Yamaha RX-775 and new home setup

[selp44]

Hello guys,
I will try to make it short. I just moved to a new home, previously I had a 5.1 system in a open concept living room with four floor standing speakers and one center, Yamaha RX-775. For the zone two I had my outside TV with two outdoor speakers. I was able to play the same content inside and out in "party mode" as well as audio outside with a different source on the inside. With that being said my new home has two stories and I am thinking of adding audio to several rooms in the house, but I am having some issues gathering enough intel on what my receiver can do vs what I would like to achieve. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I am not crazy into audio quality, but would like something that is nice and crisp. In a perfect world, I would like to be able to power and control each zone separately, but I am not sure my receiver and other peripherals will make this easy. I'd like to control things with my phone or tablet, my Yamaha receiver I was able to do all that so I like the idea of retaining that functionality.

1. Main living area (huge ceilings) - TV and Audio - was thinking of adding several speakers all the way to the ceiling (attic). Would sometimes like to do the "party mode" setup where I could have video on the TV and audio through the speakers.
2. Secondary/upstairs living area - TV and Audio- this was going to be my main lounge, lazy TV watching, video game playing, area. This is where I was thinking maybe I could use two floor speakers, with a center, and add two ceiling speakers to add the surround effect when watching TV and also for the ceiling speakers to play along with the rest of the house - when desired.
3. Master Bedroom - Audio only - music purposes only large master area and bathroom (not sure if bathroom is big enough for two speakers)? I'm not sure a single speaker is good. So probably two and two?
4. Patio - TV and Audio - I spend most of my time here.. I rarely use my range oven, so grilling is my passion. I like to have a TV outside with outdoor speakers. Right now, my guess would be TV mounted outside on deck area with two outdoor speakers, and add two additional speakers dispersed outside throughout the patio pool area.
5. Garage - Audio Only .. for now - two speakers for music listening.
6. Kitchen - Audio Only - Two ceiling speakers ..

I think that expresses the goals of what I am trying to achieve. I was thinking of maybe buying another Yamaha receiver, RX-A2080, that has three zones and lots of powered outputs for speakers. Maybe combining both receivers I can achieve whole-house-audio and still have a bit of zone control, maybe the RX-775 for patio and garage, while RX-A2080 for Living areas, master and kitchen? or a amp for the pre-outs on the RX-775 would work best? I rely on the expert advice here as to what might be best to do. I know I wont be able to achieve 100% of my desires, but something close works best. I attached somewhat of a layout, hopefully it works?

Thank you in advance
Regards!

 

[BMXTRIX]

Matrixing audio and video is a daunting task and it is made far more difficult when you are combining surround sound areas with stereo areas. Most receivers do not properly convert from surround sound to stereo for secondary audio zones, so those zones should be planned for with analog audio sources. Most TV tuners are still available with analog audio outputs and separate surround sound connections. But, other boxes don't have a mix of both types of connections and you really aren't in a good place with them.

Yes, you can use a 3-zone HDMI A/V receiver and get your 3-TVs going, but it will do nothing for audio only zones.

Typically it is recommended to consider a audio distribution system to achieve this and separate amps. This way every audio zone can pick and choose any source that is desired and can play it back at any volume that is desired. Many of the available audio distribution units support 6 or 8 different analog audio stereo sources and newer models are all controllable from a smart phone. But, consider surround sound areas with video completely separately from stereo areas with a TV and stereo areas without a TV.

The fact is that what you are asking for is a very difficult engineering feat if you want everything controllable from a phone and from a single point of equipment.

I would typically do something like this in a Crestron environment as they are one of the few (only?) manufacturers who offer a HDMI matrix switch that includes audio downmixing to stereo. So, you retain surround sound, but get stereo audio for your non-surround locations. Price ain't cheap on all of it, but it does what you want. Takes up a fair bit of room as well.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Sounds WAY too much thinking for me.

I have multiple rooms alright.

I would just put a small Yamaha MusicCast AVR in each room.

 

[selp44]

Thanks for the response BMXTRIX.
I can definitely separate the surround sound areas from the stereo areas.
With that being said I can retain my Yamaha receiver to operate in whichever way is more efficient, either surround with zone 2 use or stereo use for audio throughout the house. I rely on your expertise for this!

With the aforementioned, keeping my receiver, what would you buy to allow operation of stereo sound throughout the house? ignoring surround areas; or would you use my Yamaha receiver for surround areas and purchase a new system for the stereo audio throughout the house? (any specific models in mind?)

Thanks again!

Matrixing audio and video is a daunting task and it is made far more difficult when you are combining surround sound areas with stereo areas. Most receivers do not properly convert from surround sound to stereo for secondary audio zones, so those zones should be planned for with analog audio sources. Most TV tuners are still available with analog audio outputs and separate surround sound connections. But, other boxes don't have a mix of both types of connections and you really aren't in a good place with them.

Yes, you can use a 3-zone HDMI A/V receiver and get your 3-TVs going, but it will do nothing for audio only zones.

Typically it is recommended to consider a audio distribution system to achieve this and separate amps. This way every audio zone can pick and choose any source that is desired and can play it back at any volume that is desired. Many of the available audio distribution units support 6 or 8 different analog audio stereo sources and newer models are all controllable from a smart phone. But, consider surround sound areas with video completely separately from stereo areas with a TV and stereo areas without a TV.

The fact is that what you are asking for is a very difficult engineering feat if you want everything controllable from a phone and from a single point of equipment.

I would typically do something like this in a Crestron environment as they are one of the few (only?) manufacturers who offer a HDMI matrix switch that includes audio downmixing to stereo. So, you retain surround sound, but get stereo audio for your non-surround locations. Price ain't cheap on all of it, but it does what you want. Takes up a fair bit of room as well.