Using surround sound channels for whole house stereo

[sigdc]

I have 9 sets of ceiling speakers in a new home, each controlled by impedence adjusting vulume controls. I also have a TV in a main room that we use for casual watching, video games etc, and are not interested in surround sound. In order to drive all of the speakers I need to have a fair amount of power. Is it possible to use the separate channel amplifiers to send simple stereo to the ceiling speakers? I have a Yamaha RX-V665 which has a 7-ch stereo option which I bought primarily to give me a way of having multiple HDMI sources for the TV. If not I will have to take the preamp output and puchase a separate 2 chanel amplier

 

[XEagleDriver]

A Bit of Both

I have 9 sets of ceiling speakers in a new home, each controlled by impedence adjusting volume controls. . . . not interested in surround sound. In order to drive all of the speakers I need to have a fair amount of power. Is it possible to use the separate channel amplifiers to send simple stereo to the ceiling speakers? I have a Yamaha RX-V665 which has a 7-ch stereo option which I bought primarily to give me a way of having multiple HDMI sources for the TV. If not I will have to take the preamp output and puchase a separate 2 chanel amplier

IMHO 18 speakers (nine stereo sets) is too many for the 665 to adequately drive, even if ran thru a couple speaker selectors. I would strongly consider buying a 12 speaker (six stereo sets) amplifier such as one of these models (~$650-1,000):

http://www.htd.com/amplifiers;jsessionid=0a0105501f43a65f3fd98bf445a3abb4a98ee1ddc9d8.e3eSc34OaxmTe34Pa38Ta38Rb3r0

Then drive the remaining 6 speakers (three stereo sets) using the 665's Front, Surround and Back Surround amplifier pairs (with the AVR in the 7-Channel Stereo mode you referenced).

Be careful not to fall into the trap of using both the A and B speaker outputs (they connect to only one set of amplifiers, not two like you might think!)

This solution would leverage the 665's amplifiers to save some $$, yet provide solid available power to the entire home!

Cheers,
XEagleDriver

 

[bandphan]

Ill just say no

 

[griffinconst]

I don't know that receiver but my Onkyo 805 has a zone 2 option that uses the rear amp of the 7.1 surround thus making it 5.1 in the living room. I'm runnung 3 sets of built in speakers in other rooms off that amp section through a speaker selection box with volume knobs in each room, on the walls. Wow, hows that for a run-on sentance?
Sounds like the same thing he wants to do. Is the problem that he has so many speakers?
Would that kind of connection be considered in line or parallel?

 

[griffinconst]

Could someone else chime in on this?
Thanks

 

[bandphan]

Could someone else chime in on this?
Thanks

His avr doesn't have the muscle to do 9 pairs. He needs a strong second amp and a couple a speaker selectors at the minimum. Maybe do two pairs off his zone two and get a 12 amp to drive the others. The needful thing to know is what speakers he has, how exactly the are run and what are his ultimate goals for control

 

[BMXTRIX]

While you can do this, it is very hard on an A/V receiver which does not actually have separate transformers, but splits the power of a single transformer across multiple outputs. This means that the individually rated power per channel is significantly less than rated, and the use of multiple speakers will tax the receiver a great deal.

Instead, I might recommend that you try something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/AudioSource-AMP300-stereo-power-amplifier_W0QQitemZ400056953518QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5d2540aaae&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65:1|66:2|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

FYI: I had a client who did what you want to do with individual speakers to each channel. When he had things up and runnning and started cranking things, the amplifier would go into thermal shutdown regularly.

There are standard ways to accomplish what you want, and using a dedicated amp with impedence matching volume controls, and perhaps a speaker selector at the head end, with a source selector of some sort, is the way to go. It will give you a solid setup which will last for years to come.

 

[lsiberian]

I suggest you drive them with pro amps. You can use Behringer A500s They go for around 150. Just don't expose them to a heat source and they will work fine.

 

[pzaur]

Just to clarify, you're talking about using the Zone 2 speaker connections (2 of them) to power 9 sets of speakers?

The 665 can be split into 5.1 with Zone 2 (stereo) configuration or a complete 7.1 configuration (I'm ignoring all other possible configurations with A/B speakers and bi-wiring...). This only leaves a grand total of 7 speakers being connected to the receiver. That's 3 pairs and a center channel. Connecting 9 pairs of speakers to this receiver would require running some speakers in series which will overpower the receiver if all speakers are being used or you create an unfavorable series that results in a 2 ohm load.

Definitely, buy some amps or a multi-channel amp to handle the other speakers.

-pat

 

[BMXTRIX]

I suggest you drive them with pro amps. You can use Behringer A500s They go for around 150. Just don't expose them to a heat source and they will work fine.

That Behringer is delivering similar power with similar specs to the Audiosource. I've worked both the consumer side and commercial side of things and find that there is often not much of a difference between the two sides for quality at specific price points.

I will definitely consider the Behringer for my future endeavors with specs like it has. Since it is a convection cooling system (no fans) it should stay quiet wherever it is placed.

Good call on that one!

http://www.audiolines.com/product.php?productid=12906