Wiring entire house for speakers

blacklab

I've got a few questions that hopefully someone can help me with, but I'll start with only 2.

1. I will be wiring a new construction home for 7.1 sound (floorstanding/bookshelf speakers) in the living room, with 4 additional pairs of speakers throughout the house (in-wall, probably polk RC60i). I'm wondering how I can hook up a material source, ie. cd player, so I can get music to all speakers a the same time (each in-wall will have its own speaker switch)? Can my existing amp, yammie RX-v1500, handle this on it's own? Or, will I have to buy another amp to run the 8 in-wall speakers?

2. My rx-v1500 doesn't have hdmi. Is it desirable to upgrade it to something that does, and that would also give me more power, then use the yammie to run the in-wall speakers? Any suggestions for an amp upgrade, if needed? (<$1500).

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanx.

Willow

does your receiver have A+B ? do you have a seperate amp section in the Yammy?

as for HDMI, for sound from your CDP,cassette what ahve you, stick with digcoax/toslink or analog

engtaz

What are your floorstanding speakers?

engtaz

It does have Zone 2

Willow

engtaz wrote: »

It does have Zone 2

Well I'm not sure how many ch zone 2 has but he can use that for at least 2 more speakers.

blacklab

The yammie has a/b. It has multi-channel input (5.1), which I beleive can be used for a pre-amp, if that is what was asked regarding seperate amp section (I'm relatively new to mid/higher-end HT). I was regarding the HDMI cable to PQ on the new HD TV, not necessarily sound. I run optic cables from my cd player.

My floorstanding speakers have not yet been purchased. I'm currently using RTi6, but will be upgrading to either the RTi8, or the not-yet-released SVS MTS-01, when my house is complete.

blacklab

re: zone 2. I'm aware of the zone 2, but wiring is there only for 2 speakers. Could a hook a speaker switch up to this, to split the signal to my 4 pairs of in-ceiling speakers, or would this demand too much power from my amp. Is there a better way?

blacklab

any other help out there?

RuSsMaN

Yes, you can hook up a speaker selector switch, just make sure it offers impedance matching or a 'protection' circuit. This will present a steady impedance to the amp, no matter how many pairs are running at one time. It will degrade sound quality a little, but should be fine for background music.

Cheers,
Russ

blacklab

Any speaker switch recommendations?

engtaz

For you foorstanding and center I recommend 200 watts a channel amp/s. I think you will be very happy with it. You would use you pre amp outs.

Have fun

WilliamM2

The Yamaha has Zone 2 and Zone 3, but you have to choose between rear surrounds or zone 2, not both, as the reciever only has 7 channels of power. Zone 3 requires an amp.

I use mine as a pre-pro only, and have several amps to power all speakers, including Zone 2 and Zone 3. This is really the best way to go, it allows you to send different sources to different areas. For instance, my wife can be watching a movie in full surround sound, while I am listening to CD's out in the garage.

dudeinaroom

As russ said you can make use a switch, just make sure you use an autoformer to balance the load. you can get stand alone autoformers, you can get them with a switch, or a"zone" volume control. If you have any trouble finding the likes, drop me a pm and I'll throw a couple of links you way.

blacklab

WilliamM2 wrote: »

The Yamaha has Zone 2 and Zone 3, but you have to choose between rear surrounds or zone 2, not both, as the reciever only has 7 channels of power. Zone 3 requires an amp.

I use mine as a pre-pro only, and have several amps to power all speakers, including Zone 2 and Zone 3. This is really the best way to go, it allows you to send different sources to different areas. For instance, my wife can be watching a movie in full surround sound, while I am listening to CD's out in the garage.

Firstly, thanks for the input. Are you using the RX-V1500? When you connect to zone 2, r u just connnecting your zone 2 amp to the yams zone 2 analog output jacks, then running speakers from your zone 2 amp? If so, do you have a stereo amp running to a speaker switch in zone 2, or do you have a multi-channel amp? And, how do you direct the 2 different sources ie. dvd in main room and cd in garage? I'm trying to understand this info from the manual, but it gets a bit confusing for a newbie. I would like to run separate amps to get the full benefit of a properly powered system.

blacklab

dudeinaroom wrote: »

As russ said you can make use a switch, just make sure you use an autoformer to balance the load. you can get stand alone autoformers, you can get them with a switch, or a"zone" volume control. If you have any trouble finding the likes, drop me a pm and I'll throw a couple of links you way.

I wasn't sure what an "autoformer" was, so after a quick web search, I found a few things. Is this the sort of autoformer you were talking about, http://www.outdoorspeakerdepot.com/prau12paspse.html , just for an example? If so, what is the difference between that an a regular speaker switch? Thanks.

blacklab

I might have found what I'm looking for. Is anyone familiar with a system set up like this: http://www.outdoorspeakerdepot.com/coirmumuaudi.html ? It sounds like a mix of proper amplification, audio/video switching to different zones, and separate speaker control. I think this is very close to what will suit my needs. Any comments from past users of similar systems?

WilliamM2

Are you using the RX-V1500? When you connect to zone 2, r u just connnecting your zone 2 amp to the yams zone 2 analog output jacks, then running speakers from your zone 2 amp?

Yes.

If so, do you have a stereo amp running to a speaker switch in zone 2, or do you have a multi-channel amp?

No speaker switch, I have two 2 channel amps for zone 2 and zone 3. That powers two speakers in the garage, and two speakers in the dining room. For HT I have a two channel amp running my mains, a bridged amp running my center, and the surrounds are powered by the Yamaha.

I need to get a 7 channel amp, so I can power ALL the channels from two amps, I'm running out of space.

And, how do you direct the 2 different sources ie. dvd in main room and cd in garage?

You need to enter a code in the remote (it's in the manual), that will make Zone 2 and 3 appear in the device menu. When you select zone 2 or 3 on the remote, it will only control those zones. I use a Harmony remote in the living room (HT), I use the RX-V1500 remote in the dining room, and I bought an RX-V2500 remote to use in the garage (same as RX-V1500 remote, but lighted). I found the Yamaha remotes to be better for controling zones 2 and 3.

dudeinaroom

Yes that would work, I was thinking of some thing more like this.