Location of Second Amp

[fracanie]

Everyone,

I'm using a second amplifier to power three sets of outdoor speakers. The second amp will have a line level feed from my whole-house main amp. The outdoor speakers are about 65 feet from my main amp. My question is whether I should locate the second amp closer to the speakers (with a longer line level feed from the main amp) or closer to the main amp (with longer speaker wire run to the outdoor speakers)? Does it matter?

Thanks for your input.

FR

 

[j_garcia]

Line level can be run shielded and will be better at rejecting noise, but it is also a bit more expensive and ususally a little more difficult to run compared to speaker wire. As long as you size the AWG of your wire appropriately for the distance of the run and the impedance, I don't see a problem running it that way. You do need to make sure your receiver can handle the impedance of 3 sets of speakers though.

 

[fracanie]

J. My basement ceiling is wide open, so this will be a clear run to the back of the house where the amp will sit. The amplifier will feed a speaker selector which feeds three volume controls and three sets of outdoor speakers -- all impedence matching. Any recommendation on the gauge of the line level wire (which will have RCA jacks on both sides)? The run is about 25 feet.

Thanks.

 

[j_garcia]

Wire AWG would only affect speaker wire for long runs. You can use RG6 or RG59 with RCA ends for a 25ft run, and 25ft run should not be an issue for an RCA cable. If you want to order it, Monoprice I think was having issues, so you can order from Bluejeans (link in my signature, no I am not affiliated with them).

Even with a switch that is impedance matching, the amp has to be able to handle a low impedance load.

 

[fracanie]

Thanks J! I'll do that.

FR

 

[highfigh]

You can go a lot farther than 25' with coax or with Cat5e, for that matter. I have a Cat5e going from my main stereo to the one in my garage, at least 50' away. RCA plugs soldered onto the garage end and a Keystone insert that has screw terminals on the backside and accepts a 3.5mm plug on the front. I had RCA plugs on the source end but I wanted to add a cable to the basement stereo.

You can't go too long with a high impedance line level run, though. If you need to go farther, use some kind of line driver or audio distribution amp. If you can centrally locate it, relative to the farthest/closest speakers, it will work best.

 

[fracanie]

Highfigh,

Thanks. I think I'll try the 25 feet of line level and see how it goes. I appreciate the input.