HELP! Indoor/outdoor sound setup

[ParadigmDawg]

Correct.

Another thing is with multi-zone you can play 2 different sources at the same time. You can listen to your IPOD outside while someone in the house listens to a CD or TV or whatever you have hooked up, it is truely 2 zones.

In my Home Theater Magazine, it shows the VSX-820-K to be a 2 zone AVR but it sure doesn't look like it to me. Hard to tell on their website. No wonder why I hate Pioneer.

I concur. I have been looking at onkyo's

if i get a 2 zone AVR, i have no need for a speaker switch, correct?

 

[LITT]

I haven't been able to see the VSX-820-K as a 2 zone either. even if it is, i probably will still use onkyo. my dad has one and its very solid

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Onk has its good sides and bad sides. Don't confuse the old gear with the new gear, the old stuff was way better on the amp side and longevity.

Good side= best bang for the buck

Bad side = runs hot and some reliability issues

My buddy has a 15 year old Onk that has about 12 speakers connected to it and it gets heavy play and is still going strong. Try that with one of today's AVRs and it will shut down in about 30 seconds.

I have a 15 year old Pio that has seen everything from heavy theater use to 4 years in the garage system (in the Texas heat) and right now, it is in use in my Brother-In-Laws system driving some low ohm speakers.

 

[JohnA]

If you want a zone two, the Pio 1020 or 1120 will be the ticket... they are a 7.1, but the rear back surrounds can be used as an amplified zone 2 when configured as a 5.1

 

[LITT]

just got back from a long weekend at the house. it turns out the previous owner had every room wired with overhead speakers and one room had a monster cable six speaker switch hidden in it. there is one switch available which is perfect for an outdoor pair. would it be possible to run an ipod dock directly to the switch rather than purchasing a receiver with add on dock or would the dock itself not be powerful enough?

 

[BMXTRIX]

I concur. I have been looking at onkyo's

if i get a 2 zone AVR, i have no need for a speaker switch, correct?

It depends on the number of channels of amplification the receiver has, but I would always recommend a 2-zone receiver AND a good external amplifier which can push some serious power and not damage your receiver.

Outdoors are suprisingly noisy and speakers are incredibly weak when you don't have walls to contain the sound. This suprises a lot of people even though it makes sense when you think about it.

Likewise, the amplifier built into an A/V receiver is only ONE amplifier which then breaks the audio to several channels. If you turn on the outside, you lose performance inside your home, so running inside and outside at the same time is seriously degrading to your indoor audio quality and takes a toll on the receiver.

Typically, I would set this up with a decent 2-zone A/V receiver like the Denon AVR-2310ci combined with an external amplifier from eBay, like this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/SONANCE-SONAMP-2120T-HIGH-POWERED-2-CH-AMPLIFIER-FREE-/200489744431?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eae1eb82f

Then pair it with whatever speakers are appropriate.

I'm actually doing my basement with an entire Monoprice.com setup...
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10837&cs_id=1083703&p_id=4101&seq=1&format=2
and
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=109&cp_id=10837&cs_id=1083704&p_id=4881&seq=1&format=2

So, using refurb gear it's about $800-$1,000 and it will give you a very (VERY!) solid system which will leave you little to complain about or have issues with for years to come.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

would it be possible to run an ipod dock directly to the switch rather than purchasing a receiver with add on dock or would the dock itself not be powerful enough?

An amplifier is required to power speakers. An ipod (or dock) does not contain an amplifier. If it did you’d see connections for speakers on it.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt