Receiver for my 2-channel AND 5.1 listening pleasure

[Shadow_Ferret]

OK, maybe this is a stupid question. I don't know.

Are there any of the current crop of A/V receivers that will allow me to keep my old pair of stereo speakers (I can't bear to part with them, we've been through so much together) and also allow me to hook up speakers for a 5.1 HT system?

I was thinking like the A/B speaker selector switch on my aging Pioneer only in this case I could switch "A" as being the 5.1 HT system and "B" as just my stereo speakers.

Is this possible and which receivers would fit that bill? What would this function be called?

And to make things even more interesting, would it also be possible to use my stereo speakers in conjunction with the subwoofer so I'd have a 2.1 when I wanted?

Thanks.

 

[j_garcia]

Well, you could do a zone 2 in the same room... Similar to A/B only not connected to a single channel so you don't have to worry about having A+B on at the same time.

In order to use the sub, I believe you would need to have them on the B output rather than zone 2.

 

[jcPanny]

Speaker A / B

I think any receiver with the speaker A/B terminals should work. In the case of my Yamaha HTR-5860, you specify in the configuration whether the B speakers are in the same room or a different location. If they are in "the same room" than the center, surround, and sub channels remain on. If they are in "different rooms" than the receiver turns off the center, and surround, and sub and only sends sound to the B speakers.

A zone 2 receiver would work, but is only necessary if you want to run the stereo speakers at the same time as a 5.1 system in different rooms.

For 2 channel, you might also look for a receiver with a "Pure direct" mode which can disable the display, video circuitry, and audio processing, when playing an analog source.

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

Well, that helped me narrow down my choices. Marantz doesn't have the Zone 2 feature and neither does Pioneer until you get up into their Elite, which I think is out of my price range.

Looks like I'm looking at a Denon, HK, or Yammy.

Thanks.

 

[Brandst]

Alot of that depends on the price range your looking at. I have a Marantz 7500 that has the zone 2 as well as the A/B speaker selection and a pure direct mode for analog that sends stereo only to your the main speakers. Accessories4less.com has this receiver refurb for $699, that's how I bought mine.

I would tell you to use the A/B for your setup unless they'll be in different rooms, most recent receivers have the A/B switch on the remote as well as your soundfields. You could easily change speakers and surround/stereo setting when you change input. Some receivers also save speaker settings to the input so you could have say the Tape input set to play in stereo while the DVD input was set to play in surround. I'm not sure if they'll allow you to set the A/B speaker setting to input or not though.

Steve

 

[j_garcia]

AC4L has the Marantz SR-7400 for $699 new in box also. It has zone 2 and A/B.