Speaker selector box only has 2 amp inputs but 6 outputs. What now?

[ThirdEye]

No. You need to rewire. If you use it like it is you will have to run it in mono, as some rooms will have only the left channel and some just the right.

Quite honestly this is a start from scratch job as it was wired by an idiot.

Ok I'll get up there and see what can be done. Thanks!

 

[ThirdEye]

Ok I think I have one last question. It looks like I can rewire so that all speakers are on their own cable coming out of the wall. Initially I thought it would be too much powering the 60W speakers their own 80W channels, but if I don't have the volume extremely high then wouldn't the actual power output stay quite a bit under 80W beign tolerable for my speakers? If they'll be safe on 80W channels then I'll just go ahead and install a 7th in wall speaker to complete the 7.1 system and make life easier.

 

[highfigh]

It looks like this:

That looks like parallel- just wanted to be clear. You just want a "Wall of Sound", right?

 

[ThirdEye]

That looks like parallel- just wanted to be clear. You just want a "Wall of Sound", right?

Initially that was the plan until I was told I need to rewire. Since I'm rewiring, I might as well add a 7th speaker and try 7.1, but I'm mostly interested in using the speakers for music.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Ok I think I have one last question. It looks like I can rewire so that all speakers are on their own cable coming out of the wall. Initially I thought it would be too much powering the 60W speakers their own 80W channels, but if I don't have the volume extremely high then wouldn't the actual power output stay quite a bit under 80W beign tolerable for my speakers? If they'll be safe on 80W channels then I'll just go ahead and install a 7th in wall speaker to complete the 7.1 system and make life easier.

That's correct.

In fact, if you are powering everything from a single A/V receiver than the power rating is very likely well UNDER what it is rated at when you are driving all channels simultaneously. But, you can reasonably expect to have no issues unless you really crank the volume.

 

[ThirdEye]

That's correct.

In fact, if you are powering everything from a single A/V receiver than the power rating is very likely well UNDER what it is rated at when you are driving all channels simultaneously. But, you can reasonably expect to have no issues unless you really crank the volume.

Excellent. That's very reassuring to know. I went ahead and ordered two more in wall speakers. These are different than the JBLs and each are good for 100W I believe. So I'm thinking of just adding one on top of the other six and having all 7 on 7 channels (7.1). Or I could add both and have them on two channels, while having the original six on 3 channels (5.1). The latter option would of course give me the option of adding 2 more at a later time to make it a 7.1 system (a total of 4 single 100W speakers and 3 pairs of 60W JBLs).

I want to thank all of you for your help. Feel free to tell me if I'm out of my mind to consider having 10 speakers in one room

 

[TLS Guy]

Excellent. That's very reassuring to know. I went ahead and ordered two more in wall speakers. These are different than the JBLs and each are good for 100W I believe. So I'm thinking of just adding one on top of the other six and having all 7 on 7 channels (7.1). Or I could add both and have them on two channels, while having the original six on 3 channels (5.1). The latter option would of course give me the option of adding 2 more at a later time to make it a 7.1 system (a total of 4 single 100W speakers and 3 pairs of 60W JBLs).

I want to thank all of you for your help. Feel free to tell me if I'm out of my mind to consider having 10 speakers in one room

Yes, you're out of your mind!

This is the correct placement for a 7.1 system.

Don't use more than one speaker per channel. If you use more the speakers interfere with one another and upset the frequency response, by comb filtering.

Read up on all this and do it by the book.

 

[ThirdEye]

Yes, you're out of your mind!

This is the correct placement for a 7.1 system.

Don't use more than one speaker per channel. If you use more the speakers interfere with one another and upset the frequency response, by comb filtering.

Read up on all this and do it by the book.

I wasn't aware of comb filtering but would this problem persist with a speaker selector box? If I found a box that has at least 3 inputs would you still advise against using two speakers per channel?

Thanks for the layout. Unfortunately the drywall was put up after the wire was layed so the drywall workers left squares cut out to feed the wire through. Too much patch work for me to rearrange.

 

[TLS Guy]

I wasn't aware of comb filtering but would this problem persist with a speaker selector box? If I found a box that has at least 3 inputs would you still advise against using two speakers per channel?

Thanks for the layout. Unfortunately the drywall was put up after the wire was layed so the drywall workers left squares cut out to feed the wire through. Too much patch work for me to rearrange.

If you don't place your speakers correctly, you are wasting your time, and yes only ONE speaker per channel.

I would for get the speaker selector. Set up you home theater correctly in your large room and use two two channel amps from zone 2 for the other rooms.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Honestly, I think we can all appreciate your inexperience with A/V, but the problem I'm having with this discussion is that you keep telling us what you are going to do. This would be fine if you knew what you were doing, but you don't.

Why not tell us what you WANT to do, and ask how to accomplish it properly so that you only have to do it once and then you will have a properly working system for years to come without wasting any additional money on things you don't need and won't help the quality of your setup and system?

In-wall speakers can sound decent, but have tremendous bleed-over into other rooms.

A typical multi-room setup, on the entry level side, uses a single stereo amplifier and ONE pair of speakers per room. They are connected from the speakers, to a volume control, then back to the amplifier or a speaker selector.

A typical surround system (5.1 or 7.1) is shown above. Surround is NOT just having a bunch of speakers. The speakers are placed and connected in such a way so that if someone walks off the left side of the screen, their voice follows and carries with them to the left. In a stadium, you get envolped by the sound of people all around you. Behind, to your sides, and in front.

To accoplish this, you can tell that proper speaker placement is important.

To do it well, proper wiring, proper connections, proper SPEAKERS are all important as well.

A speaker rated to 100 or 1,000 watts may seem like a good idea, but the speaker itself could be of really cruddy quality, so that is why asking about what to buy is so important before you make any purchases.

A good A/V surround receiver will offer 5.1 to 7.1 audio. A better one will offer 7.1 audio with a zone 2 output. Zone 2 output is what feeds a stereo amplifier, which then feeds the rest of your home with stereo audio.

Stereo - as in left/right. That means two speakers per room. If you are looking for even coverage, then 4 speakers in a larger room is acceptable. This is not 'blast you out of the room' audio, but nice, comfortable level, audio.

If you want 'blast you away' audio in other rooms, then products like serious multi-channel amplifiers can be used to really deliver the power.
Like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Speakercraft-BB-1265-12-Channel-65-WattPower-Amplifier-/290417399651?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item439e39d763
or this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/SONANCE-SONAMP-1250-HIGH-END-12-CHANNEL-POWER-AMP-/230546229631?pt=AU_Electronics_Audio_Amplifiers&hash=item35ada0497f

Those amps are stable for up to 2 speakers per connection (4 speakers in a stereo zone total), and deliver discrete power to all channels, so you don't get significant fall off in power as more speakers are in use. They are also bridgeable if more power is needed in a specific area of your home for some reason.

This can all get very pricey, which is why buying the right gear is very important instead of just throwing money at the situation and walking away with something that is difficult to use and doesn't make you happy.

I personally run a 12+ zone A/V distributed system in my home which I setup myself. I'm mostly happy, and I'm happiest with my stereo rooms which each have a dedicated 12 button keypad. I just press one button and the room turns on from WITHIN the room and I control volume for the room right at the keypad in the room and can control the source as well.

You need to slow down some, ask some more questions, and be a bit less impulsive on things. There is a ton of information on this website which can help, and people are more than happy to point you in the right direction if you tell us what you are really trying to achieve, what type of budget you have, and how willing you are to dig in do some work to get it done.

 

[ThirdEye]

Honestly, I think we can all appreciate your inexperience with A/V, but the problem I'm having with this discussion is that you keep telling us what you are going to do. This would be fine if you knew what you were doing, but you don't.

I've made some assumptions but I know enough of what I'm doing, which is why I'm getting input from this forum instead of blindly connecting wires and turning the power on.

Why not tell us what you WANT to do, and ask how to accomplish it properly so that you only have to do it once and then you will have a properly working system for years to come without wasting any additional money on things you don't need and won't help the quality of your setup and system?

In-wall speakers can sound decent, but have tremendous bleed-over into other rooms.

I'm not worried about bleed-over. It's my house and I have no roommates. I wanted in wall speakers so I can hide them. As far as telling you what I want to do all I can say is that I mostly want to listen to music but have the speakers still function for TV (In the main zone only). That's why I got the AV receiver. The other two zones are for music only and since I'm the only one living here, only one zone needs to be on at a time.

A typical multi-room setup, on the entry level side, uses a single stereo amplifier and ONE pair of speakers per room. They are connected from the speakers, to a volume control, then back to the amplifier or a speaker selector.

A typical surround system (5.1 or 7.1) is shown above. Surround is NOT just having a bunch of speakers. The speakers are placed and connected in such a way so that if someone walks off the left side of the screen, their voice follows and carries with them to the left. In a stadium, you get envolped by the sound of people all around you. Behind, to your sides, and in front.

To accoplish this, you can tell that proper speaker placement is important.

I knew speaker placement mattered but the way the contractors decided where to leave the speaker wire wasn't exclusively for TV viewing. The large zone is the living room and kitchen with a bar inbetween(as well as laundry area). The speakers are arranged so that music/TV can be heard well from multiple points (Couch, sink, washer/dryer). It's not the most preferable arrangement but it is good enough for me. There are six current speakers that are staying as is and I'm thrilled to place number sever anywhere I choose.

To do it well, proper wiring, proper connections, proper SPEAKERS are all important as well.

A speaker rated to 100 or 1,000 watts may seem like a good idea, but the speaker itself could be of really cruddy quality, so that is why asking about what to buy is so important before you make any purchases.

The speakers were bought in 2006 and have been sitting in the boxes since. If I had just bought them, I may have gone a different route but I found what I thought to be the best bang for what I was willing to spend at the time. http://www.amazon.com/JBL-SoundPoint-SP5-5-25-Inch-Speaker/dp/B00005RE7Q

A good A/V surround receiver will offer 5.1 to 7.1 audio. A better one will offer 7.1 audio with a zone 2 output. Zone 2 output is what feeds a stereo amplifier, which then feeds the rest of your home with stereo audio.

My AVR is 7.1 with zone 2 preouts.

Stereo - as in left/right. That means two speakers per room. If you are looking for even coverage, then 4 speakers in a larger room is acceptable. This is not 'blast you out of the room' audio, but nice, comfortable level, audio.

Ok, now I'm getting a little confused again. You're talking about 4 speakers on two channels. Two left and two right for stereo sound. I don't quite understand why that is acceptable for stereo, but I can't have 2 speakers on Left Surround and 2 on Right Surround because of comb filtering.

If you want 'blast you away' audio in other rooms, then products like serious multi-channel amplifiers can be used to really deliver the power.
Like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Speakercraft-BB-1265-12-Channel-65-WattPower-Amplifier-/290417399651?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item439e39d763
or this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/SONANCE-SONAMP-1250-HIGH-END-12-CHANNEL-POWER-AMP-/230546229631?pt=AU_Electronics_Audio_Amplifiers&hash=item35ada0497f

Those amps are stable for up to 2 speakers per connection (4 speakers in a stereo zone total), and deliver discrete power to all channels, so you don't get significant fall off in power as more speakers are in use. They are also bridgeable if more power is needed in a specific area of your home for some reason.

Very nice amps but very unnecessary. The two other zones are a bathroom and bedroom and I'm not looking for any serious sound from either (Which is why I just have two speakers for each)

This can all get very pricey, which is why buying the right gear is very important instead of just throwing money at the situation and walking away with something that is difficult to use and doesn't make you happy.

I personally run a 12+ zone A/V distributed system in my home which I setup myself. I'm mostly happy, and I'm happiest with my stereo rooms which each have a dedicated 12 button keypad. I just press one button and the room turns on from WITHIN the room and I control volume for the room right at the keypad in the room and can control the source as well.

You need to slow down some, ask some more questions, and be a bit less impulsive on things. There is a ton of information on this website which can help, and people are more than happy to point you in the right direction if you tell us what you are really trying to achieve, what type of budget you have, and how willing you are to dig in do some work to get it done.

I don't know why I seem impulsive. The only thing I bought that I don't need is the ss6. I just didn't know it was for preamps. It's not like I blindly connected all of this equipment together. Nothing has been powered up yet so enough with your labels of "impulsive" and "don't know what you're doing".

 

[BMXTRIX]

I've made some assumptions but I know enough of what I'm doing, which is why I'm getting input from this forum instead of blindly connecting wires and turning the power on.

There is a lot of what you continue to be repeating that indicates that you aren't familiar with how surround sound works, how audio amplification works and how a typical distributed audio system works to indicate that you are inexperienced. Not dumb, or stupid, just inexperienced. Which is where everyone here was at once upon a time.

I'm not worried about bleed-over. It's my house and I have no roommates. I wanted in wall speakers so I can hide them.

That's information being provided for the first time as far as I know, so it is good to know.

As far as telling you what I want to do all I can say is that I mostly want to listen to music but have the speakers still function for TV (In the main zone only). That's why I got the AV receiver.

Okay, so you are looking for surround sound at the TV? Or just stereo?
Are you looking to really rock out or just have low level audio?
Do you have a good subwoofer to fill in the low end? Do you want good bass response?
With where your wiring is, do you have a proper setup for surround sound, or just two speakers by the TV?

I'm not asking to be a pain, but because what you want dictates the responses, and you aren't just saying exactly what you want from your TV listening area.

The other two zones are for music only and since I'm the only one living here, only one zone needs to be on at a time.

This is fine, but because I don't know if you have a proper surround setup at the main TV area, I don't know if you should be adding an external stereo amp to preserve the quality in that area and protect your A/V receiver, or just run off the amplified zone 2 output (if your receiver supports it).

I knew speaker placement mattered but the way the contractors decided where to leave the speaker wire wasn't exclusively for TV viewing. The large zone is the living room and kitchen with a bar inbetween(as well as laundry area). The speakers are arranged so that music/TV can be heard well from multiple points (Couch, sink, washer/dryer). It's not the most preferable arrangement but it is good enough for me. There are six current speakers that are staying as is and I'm thrilled to place number sever anywhere I choose.

So, you don't care about stereo sounding good, or about audio quality in the space, you just want to hear something? (serious question) This is a audio forum, and at a very practical level, there is little about the way this was wired which sounds like the contractor had a clue at all. If I paid a contractor to wire for surround, I would go ballistic if they effed up as bad as it sounds like this guy did. The diagrams are above, but you are immediately going to have quality audio issues it sounds like. You don't have to do anything, but the speakers really should all be wired one speaker per channel on the receiver.

The speakers were bought in 2006 and have been sitting in the boxes since. If I had just bought them, I may have gone a different route but I found what I thought to be the best bang for what I was willing to spend at the time. http://www.amazon.com/JBL-SoundPoint-SP5-5-25-Inch-Speaker/dp/B00005RE7Q

Nothing wrong with the speakers. People could weigh in on them, but it hardly matters since you have them already.

My AVR is 7.1 with zone 2 preouts.

Yes, I missed that for whatever reason - Pioneer VSX-30...

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/HomeEntertainment/AV-Receivers/EliteReceivers/ci.VSX-30.Kuro

Ok, now I'm getting a little confused again. You're talking about 4 speakers on two channels. Two left and two right for stereo sound. I don't quite understand why that is acceptable for stereo, but I can't have 2 speakers on Left Surround and 2 on Right Surround because of comb filtering.

There are exceptions to rules depending on space and needs. Even low level coverage can be done with 4 speakers sometimes better than 2 speakers which have to be turned up louder and create hot spots within a space. Distributed audio and surround sound are very diffierent animals and get treated differently. So, yes, sometimes 4 speakers is allowed, sometimes it is not. In fact, typically it is not done, but sometimes it could be beneficial.

Very nice amps but very unnecessary. The two other zones are a bathroom and bedroom and I'm not looking for any serious sound from either (Which is why I just have two speakers for each)

If you have a speaker selector, it may be possible to use the main stereo zone to turn on/off each of the other pairs of speakers individually without harming the audio significantly in the main zone and without need of an additional stereo amplifier. The ones I listed, as I said, were to really provide solid distributed audio, but are not typical. More typical is a surround receiver then a single stereo amplifier.

I don't know why I seem impulsive. The only thing I bought that I don't need is the ss6. I just didn't know it was for preamps.

The SS6 is not for preamps. It also could still be a useful part of your setup. You're acting impulsive not because you have done something wrong, but because you seem to be in a rush (to me).

It's not like I blindly connected all of this equipment together. Nothing has been powered up yet so enough with your labels of "impulsive" and "don't know what you're doing".

No offense is meant. Inexperience and new products lead to impulsiveness. As I said, every single one of us has been there before, many a time without the Internet so we got stuck asking for help from clueless store employees and friends who knew even less. It really isn't meant as an insult.

So, let's review your system and I will have some questions:
1. Where is your TV going in the drawings you have?
2. It looks like there are 6 speakers in your main room. That IS what I would call a poor choice to use because it will not produce acceptable sound in my experience.
3. There are 2 speakers on one wall, and two speakers on the opposite wall. Those speakers look like good location for the left and right main speakers, and the left and right surrounds.
4. No center channel, but typically a cabinet would go where the speaker wiring comes out of the wall, and a TV would go directly above it. But! By you drawing, it looks like that may not be possible.

Could you please elaborate on where the TV is going, or where you would like it to go? Can it go above where the speakers come out of the wall?
How accurate is that drawing?
Where is the possibility to put a 7th speaker in that setup?

5. There are two additional zones (rooms) of audio which are also wired to the location where all the speakers come out... correct?

6. You would like to listen to only one room at a time... ?

I would try to figure out the surround sound setup first - figure that SINGLE room out all by itself in a manner which gives you quality audio that you will be happy with.

Don't double up speakers, don't do anything like that. Just one speaker to one channel of the receiver in some approximation of what you are after. The diagrams provided are LAW - you can't mess with them much and still expect 5.1 surround sound. Don't confuse 5 speakers with 5.1 surround. They are extremely different concepts. If you don't have a subwoofer, get one. 5.25" speakers won't give the bass reproduction necessary for any sort of low end in the room. In rooms where I can't put a subwoofer, I always recommend 8" speakers minimum.

Once your surround sound setup is figured out, you need to determine if you have the potential for a powered zone 2 output on the receiver which can then be fed to the speaker selector independently and then to the two pairs of speakers (independently) in the other rooms. This is where I would recommend the SS6.

I checked, and confirmed that the VSX-30 allows for zone 2 to be powered directly from the amplifier, so I would wire the other rooms from zone 2 output of the receiver and connect the speaker wires from the surround back/zone 2 speaker terminals of the receiver to the SS6, then the SS6 to the two pairs of speakers in the other room. One speaker per wire! No doubling up. One zone on at a time means up to 80 watts per speaker could be delivered. Good sound in the other rooms!

You have some big plans, and if this is your home, that you plan to live in for years, then I strongly recommend you take the time to do it right. Provide LOTS of information - and you will get guidance.

 

[ThirdEye]

There is a lot of what you continue to be repeating that indicates that you aren't familiar with how surround sound works, how audio amplification works and how a typical distributed audio system works to indicate that you are inexperienced. Not dumb, or stupid, just inexperienced. Which is where everyone here was at once upon a time.

I admit I got a little defensive and I'm sorry for that. I've been a little frustrated with this project (and other things). I greatly appreciate your continued help!

Okay, so you are looking for surround sound at the TV? Or just stereo?
Are you looking to really rock out or just have low level audio?
Do you have a good subwoofer to fill in the low end? Do you want good bass response?
With where your wiring is, do you have a proper setup for surround sound, or just two speakers by the TV?

I'd like to have surround sound at the TV if it doesn't sound like garbage.

I have a decent sub but will upgrade after the holidays. (probably going with epik)

The wall that the tv is in front of has two in wall speakers. However since I have 6 total, my plan is to add a 7th (since my receiver is 7.1) and I suppose I'll have it on that wall so I can have a center, left, and right.

So, you don't care about stereo sounding good, or about audio quality in the space, you just want to hear something? (serious question) This is a audio forum, and at a very practical level, there is little about the way this was wired which sounds like the contractor had a clue at all. If I paid a contractor to wire for surround, I would go ballistic if they effed up as bad as it sounds like this guy did. The diagrams are above, but you are immediately going to have quality audio issues it sounds like. You don't have to do anything, but the speakers really should all be wired one speaker per channel on the receiver.

I'm going to absolutely rewire. I asked the contractor who did the electrical if he could recommend someone and he said he'd do it for no extra charge. I figured he knew what he was doing so I accepted. I guess I'm just lucky that the electrical is sound.

I do care about sound, I'd just rather find a way to not have to patch any holes in the drywall.

If you have a speaker selector, it may be possible to use the main stereo zone to turn on/off each of the other pairs of speakers individually without harming the audio significantly in the main zone and without need of an additional stereo amplifier. The ones I listed, as I said, were to really provide solid distributed audio, but are not typical. More typical is a surround receiver then a single stereo amplifier.

I have plans to just get 2*2 channel amps or a 4 channel amp to take care of those and run them off the preouts.

The SS6 is not for preamps. It also could still be a useful part of your setup. You're acting impulsive not because you have done something wrong, but because you seem to be in a rush (to me).

Yeah, I'm a little eager. I've been living in here with holes in my drywall for quite some time and nothing but my logitec 5.1 system running off of my PC. I'll keep the SS6 if it's really useful, but if the money is better spent elsewhere then that's what I'll do.

So, let's review your system and I will have some questions:
1. Where is your TV going in the drawings you have?
2. It looks like there are 6 speakers in your main room. That IS what I would call a poor choice to use because it will not produce acceptable sound in my experience.
3. There are 2 speakers on one wall, and two speakers on the opposite wall. Those speakers look like good location for the left and right main speakers, and the left and right surrounds.
4. No center channel, but typically a cabinet would go where the speaker wiring comes out of the wall, and a TV would go directly above it. But! By you drawing, it looks like that may not be possible.

Could you please elaborate on where the TV is going, or where you would like it to go? Can it go above where the speakers come out of the wall?
How accurate is that drawing?
Where is the possibility to put a 7th speaker in that setup?

5. There are two additional zones (rooms) of audio which are also wired to the location where all the speakers come out... correct?

6. You would like to listen to only one room at a time... ?

The original image was just to give an idea. Here's how it looks precisely:

The room is rather large. Approx 25' X 35'. The ceiling is 10' and the speakers are near the top (I know it's terrible to have them up there. Originally we thought we'd have wall mounted speakers that can be angled whichever way... but unfortunately we decided in walls would look nicer.

The two speakers on the TV wall and the two in the rear are precisely across from eachother.

The 7th speaker can go anywhere. I figure I'll put it on the wall where the TV is, and make it a center.... but I sure would like to have some speakers on the bare wall. Since the AVR can handle 6-16 ohms, I sure would like to put each pair in series so I can add 4 more independent speakers to get all areas covered. Of course I haven't forgotten about comb filtering and respect everyone's advice to not double up, but do you think it would really be that noticable? The room is all open and the walls are all insulated. Wouldn't the sound waves bounce around everywhere and blend in? Should I experiment to see if it's noticable or would I be wasting time? I'm sorry for stubbornly staying on this topic but I just can't grasp how I could really hear differences when there are 10 speakers, especially since they are all at the top and don't directly pointed downward towards the primary listening area.



#5. Yes, the other zones come out there as well.

#6. Yes, one room at a time is my intent but I'd like the option to have other rooms (maybe all rooms) going together to compliment the room I'm in at the moment.

Once your surround sound setup is figured out, you need to determine if you have the potential for a powered zone 2 output on the receiver which can then be fed to the speaker selector independently and then to the two pairs of speakers (independently) in the other rooms. This is where I would recommend the SS6.

I was thinking this too but maybe still returning and getting an SS4 or something with more inputs (if such a thing exists) so I could have more power if ever needed. Then again, I'm not opposed to putting them on their own amp.

I checked, and confirmed that the VSX-30 allows for zone 2 to be powered directly from the amplifier, so I would wire the other rooms from zone 2 output of the receiver and connect the speaker wires from the surround back/zone 2 speaker terminals of the receiver to the SS6, then the SS6 to the two pairs of speakers in the other room. One speaker per wire! No doubling up. One zone on at a time means up to 80 watts per speaker could be delivered. Good sound in the other rooms!

I noticed that in the manual. It allows me to have 5.1 in the main room and have zone 2 simultaneoulsy going.

However, it also says that I can have 9.1 by adding front wides or front highs added to 7.1 but not explaining how. I assume it's with the speaker B outputs, but then it goes on to say that I can have 7.1 when not using B speakers or 5.1 when using B speakers.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Third time I am trying to write up this fairly extensive response, so I'm dumping your comments and hopefully it will work this time!

Your room isn't quite as bad as it looked in the first drawing. That new drawing really goes a long way to helping to understand your home setup.

Now, here is the reality of your situation:

The family room - DUMP THE SIDE SPEAKERS!

No, not really, but for the purpose of 'surround sound' you absolutely must not use or think about those speakers.

What you need to do is to properly break up your home into the separate zones you have.

Your family room currently doesn't have 6 speakers. It has TWO ZONES. The first zone is your main surround listening area. This consists of the left and right main speakers and the surround left and right speakers. You intend (and should) add a center channel and a subwoofer. This will give you a solid 5.1 audio setup.

Could you add more speakers?

NO! Surround sound has rules! You have to follow them if you want good surround sound. So, your room should look very similar to this when done with the surround sound setup.

Yes, the speakers are a bit high - up to you if you want to bring them down some in the front.

Now, I'm not ignoring the rest of the speakers in your home - but they aren't a part of surround sound. You have got to focus on JUST the surround sound and getting that right to start off with. One speaker to one matching channel output on your surround receiver.

Front Left, Front Right, Center, Surround Left, Surround Right, and the RCA connection for the subwoofer.

This leaves the surround back connection as well as the front height/wide speaker connections unused. THIS IS FINE FOR NOW!

Get all of this setup, then use the automatic room calibration microphone to get the setup completed for your surround system. This will give you an accurate and proper surround setup when you are sitting on the couch across from the TV enjoying a show or movie.

Now, let's look at the rest of your home and the 3 stereo zones you have remaining.

One stereo zone is in the family room, off to the side, and two other zones in other rooms.

This is where you use the SS6 and the SURROUND BACK output of your VSX-30 receiver.

From page 23 of your owner's manual (with some paraphrasing!):
Connect your SS6 to the surround back speakers terminal.
Select 'ZONE 2' from the Speaker System menu (page 105 of your owner's manual)

Once the SS6 is hooked up to the receiver on the zone 2/surround back output, you can connect the other three pairs of stereo speakers to the SS6 and enjoy stereo audio in any (or all) of the other locations. You can listen to any ONE room, or ALL rooms or any combination thereof at the same time! This system is not very limiting except for ONE key point...

The other rooms will be playing audio at the same volume if they are all on at once. Depending on the size of the rooms, this may not be acceptable and would be a reason NOT to use the SS6.

Instead, you probably should use a speaker selector with an integrated volume control for each output.

The Sonance SS4VC, for example, will do exactly this. It is identical to your SS6, except it only can handle 4 extra stereo speaker pairs, and it has integrated volume control.

So, your three stereo speaker zones get hooked up to one output each of the SS6/SS4 (whichever) as follows...
Input - From Surround Back output of your VSX-30 receiver
Output 1 - Family room stereo speakers
Output 2 - Room 1 stereo speakers
Output 3 - Room 2 stereo speakers
Output 4 - OPEN! Don't connect anything

Once this is all said and done, you will be able to listen to all 11 speakers in your home plus the subwoofer if you want to, or you can sit down and just listen to a movie the way it was meant to be listened to.

Don't confuse more speakers with 7.1 or 9.2 or anything like that!

For example, I have a 7.1 audio setup in my basement, and a 5.1 audio setup in my family room, and another 11 stereo zones of audio in the rest of my home. I can turn ALL my speakers on at once - but that does not make my home into a 34.2 audio setup! It makes my home a 7.1 setup, a 5.1 setup, and 11 stereo zones which all happen to be on at the same time.

Your home will be as follows:
Family room - surround zone - 5.1 audio setup
Family room - separate stereo zone
Room 1 - stereo zone
Room 2 - stereo zone

The nice thing is that you will be able to adjust your setup as you like and listen to what you like and you will be able to ENJOY your setup because you know it will be setup and working properly.

If you do decide you want/need more power to the other speakers in your home, you can go with an external multi-channel amplifier, like one of the ones I listed earlier. Yes, you called that overkill, but that is exactly what you are asking for - more power, so it may be appropriate at that point if you do need it.

Also, larger speakers tend to sound a lot better. I use 6" speakers throughout my home and they sound okay, but I've started using 8" speakers from Monoprice and I do find they deliver more bass and better response than the far more expensive Sonance speakers in the rest of my home. So, perhaps a speaker upgrade may be in order at some point.

Your setup is workable, and you have the gear now it sounds like, so why not just go ahead and get it all going? Just follow my directions, and you should have a system which you are happy with.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Here's a drawing of the proper setup that I would use for your home...

 

[TLS Guy]

Here's a drawing of the proper setup that I would use for your home...

You really have put a lot of thought into sensibly guiding that new member. That is service beyond the call, that we often see on these forums.

I hope the OP appreciates all your work and dedication. You just can't produce work of this quality out of the back of the proverbial neck.

I hope we hear from the poster again, but I fear he has tuned us out.

 

[ThirdEye]

Wow, BMXTRIX, that is an incredibly extensive post. I'm out of town right now, typing/reading with my phone, so please hang tight until Wednesday when I return so I can give a proper response. Thanks!

 

[ThirdEye]

BMXTRIX, I cannot thank you enough for your efforts to help me. You are very generous, very thorough, you obviously know what you're talking about, and I'd be an idiot to not take your advice.

I'm going to put the bedroom and bathroom on in-wall volume controls, so the Sonance SS4VC isn't necessary. A friend of mine has a 4 X 100W amp that he is going to give me so I'd like to just use that to power the other zones (bed, bath, and family room side speakers) instead of running them off of the back surrounds of the AVR. I understand that I can go ahead and connect the amp to the zone 2 outs of the AVR and to the inputs of the SS6. However doing so I can only use 2 of the 4 amp channels. I'm sure it will be enough but if I have free channels shouldn't I use them somehow? I'm not sure how to go about it because I can only find speaker selectors with 2 inputs. I suppose I won't worry about that for the time being but if I add more zones in the future (ie: porch, other room, etc), then more power would be a good idea for running multiple zones simultaneously.

Thank you for the idea of making the side speakers from the family room a different zone. I will do that! However, since I'm going to use an amp for the other zones, I'd like to utilize the back surrounds for TV viewing in 7.1. I can go ahead and put a speaker in the wall directly to the right of the couch (about 5 feet away) and a speaker in the wall directly to the left (about 15 feet away). Is the differences in distance from right to left too skewed, even with the microphone calibration? Another option would be to put them in the ceiling directly above the left and right side of the couch. What do you think about these two options?

Here's a diagram in case there's any confusion:


Also, there will be a center speaker. I just left it out of the diagram because I haven't installed it yet.




I'm just looking for the best possibilities so I'd appreciate any and all input.