Connecting outside speakers to a Sony amp

[Texasbill]

First time poster! I have a Yamaha RX-V995 and a Sony N220. The RX-V995 is connected to a surround sound system in the family room. Additionally, I have a Niles speaker selector to select speakers in an office, dining room, and an outside patio. The problem I'm having is that in order to have the outside speakers at an acceptable volume, I need to crank up the Yamaha receiver, making it too loud in the family room. The family room is hard wired. The rest of the speakers go through the Niles speaker selector. The Sony amp is receiving a signal from the Yamaha receiver and the amps output goes to the Niles speaker selector. The dining room, office and patio speakers are all controlled by in wall speaker volume controls. I assume that I should be able to turn the receiver volume down to the point where the volume in the family room is acceptably low while at the same time turning the amp up so that I can have an acceptable volume on the patio? Any advise?

 

[Verdinut]

First time poster! I have a Yamaha RX-V995 and a Sony N220. The RX-V995 is connected to a surround sound system in the family room. Additionally, I have a Niles speaker selector to select speakers in an office, dining room, and an outside patio. The problem I'm having is that in order to have the outside speakers at an acceptable volume, I need to crank up the Yamaha receiver, making it too loud in the family room. The family room is hard wired. The rest of the speakers go through the Niles speaker selector. The Sony amp is receiving a signal from the Yamaha receiver and the amps output goes to the Niles speaker selector. The dining room, office and patio speakers are all controlled by in wall speaker volume controls. I assume that I should be able to turn the receiver volume down to the point where the volume in the family room is acceptably low while at the same time turning the amp up so that I can have an acceptable volume on the patio? Any advise?

Welcome to Audioholics!

Your Sony amp has a sensivity of less than 0.4v for full rated output, which your receiver preamp voltage should easily supply.

What are the outside speakers, brand and model? What is their sensitivity? Also, can you provide additional info such as the size of your outside area, and your listening distance from those speakers?

With the requested info, someone here should be able to come with an appropriate answer.

Another question: Did you verify with your owner's manual as to the possibility of reducing source input levels for the family room channel speakers? That might solve the problem.

 

[BMXTRIX]

First time poster! I have a Yamaha RX-V995 and a Sony N220. The RX-V995 is connected to a surround sound system in the family room. Additionally, I have a Niles speaker selector to select speakers in an office, dining room, and an outside patio. The problem I'm having is that in order to have the outside speakers at an acceptable volume, I need to crank up the Yamaha receiver, making it too loud in the family room. The family room is hard wired. The rest of the speakers go through the Niles speaker selector. The Sony amp is receiving a signal from the Yamaha receiver and the amps output goes to the Niles speaker selector. The dining room, office and patio speakers are all controlled by in wall speaker volume controls. I assume that I should be able to turn the receiver volume down to the point where the volume in the family room is acceptably low while at the same time turning the amp up so that I can have an acceptable volume on the patio? Any advise?

I'm guessing that you have the Sony amp hooked up to the 'MAIN OUT' of the receiver. This WILL NOT WORK! That main out connection is volume controlled. Most of the time, you would get a two-zone AV receiver which would separate the audio completely for the family room vs. a secondary room. It looks like your receiver is a TWO ZONE unit. It has a set of RCA outputs on it that are labeled 'ZONE 2'. Those RCA connections have completely separate volume control from your 'MAIN OUT' connection which is tied to your main zone.

If you want the audio on all the time and tied to the main zone, then move the connection that goes from the Yamaha to the Sony to your VCR2->OUT connection. This output is full voltage and will send full line level audio to the Sony amplifier at 100% volume. From there, you should turn the volume down in the individual zones to an appropriate listening level. But, the way that receiver is designed, the ZONE 2->OUT RCA connections are a better way to go.

Your issue, if I'm guessing about your setup, is entirely in the fact that you're feeding the amplifier from the 'OUTPUT MAIN' RCA connections on the back of your Yamaha, and that means you are not feeding enough signal to the Sony for your speakers at all times.

https://img.canuckaudiomart.com/uploads/large/2400537-032f0cfb-yamaha-rx-v995-av-receiver.jpg

 

[highfigh]

I'm guessing that you have the Sony amp hooked up to the 'MAIN OUT' of the receiver. This WILL NOT WORK! That main out connection is volume controlled. Most of the time, you would get a two-zone AV receiver which would separate the audio completely for the family room vs. a secondary room. It looks like your receiver is a TWO ZONE unit. It has a set of RCA outputs on it that are labeled 'ZONE 2'. Those RCA connections have completely separate volume control from your 'MAIN OUT' connection which is tied to your main zone.

If you want the audio on all the time and tied to the main zone, then move the connection that goes from the Yamaha to the Sony to your VCR2->OUT connection. This output is full voltage and will send full line level audio to the Sony amplifier at 100% volume. From there, you should turn the volume down in the individual zones to an appropriate listening level. But, the way that receiver is designed, the ZONE 2->OUT RCA connections are a better way to go.

Your issue, if I'm guessing about your setup, is entirely in the fact that you're feeding the amplifier from the 'OUTPUT MAIN' RCA connections on the back of your Yamaha, and that means you are not feeding enough signal to the Sony for your speakers at all times.

https://img.canuckaudiomart.com/uploads/large/2400537-032f0cfb-yamaha-rx-v995-av-receiver.jpg

The manual for that AVR shows that it can feed a Zone 2, but I didn't see the instructions for assigning an output, other than it being the Video 1 audio out.