Advice Needed On Speaker Set Up

[wollumeg]

Hello Everyone,

I am currently living in an apartment but planning to move to a house with a bit more space in the next few months. I was looking to get some opinions/advice on how best to set up my speaker system to accomplish two distinct tasks, listening to music and watching TV/movies. Currently, in my apartment the living room is pretty filled because i have two different systems running, one a 7.1 surround sound system and the other a 2 channel stereo system. Once i move to a house i will have the ability to separate these two systems to different rooms, but right away the basement will not be finished so I will still only have one main living room. My current equipment is as follows:

Speakers:
Pair of Vandersteen Model 2Ce Signature II (2 Channel)
Onkyo HT-S9400THX 7.1 Ch. THX (7.1 Channel)

Receivers:
Onkyo A-9010 (2 Channel integrated amplifier) I got this because I needed phono stage for my turntable. This has no HDMI inputs
Onkyo HT-R990 A/V receiver (7.1 Channel)

Sources:
Rega P3 Turntable (2 Channel)
PS4 (7.1 Channel)
Firestick (7.1 Channel)
TV (7.1 Channel)

My plan for the long term is that we will have the 2 channel system in the upstairs which will allow us to focus mostly on a music-centric set up with occasional TV watching. The downstairs once finished i plan to set up the 7.1 channel system, but that will not be for a year or two until we finish the basement. My current 2 channel integrated amplifier does not offer HDMI capabilities and my current surround sound receiver for the 7.1 system does not have a phone stage. I am no oppose to buying a new piece of hardware.

I was looking for some advice in the short term if I were to pack away the 7.1 system how would i best get the most out of a 2 channel system for both music and TV/Movies? In a perfect world I would be able to use my Vandersteens in 2 channel mode for music and also use my Vandersteens and a subwoofer for a 2.1 set up for movies/tv. How would you recommend accomplishing this? Thank you in advance and if there is any further information or clarification i can provide please let me know.

 

[Pedro Alvarado]

go to avr menu "number of speakers" page and turn off all except for your l,r, sub. the receiver should to the rest.

all you would do is switch between the mode you like for a movie or music.

i hope i understood your question. this is how i would do it.

 

[ryanosaur]

Any good AVRs and receivers should perform quite respectably... and that includes using an AVR for 2.0 or 2.x listening. I’m a music first, 90-95% of the time, kind of guy. I just se an AVR+Amps for all my needs. This handles stereo, stereo+subs, and multi-channel listening (dts5.1 discs, etc). Needless to say, it also handles my 7.2, and soon 7.2.4.
So rock out with your avr, using your good speakers, and round out the system with your other gear and try it out!
At least, that’s what I suggest.

 

[wollumeg]

Thank you so much for the responses so far! My AVR (Onkyo HT-R990) doesn't have a built in phono stage for my turntable however. So currently I have my Rega P3 Turntable connected to the Onkyo A-9010 which is then connected to my Vandersteen Model 2Ce Signature II speakers. If I connected my Vandersteen Model 2Ce Signature II speakers to my AVR (Onkyo HT-R990) I wouldn't be able to use my turntable. I feel that i need to either get a new AV receiver that has built in Phono or find a way to connect my integrated amplifier (Onkyo A-9010) to my AVR (Onkyo HT-R990). Does this make sense? Has anyone else faced a similar situation?