I presume by externally switching, you mean remote control... If you could expose the IR sensor and hide the rest, this would do the job.. or perhaps if there is a large enough area covered by speaker grill cloth that is reasonably transparent, only the LED indicators would show through on the black faced unit and let the IR function work. It comes with an IR remote control... The installation of the front rack handles is optional so they don't have to be installed.
Probably far more than you want to spend as this is high end equipment, but sounds like the function you want...
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www.audioresearch.com/SP17.htmlGot one in my system, great sound, really love it...
The 12volt trigger referenced in the spec is a 12 volt output that activates when the unit is turned on.. I use that to bring up my power amp using a beefy relay.