2 zone amp suggestion

[JJG]

Hello,

I would like to purchase an amplifier for my living room and kitchen/dining area with two zones.

In one of them, it would be ideal to have surround sound as I have wiring installed for five speakers, and then for the kitchen, two more speakers.

The idea is to be able to play the sound either in just one of the zones or in both.

What type of amplifier do you recommend? Could you please suggest a particular model?

Thank you very much

 

[Trebdp83]

Welcome to the forums. What is your budget? Any streaming preferences? Airplay? Chromecast?

 

[JJG]

Thank you!

I'm looking to spend between 300 and 500 euros. I'll mainly be using it to play sound directly from my PC, not for streaming, since I've got a video projector.

 

[Trebdp83]

I meant streaming from any music services. Many AVRs support music streaming from network connected Smart devices. Do you game at all on this PC?

 

[JJG]

Ok, sorry; now I get it.
I listen mainly radio on the internet (Radio France) and youtube, as for video TV online and netfilx essentially.
Thanks!

 

[JJG]

And I rarely play VGs

 

[Trebdp83]

You will need to do a bit of homework if you plan on using two different sources in each Zone at the same time. A 5.1 setup in the Main Zone and a 2.0 setup in Zone 2 can be handled easily by new 7.1 AVRs. But, there are limitations depending on how each input source is connected to the AVR. Finding a new 7.1 AVR within budget may not be done as easily.

With a capable AVR, you could view and listen to 5.1 content from a connected PC in the Main Zone while also listening to Internet Radio in Zone 2. Selecting the sources for each Zone and selecting music for Zone 2 can be done from a Smart device if it and the AVR are connected to the same network.

 

[JJG]

Thank you very much for the detailed information.
To clarify, I don't intend to play two different soundtracks simultaneously in each zone. What I'm looking for is the ability to 'mute' or turn off one of the two zones (either the kitchen or the living room) as needed.
From what I understood a new 7.1 AVR should be the option?
Cheers!

 

[Verdinut]

Hello,

I would like to purchase an amplifier for my living room and kitchen/dining area with two zones.

In one of them, it would be ideal to have surround sound as I have wiring installed for five speakers, and then for the kitchen, two more speakers.

The idea is to be able to play the sound either in just one of the zones or in both.

What type of amplifier do you recommend? Could you please suggest a particular model?

Thank you very much

I would recommend either the Yamaha A-S701 or the A-S801 model amplifier. Both of these stereo amps are well built and have a speaker selection switch. Moreover, what I like about these is that they have the old classic Bass & Treble controls, as well as a Loudness adjustment knob.

Here is a review of their A--S801 model:

Yamaha A-S801 Integrated Amplifier Review

The Yamaha A-S801 is an honestly rated 100 watt/ch integrated amplifier with a built in high resolution USB-B DAC to power a serious dedicated two-channel or upscale PC system with pristine fidelity.

www.audioholics.com

 

[lovinthehd]

Thank you very much for the detailed information.
To clarify, I don't intend to play two different soundtracks simultaneously in each zone. What I'm looking for is the ability to 'mute' or turn off one of the two zones (either the kitchen or the living room) as needed.
From what I understood a new 7.1 AVR should be the option?
Cheers!

Just turning one zone off at a time will be fairly easy to accomplish, the question is can you get the content you want to zone 2 in the first place sometimes (like some digital sources, particularly hdmi). Some have a party mode to still allow simultaneous to all zones, even if a separate source for zone 2 might be restricted. A 7.1 avr should work generally (i.e. with 7 channels of on-board amp available, 2 of which that can be assigned for zone 2). Good to refer to the manual to see what options are available.

 

[Trebdp83]

Thank you very much for the detailed information.
To clarify, I don't intend to play two different soundtracks simultaneously in each zone. What I'm looking for is the ability to 'mute' or turn off one of the two zones (either the kitchen or the living room) as needed.
From what I understood a new 7.1 AVR should be the option?
Cheers!

With wires present for five speakersin the Main Zone, a 7.1 receiver makes sense for use with your two Zones. You can wire up each Zone and turn them on or off as desired independently. Again, a Smart device on the same network can control each Zone easily enough.

 

[JJG]

With wires present for five speakersin the Main Zone, a 7.1 receiver makes sense for use with your two Zones. You can wire up each Zone and turn them on or off as desired independently. Again, a Smart device on the same network can control each Zone easily enough.
View attachment 63414
View attachment 63415

Thanks a lot. I've already wired up the spaces since I did some isolation works at the house. I leave a picture so you can get an idea.

From what I understand from the PC/laptop I could do the muting and not from the AVR itself. Sorry for my ignorance and thanks again

 

[Trebdp83]

Yes, you could just mute the audio in the laptop. The reason I mentioned a network connection is because many receivers can stream music from various services with a network connection and use a Smart device as a remote controller.

As an example, I posted pics of the MusicCast app in my Phone as one of my own receivers was playing music from an internet radio station in Zone 2 and the Main Zone was set to the input source device connected to the HDMI1 port which I renamed PC for the purposes of this thread.

So, if you were using a newer Yamaha receiver in your home, you could use the Yamaha MusicCast app to control the goings on in each Zone and to stream music directly from various services without having to use the PC at all. If the PC is set up as a network media server, the music stored in it could also be accessed from the MusicCast app.

So, while preparing food in the kitchen, you could take out your Smart Phone and select an internet radio station to play in the kitchen from the MusicCast app. Music will be streamed directly to the receiver. It can be set to automatically resume the same station anytime the power is turned back on in Zone 2.

 

[JJG]

Yes, you could just mute the audio in the laptop. The reason I mentioned a network connection is because many receivers can stream music from various services with a network connection and use a Smart device as a remote controller.

As an example, I posted pics of the MusicCast app in my Phone as one of my own receivers was playing music from an internet radio station in Zone 2 and the Main Zone was set to the input source device connected to the HDMI1 port which I renamed PC for the purposes of this thread.

So, if you were using a newer Yamaha receiver in your home, you could use the Yamaha MusicCast app to control the goings on in each Zone and to stream music directly from various services without having to use the PC at all. If the PC is set up as a network media server, the music stored in it could also be accessed from the MusicCast app.

So, while preparing food in the kitchen, you could take out your Smart Phone and select an internet radio station to play in the kitchen from the MusicCast app. Music will be streamed directly to the receiver. It can be set to automatically resume the same station anytime the power is turned back on in Zone 2.

Thanks so much Treb. You really helped!