New house w/ existing system - which receiver(s) do I need?

[rats3g]

Hi everyone! I recently bought a new home which has a preexisting audio system. I have spent some time investigating, mapping the system, and researching. Hopefully, I have included enough information below, but if not please let me know and I will do my best to fill in the gaps. Thank you in advance for taking the time to provide whatever knowledge and/or wisdom you can.

1st Floor

• Living Room
  • Wire drops for four (4) in-ceiling speakers terminating at entertainment center
    • Placement is front left, front right, surround left, surround right
  • Wire drop for one (1) sub-woofer terminating at entertainment center
• Kitchen
  • Two (2) in-ceiling speakers (Klipsch CS-650-R)
  • Speakers are wired to an impedance matching volume control (Russound ALTx-126)
  • Wiring terminates in living room at entertainment center
• Foyer
  • Two (2) in-ceiling speakers (Klipsch CS-650-R)
  • Speakers are wired to an impedance matching volume control (Russound ALTx-126)
  • Wiring terminates in living room at entertainment center

From my research, I believe that I will need a 5.1-channel receiver with speaker level zone 2. My audio inputs are TV/Roku (SPDIF), Bluetooth, and (hopefully) Spotify. I think something like the Yamaha RX-V6A would be sufficient. I'm not a big audiophile but would prefer a good value for the money over just going for the cheapest option.

I haven't looked into options for the in-ceiling speakers, center channel, and sub-woofer but if you have suggestions by all means let me know.

2nd Floor

• Master Bedroom
  • Two (2) in-ceiling speakers (Klipsch CS-650-R)
  • Speakers are wired to an impedance matching volume control (Russound ALTx-126)
  • Wiring terminates in corner of bedroom
• Master Bathroom
  • Two (2) in-ceiling speakers (Klipsch CS-650-R)
  • Speakers are wired to an impedance matching volume control (Russound ALTx-126)
  • Wiring terminates in corner of master bedroom

Here I believe that I only need a 2.0-channel receiver with the ability to power both pairs of speakers simultaneously. There is not a TV in the room so the only audio input would be Bluetooth from a phone. The Sony STR-DH190 seems like a reasonable option and I'd like to prioritize cost in this case due to the expected usage.

Questions

• What receiver is best for the living room? Will I be able to power the surround, kitchen, and foyer speakers simultaneously?
• What receiver is best for the master bedroom?
• When I was mapping the wiring, the connections for kitchen and foyer were wired together so that they appeared as a single pair of speakers instead of two separate pairs. This was also done for the master bedroom and master bathroom speakers. Should I maintain this wiring for my setup?

If you've made it this far, thank you. I really appreciate any assistance you can provide.

 

[panteragstk]

You don't need to wire the speakers together unless you either don't have enough channels, or you don't mind them playing the same thing in both zones without being able to control them individually.

I would go with an AVR that has 3 zone capability for your main floor, then a simple stereo receiver for the bedroom. Stereo receivers usually have A/B speaker posts so that's pretty simple.

An AVR for the living room that has 3 zone capability is a bit more to ask, but should be doable. Your choice of Yamaha should work just fine for that from the specs.

I would go Yamaha for all the receivers if it were me since their control app is very good. Then you can control each zone independently with your phone.

 

[Trebdp83]

Those whole home setups predate the introduction of height speaker processing in receivers. The good news is that they have one or more pair of speakers or wires in the ceilings of the rooms. The bad news is that they are connected to volume controls. So, a living room with four ceiling speakers already installed means you have height speakers ready to go but the wires need to be disconnected from the volume controls for direct connection to a new AVR. The control apps will handle individual zone volume levels themselves.

If one wants to put together systems with height channels in the mix, then there are some things to consider. So, if one wants to enjoy 5.1.4 channels of processing while watching a movie in the living room and also play different music in Zone 2(2.0) and Zone 3(2.0), then a receiver with 13 channels of processing and power will be required and everything could be controlled from an app. Use an eleven channel receiver and lose a pair of height speakers. Use a nine channel receiver and one would give up the height channels altogether when the Zone 2 and Zone 3 are on.

If one wants to enjoy 5.1.2 channels in the master bedroom while setting the bathroom up as Zone 2(2.0), then a receiver with nine channels of processing and power would be required. A seven channel receiver such as the RX-V6A could be used and one would give up the two height channels while watching a movie in bed when Zone 2 is on for somebody in the tub.

Use network connected Yamaha receivers with MusicCast and Spotify Connect and Bluetooth won't even need to come into play. Have fun with it and welcome to the forums.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I like your choice for the family room.

For the bedroom you don't need a receiver at all. Just a basic 2-channel amplifier is all you need. Connect a Bluetooth receiver to it if you want your phone as a source, or hook up a Amazon Alexa or similar as the source. It will play the same source in both rooms, but you will have volume control to adjust as you want.

Something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/185271301874

60 bucks shipped to your door, and it'll run the top floor just fine. It will have plenty of power for the speakers and should be silent when no source is active to it.

 

[rats3g]

Thanks for the replies!

Regarding the living room, it does not currently have speakers in the ceiling - the wires are already run though. My plan was to only go with 5.1 since the wife isn't keen on tower speakers and there isn't furniture correctly placed for bookshelf speakers. Is it viable to use in-ceiling speakers for front left/right and surround left/right?

For the stereo receiver, I have a question when using A+B instead of A or B individually. The manuals I've looked at have said to connect speakers with an impedance of 8ohm or higher for A or B. However, when using A+B they say to use 16 ohm or higher. Is this impedance value the rating for each speaker pair or the impedance of each speaker pair combined (8+8=16). The ceiling speakers I would be connecting to are 8 ohm.

Edit: I just saw BMXTRIX's reply, maybe all I need is an amplifier for the bedroom. Would that avoid the impedance issue above? I already have an Amazon Echo sitting around that I've never found a use for...

 

[BMXTRIX]

Edit: I just saw BMXTRIX's reply, maybe all I need is an amplifier for the bedroom. Would that avoid the impedance issue above? I already have an Amazon Echo sitting around that I've never found a use for...

I've been doing distributed audio for over 20 years. Just use an amp with an Echo hooked up to it. Call it done.

Your speakers have impedance matching volume controls. You're good to go. A good amp will handle a couple of pairs of speakers without any problem at all.

 

[Trebdp83]

The planned setup and usage simplifies it quite a bit. I was just shooting for the moon.

 

[rats3g]

I've been doing distributed audio for over 20 years. Just use an amp with an Echo hooked up to it. Call it done.

Your speakers have impedance matching volume controls. You're good to go. A good amp will handle a couple of pairs of speakers without any problem at all.

Thanks for the information! I really appreciate it. Can't argue with the price either. Amp plus 3.5mm->RCA is a third the price of the receiver.

 

[rats3g]

The planned setup and usage simplifies it quite a bit. I was just shooting for the moon.

I'd love to shoot for the moon, but my wallet says no

 

[BMXTRIX]

Thanks for the information! I really appreciate it. Can't argue with the price either. Amp plus 3.5mm->RCA is a third the price of the receiver.

For what it's worth, if you want to really get a bit more power, the Sonance 260x3 amp is nice as it provides discrete power to all the speakers. But, it is still designed as a single zone setup.

Nonetheless, nothing as cheap as what I linked for that product. This was the cheap one on eBay...

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