrifts for about $5 each and still see them fairly often.

 

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

The one thing I'll say here is to be careful when stacking Nintendo systems through such a device, even when they're rated top notch and powered.  I have a Joytech JS965C which supports component, composite, and s-video (plus ethernet and digital optical audio) which still works perfectly.  However, every Nintendo system that I've ever hooked up to it via an input type that was shared with anything else (ie: any other systems plugged into whatever AV in the Nintendo system is using) shows pretty bad interference on its video signal, even with the other systems being powered off.  On its own on a particular input line on the splitter or plugged directly into an input on the TV, they're fine, but forced to share (even tried using RCA y-cables to attempt to share directly off of the TV input), there's immediate interference.

I will say that I haven't run into such issues with my HDMI-capable Nintendo consoles, but at the moment that consists solely of a Wii U and my wife's Switch.  As far as non-native HDMI support, my SNES and N64 have both been happy to share an HDMI splitter via a RAD2X cable I picked up off of another member about a year ago, although I'm not entirely sure that counts since the system isn't directly interfacing with the AV input in those cases.

[TDIRunner | 2,731]

I'm also here to recommend an Extron switcher.  I haven't priced them out recently, but my 16x8 switcher only cost me $50 a few years ago.  They also made smaller ones if you are only looking for 6 inputs.  You could probably find an 8 input and have room for expansion.  

 

 

 

 

 

Another one I recommend (if you can still find them) would be the Psyclone PSC01 component switchers.  They offer composite, s-video, component, along with RCA audio and digital optical audio.  They have small LCD screens used to show the current input and can be named to just about anything with 8 characters.  They also come with remotes.  I used to own 5 of these and never had any trouble.  I only sold them when I bought my Extron matrix switch. 

 

 

Edited November 30, 2022 by TDIRunner