Receiver Zone?

[joesmithf1]

hi,
i do not know much about receiver and i am about to buy one that have two zones? is it good to have 2 zones? can i just use one, or what can i do with the second zone?

Thanks!

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum!

If it's like all of the other receiver's that I've seen, you certainly can use only one of the zones. I think that most people only use one. The second zone would be used to play sound in another room or even outside. Some receivers can power speakers in the second zone, while others can only send out a signal that needs to be amplified.

Which receiver are you thinking about buying?

 

[BMXTRIX]

As said, most receivers which offer more than one zone provide the main zone as a surround area. That is, your main theater area with 5.1 or 7.1 audio setup. So, you put your 5 speakers + subwoofer (or 7 speakers & sub) into your room, and the receiver powers everything just fine.

The second zone may work any number of ways depending on the exact make/model you are looking at. Some receivers include 7 channels of amplification (7.1) and if you only use 5 channels (5.1) then they allow you to use the 'extra' two channels to power speakers in zone 2.

What is zone 2?

Zone 2 could be anything you want it to be... Have some speakers you want to put into your office? That's zone 2! Your bedroom has surround, but you want a couple of speakers in the bathroom? Zone 2!

There are more complex ways you can set up zone 2 so that you can run many rooms with the same audio. You would typically use an external amplifier and need to do some impedence matching, and put volume controls in all the rooms. It's more detailed, but if you are thinking of going this route, just ask for the details.

If you are running a 7.1 audio setup, and/or you don't have the amplification for zone 2, then you will need to get an external amplifier to run the speakers in zone 2. You can pick an external amplifier up for under 100 bucks via eBay.

What can you listen to in zone 2? The reason why it is called zone 2, is because it acts like a truly independent area of your system. Without the main surround area turned on at all, you should be able to turn on anything you want to listen to in zone 2. Listen to the radio, or a CD, or XM, or whatever you want. It does not have to be the same as what you listen to in the surround zone, and it doesn't have to be on when the surround zone is on.

Basically, take a stereo A/V receiver, and put all the same sources you have on your surround receiver into it, and that is what 'zone 2' is like.

Always, details help us understand what you want to do, but traditionally, more expensive receivers offer zone 2, and some offer zone 3, or even zone 4.

My home has about a dozen differernt zones which can each independently listen to music.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I run zone 1 as my main system, zone 2 is controlled with a NILES IntelliPad and is in the bedroom system and zone 3 is the patio and is controlled by the Harmony.

 

[pascal244]

Can I set up my zone two to run 5 sets of speakers in and around my house?? I would use a switcherbox with volume controls for each.I know this would be a strain on the avr(663 or 863) but would only run a couple sets together at the same time...could it work??I know that a multie channel amp would solve the problem,but not cheap..would a 2 channel amp hooked up to the switcher work??thanks from a rookie!!

 

[Phil Taylor]

Can I set up my zone two to run 5 sets of speakers in and around my house?? I would use a switcherbox with volume controls for each.I know this would be a strain on the avr(663 or 863) but would only run a couple sets together at the same time...could it work??I know that a multie channel amp would solve the problem,but not cheap..would a 2 channel amp hooked up to the switcher work??thanks from a rookie!!

As noted above by BMXTRIX you would need an impedance matching system in order to prevent damage to your receiver.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Can I set up my zone two to run 5 sets of speakers in and around my house?? I would use a switcherbox with volume controls for each.I know this would be a strain on the avr(663 or 863) but would only run a couple sets together at the same time...could it work??I know that a multie channel amp would solve the problem,but not cheap..would a 2 channel amp hooked up to the switcher work??thanks from a rookie!!

The 663 and 863 receiver at the very least can run zone 2 into another amplifier or have two channels (it looks like) assigned to it if you are only running 5.1 audio.

I would recommend that you pick up a second amplifier and connect it via RCA cables to the zone 2 output at the top center of the receiver (labelled zone 2)...

http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/Images/YEC/AV_Receivers/Views/PV_rxv663_rear.jpg

You can run it to an amplifier like this one...
http://cgi.ebay.com/AUDIOSOURCE-AMP-100-AMPLIFIER-2-CHANNEL-STEREO-AMP100_W0QQitemZ130280074341QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item130280074341&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:2|65:1|39:1|240:1318

That'll give you power enough for running a few rooms at a time without issue.

As said, you will need something which matches speaker impedence, and many speaker selectors will do this so you wouldn't need impedence matching in the volume controls. You need it in the selector OR at the volume controls, but not both places.

Personally, I think the selector is a better choice because it will handle it automatically as you turn rooms on or off. You can pretty easily find some decent speaker selectors on eBay for under 50 bucks.

 

[pascal244]

Thanks guys...you just made this soooo much easier than the sales man wanted me to believe...thnks again.