A/V vs Stereo Receiver...for music only

[tnightgirl]

Greetings! My Receiver..a harmon karmon...20 years old...is taking a dive...I have 6 speakers indoors, with zoning for each room, and 2 outdoor speakers. I need to get a new receiver that will have multi zones, so i can play the indoor and outdoor at separate times. I am not interested in connecting my TV to a system for surround sound. Music girl only. I do not know anything about an A/V system, but did buy a Sony 7.1 stereo receiver last night...now doing my research! LOL...I am a woman! I only will use a CD, or Ipod...not the radio...so any advice? From what I am reading, stereo is best for music?

 

[j_garcia]

They don't make stereo receivers with zones, AFAIK. How are the speakers currently hooked up? Independent volume controls? Impedance matching ones or an impedance matching switch? There are a few ways to do it, and IM volume controls or an IM switch are probably the simplest. Next would be a multi-zone amp connected to the stereo receiver or integrated amp. I would return the Sony simply because it is Sony. If your current receiver is having amplification issues only, you could get an external amp (or the distrubuted amp as mentioned) and be good to go already.

Stereo is perfectly fine for music. I have a 5.1 system, but it was built around 2ch performance. I do love 5.1 music, but the vast majority of my music listening is in stereo.

 

[XEagleDriver]

A couple questions

Greetings! My Receiver..a harmon karmon...20 years old...is taking a dive...I have 6 speakers indoors, with zoning for each room, and 2 outdoor speakers. I need to get a new receiver that will have multi zones, so i can play the indoor and outdoor at separate times. I am not interested in connecting my TV to a system for surround sound. Music girl only. I do not know anything about an A/V system, but did buy a Sony 7.1 stereo receiver last night...now doing my research! LOL...I am a woman! I only will use a CD, or Ipod...not the radio...so any advice? From what I am reading, stereo is best for music?

Tnight,

Welcome to the forum.
A couple questions to better understand your audio system's intended use:
1) Just to confirm, the interior speakers are in 3 rooms, each room with two speakers, and each room is its own zone (can be turned on/off independently of the other rooms), correct?

2) When you say "play the indoor and outdoor at separate times" do you mean using different audio sources (CD, Ipod)?

3) What was the power rating of your old HK receiver and was it sufficient?


Cheers,
XEagleDriver