This multizone setup is complicated
Here is my deal. I have a Yamaha RX-V2500, currently running a 5.1 setup in my family room. I originally planned to add presence speakers up front, as the room was pre-wired by the previous owner to hang speakers up front, and I have floor-standers as mains. However, depending on what I do for Zone 2, that may or may not work.
I am in the process of landscaping the backyard, and I would like to have 2 pairs of speakers out there. One pair will attach to the house for the patio/deck area, and a second pair will be away from the house in a seating area (I am thinking about getting faux-rock type speakers for that area). In any event, I would like to be able, in the outside areas, to drive A, B or both.
It seems I have several options:
1) I could use "Zone B" of the V2500 to drive the outdoor speakers. I would need an A/B switch to run the two outdoor areas separately. I think I could get something like this from Radio Shack (although the Owner's guide indicates a maximum of 10 watts/channel, continuous music power. Would I need something similar, but with more power capability?):
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062679&cp=&kw=speaker+switch&parentPage=search
I would still be able to add presence speakers this way, but the limitations of using the B speakers as a separate Zone is that the input would be the same as the family room, so I couldn't have music outside while the TV was on in the family room (particularly an issue, since I currently only have a monitor in the family room, so the sound has to come through the HT right now)
2) I could use the V2500 internal amp to power Zone 2, but again would need some kind of an A/B switch for the two outdoor areas. If I do this, I don't believe I would be able to run presence speakers in the family room (easily anyway. I probably could get some kind of an A/B/C switch and wire the presence speakers as A and the outdoor areas as B and C, but then I would also have to go into setup and change the presence/Zone 2 settings in the V2500 every time I switched uses, which seems like a hassle). The other issue I have here is that Zone 2 seems to only accept analog inputs. The only analog inputs I currently have connected are the Multichannel inputs from my SACD/DVD-A changer (I also have a digital coax connection for the changer, as well as a digital coax connection from my STB), but I am not sure if those are accessible to Zone 2 or not (can you set Zone 2 to Multi-In?). I would like to maintain my digital connections for primary listening in the family room. If I add analog connections from my DVD changer and Digital STB to the V2500, will it default to analog or digital? Will I have to go into setup and change settings to Analog when I want to use Zone 2? What happens if I want to listen to a 5-channel DVD-A inside, and also want to have sound to Zone 2 outdoors at the same time? My head is spinning.
3) The third option is setting Zone 2 to an external amp, and getting something like the AudioSource amp, which will already do the A/B switching I want outside. I still have the same analog/digital input issues, but at least I can use the presence speakers that way.
One last question. It seems to me that the V2500 only has 8 amps, as you can only have one of either surround back, presence or Zone 2 powered by the V2500. However, you can have both Speakers A and Speakers B powered simultaneously. Are two amps powering all four speakers in that case. If so, when you turn on B, does that cut the power available to A, or does B take power from another channel (the surrounds?). What does it do to sound quality if you use the V2500 "Zone B" to power speakers in another room?
Sorry for the length of this post - I just want to make sure I understand all of this before I try configure these multiple zones.
EDIT - apologies to zoysia if I wind up hijacking this thread. Is there an easy way to move a post to its own thread?
