Outdoor speaker set up

thayes34

I have a Denon 3803 and I have a complete 7.1 Home Theater. R50's, CSi 30, Fxi50's, Rti 28's and a SVS sub. I wanted to put some speakers outside on my deck so I bought a pair of Atrium 55's.

The Receiver has a Zone 2 output but I have no idea how this works! I think I need a preamp, which I know absolutely nothing about.

I know when I use the zone 2 output, I am limited to 5.1 on my main system, but I want to be able to switch back to 7.1 when I want to.

Where do I hook up the Atrim 55's to? Do they go to the 3803 or to the preamp?

Please help!

Thanks,
Tim

steveinaz

Are the Zone 2 outputs RCA connectors or speaker binding posts?

thayes34

There are speaker binding posts for Rear surrounds or zone 2. You can't have both. I want to use that amp for the rear surrounds to always have 7.1 in the main zone. To use zone 2 and still be able to watch something else in the main zone you have to select zone 2 and you get "variable pre-amp output" (not sure exactly what that means)

I think I just need to get an amplifier and hook it up to the zone 2 pre-amp connection.

I know absolutely nothing about amplifiers. Any suggestions?

Tim

steveinaz

Thats what it sounds like, but hard to tell without seeing the back of the receiver.

Maybe hit ebay or the Polk Flea market for a used amp?

AsSiMiLaTeD

Does that receiver have pre-out connections for the zone 2 stuff? If so, you'd just need a two channel amp...

fireshoes

Yep, just need a 2-channel amp or if you have an old receiver sitting around, that will work too.