Recommend a stereo system to support two separate rooms, simultaneously.

C

crissyfield

Audiophyte
I could use some direction:

I need a system that only needs to deliver stereo sound (2 channel) but I would like it to deliver it into my main room and my kitchen, i.e, through two separate pairs of speakers, simultaneously, through a single audio source. The main room has two 6ohm, Era Design 5, Bookshelf speakers (I think they have been rebranded as a Peachtree stuff) and then a generic set of (6ohm) speakers in the kitchen. And...if the system had Airplay connectivity that would be great...because the source of my music is purely Itunes and Spotify. The rooms I am trying to power are both less than 200 square feet, so tons of power is not necessary. I would appreciate a recommendation or a better place to post the question...My budget is $300-$1000. I'm open to receivers, integrated amps, separates within that budget, with simplicity and longevity being a really important factor. Thanks so much in advance for some advice.

History:

I fried my Arcam Diva 65a, once I added the second set of speakers on the "B posts" and playing both sets simultaneoulsy. The repair shop said it wasn't worth fixing.

I fried a 20 yr old used Yamaha I found at a garage sale, post Arcam death.

I am currently frying the Pioneer VSX-822 my girlfriend picked up at BestBuy by connecting both pairs of speakers to the "Front" posts...because every other channel sounds lame.

What am I doing wrong? Thanks so much for advice.
 
macddmac

macddmac

Audioholic General
Hi and welcome to the forum!
youre running two sets of 6 ohm speakers ( likely 4ohm)off of a receiver that's designed for one and yes, it will likely be dead soon.
your best bet IMO is to buy a 7.1 reciever that a- is rated 6 ohm or better and b- has re-assignable surround back channels.
that way your amps are managing a load that they're better equipped to handle. Your main speakers will be connected to front left and right.
your kitchen speakers will be connected to your surround back (zone2) outputs.
also, make sure your receiver has plenty of ventilation room.
cheers, Mac
 
ImcLoud

ImcLoud

Audioholic Ninja
This would be a nice little system...

Apple TV $89 Apple - Apple TV - View technical specifications for Apple TV.
muse dac $32 Amazon.com : Muse HIFI USB to Coaxial S/PDIF Converter Decoder Convert Digital to Analogue Signal Mini USB DAC PCM 2704 Chipset with USB Cable : Computer Usb Cables : Electronics
opt cable $11 Amazon.com : KabelDirekt Pro Series Optical TOSLINK Digital Audio - Cable ( 3 feet ) : Fiber Optic Audio Cables : Electronics
rca cables 2 of these $23 Amazon.com : KabelDirekt Pro Series Subwoofer Cable ( 3 feet ) / Y - RCA Cable / Digital Cable - 1 x RCA Male to 2 x RCA Male : Rca Audio Cables : Electronics

then a pair of amps, you can choose what ever you want and what I like about using 2 separate amps is you can balance the system easily, run one set if you just want one set on, run the kitchen hotter if you like, ect...

I love these tp60's ther eis another brand smsl that is similar and others like them a lot too... Amazon.com: Topping TP60 Tripath TA2022 50WPC (80WPC 4 Ohm) Mini Amplifier: Electronics these are such a good sounding amp, very nice powerful tripath, of course there are much less expensive options like the Amazon.com: LP-2020A+ Lepai Tripath Class-T Hi-Fi Audio Mini Amplifier with Power Supply: Electronics which I also own and works great...

This will be a pretty direct system and easy to wire up, just plug the apple tv into your dac and the dac into each amp with the splitter cables I linked you to, which if you want another input like an ipod or anything else that has stereo outputs you can just add another pair of them cables and use input #2 on the tp60.... You can also *** a little tv to the system or hook this into your tv with the apples hdmi output.. I think it would be pretty cool to add a little 12" lcd panel to use as a screen for the apple tv so you can see whats playing Amazon.com : Supersonic SC-1311 13-Inch 60Hz LED-Lit TV : Electronics or hook it into your tv of course, but this would be much cooler...

also they have amps with dac built in also, but using two would complicate things, I like the above setup, I think it would be kick ***..
 
J

jotham

Audioholic
You might also consider this if you want to keep the Pioneer receiver that seems to satisfy a lot of your other requirements. It's certainly cheaper then buying a whole new receiver.

Smarthome SELECT 2-Source 2-Zone Speaker Selector with Volume Control

It has volume adjustment on the box and handles 4 - 8 ohm speakers. You would wire the main stereo output from your receiver into this box and then wire each set of speakers into the back.

I would set one of the speakers to max and use the volume control to balance the other speaker. Basically you would be aligning the two sets of speakers and then use the receiver to control overall volume.
 
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