I would like to get stereo sound in my apartment. I want to hook up two speakers. I have never done this before. I just have an mp3 player, as my sole source of music. I ordered a “mono” amplifier, not knowing that it was "mono." Now, rather than exchange the mono amp for a stereo amp, I would like to get another identical mono amp, and put one amp to each speaker, with channel separation, to create stereo sound.

I called the tech support toll-free number, and asked if this could be done. Here is what they said: Take a “Y” connector with two RCA males on one end, and a 1/8" earphone connector on the other. Plug an RCA prong into the “line in” jack on one amp. Take the other RCA prong and plug into the "line in" on the other amp. Take the other end of the “Y” and plug it into the 1/8"” headphone jack of the mp3 player. Voila: channel separation. Next, connect power between the amps, but don't connect the signal between them.

Then, of course, connect one speaker to one amp, and the other speaker to the other amp.

My questions are: (1)Does this really work? and (2)Does it sound as good as a single stereo amp? Better? Same? Worse?

Your feedback is very much appreciated.

It is the same as having both amplifiers in one box. In some extreme, very high power output situation, it might be a little better because the power supplies are separate, but that isn't very likely.

"connect power between the amps" doesn't really make much sense. Both need to be plugged in to whatever they use for power. No connection between them is required unless you are looking for the convenience of one switch for on/off.

Thanks, Andy.

1. Yes
2. You will need a preamp for it to sound good: else you will have to use digital volume control on the mp3 player. I would advise getting a stereo integrated amp.

By accident you hit an true high end audiophile solution: dual mono.
As AndyH-ha already pointed out, the advantages are probably small but nothing wrong with this setup.
It is a common practice to connect all the audio to 1 group, using different ones sometimes causes earth loops.
You might be a little down on power as you have a power amp but no pre-amp.
A matter of trying.
If to much down an increase in gain of the power amp or a separate pre-amp might do the job.

I agree on getting an integrated amplifier.

An amplifier will amplify the sound, but does not have any controls for volume, the addition of other components (cd player, radio tuner, TV audio, etc.), and relies on the input of the attached device (your mp3 layer) for input and volume control.

An integrated amp adds these and other controls (including a remote control) to the package. It does this by including what is separately called a preamp (preamplifier). So it's an amp and preamp in 1 unit. It is definitely the way to go for you.

If you tell us your budget and what speakers you have, you'll probably get 75 recommendations.