Multi-room setup questions!

Warenward

Warenward

Audiophyte
My grandparents want surround sound for their living room and have been dying for me to set it up(thinking of doing a 5.1 setup). They also want two speakers outside and two speakers inside the house in another area other than the living room for music as well. Right now we have 2 front speakers for the living room, 2 inceiling speakers, and a subwoofer(they have yet to get the center). They also have two more speakers for outside. With all this said, what kind of receiver will we need and any addons? My grandparents are looking to spend no more than $400, but think I can get $450 out of them for the receiver. I am not to familiar with audio terminology such as "zones", so if you could please break down any explanations given it would be most appreciated.
 
H

herbu

Audioholic Samurai
A 5.1 receiver has 5 amplified speaker outputs plus 1 unamplified subwoofer output. A 7.1 has 7 plus 1, a 9.2 has 9 plus 2, etc. There is sort of a standard setup for 5.1 with Left/Center/Right and Surround Left/Right. The 7.1 adds Rear Surround Left/Right. The 9.1 adds Front Height Left/Right or Front Wide Left/Right.

However, some AVRs give you the option to "assign" the speaker outputs differently. You can take 2 of the outputs and run a pair of speakers in another room. So you could have a 7.1 AVR driving only 5.1 in your TV room, and 2 speakers in a different room. This kind of setup would require no additional amps, but you may be limited as to what you can do with it. For example, you may not be able to watch TV w/ 5.1 AND listen to a CD in the other room at the same time. Read the manual to find out.

In addition to the powered speaker outputs, some AVRs have un-amplified speaker outputs. They're called Pre-Outs as they are Pre Amplifier. They do require another amp to drive speakers. So you run the pre-outs to a separate amp, then to speakers in another room. This is the Zone 2 and Zone 3 you see. An AVR with Zone 2 will have 2 pre-outs for a pair of speakers. An AVR with Zone 2 and Zone 3 will have 2 pair of pre-outs. The advantage of Zones is that you CAN play different sources at the same time. You can be watching TV in one room and listening to music in another room at the same time. The disadvantage is the preouts need additional amplification to drive speakers.

For maximum flexibility for your grandparents with a 5.1 TV room, plus a pair of speakers outside, plus another pair of speakers inside, you would want an AVR with Zone 2 and Zone 3 outputs, AND an amp for Zone 2, AND an amp for Zone 3.

If they would only want a single source playing at any one time, like a CD in the TV room, outside, and separate room of the house, all at the same time, you could just do a 9.1 system. Put in the CD, put your AVR on All Channel Stereo, and all rooms would play the same thing at the same time. But again, it might be a bit cumbersome. Turning speakers on/off and adjusting their volume has to be done in your AVR Setup menu. It could be a little complicated and tiresome for your grandparents. Even using Zones will take a bit of learning on their part, and may not be something they like.

Have you considered a separate AVR for the separate rooms instead of running everything from one?
 
Warenward

Warenward

Audiophyte
I first want to thank you for replying herbu. My grandparents and I have been talking and we have decided to not have the two speakers in the other room and just have a 5.1 in the living room and another 2 speakers outside.(7.1 AVR then with 5.1 in the living room and the other two would be outside) I would like these two different locations to be coming from one receiver if possible. Is it common to go out and get multiple receivers for different rooms or get additional amps for one receiver? That all aside, could you help me out one more time if possible? I was wondering if this receiver is overkill for what I am trying to achieve: Denon: AVR-S700W
My grandmother in particular is left home alone since my grandfather works and she cannot move around a lot for changing her CDs(due to an unfortunate accident) and there is Spotify already integrated into this Denon receiver so she wouldn't have to move around a lot. Zone 2 functionality is a part of the Denon receiver I think and on page 35 of the owner's manual it details this I believe(can you please confirm this?): (Sorry I am new to the site and cannot post links) Would I need an amp to get that Zone 2 functionality? Also, my grandparents desire to have the outside speakers running from another source than the 5.1 setup in the living room. Any recommendations for a receiver?
 
H

herbu

Audioholic Samurai
The Denon S700W looks like it will suit your purpose. It is a 7.1 AVR, but you can assign 2 channels as a powered Zone 2, and just run 5.1 in your TV room. (See p.128 of the owner's manual). The manual says you can play different sources in the main zone and zone 2 at the same time, and the remote has a zone 2 section with which you can control the zone 2 source and volume. No additional amp required. Sounds like just what you want, and a lot of people here like Denon. (I have one.)

BTW, here's the Audioholics review of it: http://www.audioholics.com/av-receiver-reviews/denon-avr-s700w-a-v-receiver
 
Last edited:
newsletter

  • RBHsound.com
  • BlueJeansCable.com
  • SVS Sound Subwoofers
  • Experience the Martin Logan Montis
Top