Hi, I have a Yamaha RX-V2300, which I use as a stereo receiver for now while I wait to finish my basement. Quick question, can I use it to power the A speakers in the living room and the B speakers in the computer room at the same time?
I'm referring to the A and B speaker switches. I'm assuming I can, since the receiver is able to do this. Seems like an easy way to get multizone music. I just want to make sure I'm not overtaxing it.
You can get multi-speaker operation from A-B switching, you cannot get multi-zone operation from such a simplistic switch set. Multi-zone suggests the ability to play two dicrete sources simultaneously in two distinct areas/zones; i.e., CD in room A and tuner in room B. A-B speaker switching only allows the same source to be played in multiple areas, CD in rooms A & B.
Check the owner's manual for your receiver to learn whether the Yamaha will allow both sets to be run simultaneously and whether Yamaha places any restrictions on the impedance load of the combined pairs. Typically, a Yamaha receiver will not care to drive anything less than a combined (parallled A+B pairing) 6 Ohm nominal load. Know the lowest impedance drop on your speakers and assume combining the two pair will essentially half the lowest impedance point of either set. In other words, if the lowest impedance either set presents to the amplifier is 5.6 Ohms, assume combining that speaker pair with another pair of higher or similar impedance speakers will result in an amplifier load of approximately 2.8 to 3 Ohms. Your Yamaha would probably be unhappy driving this load to anything more than moderate volumes and you should either find another set of speakers (with a higher average load) or play only one set of speakers at a time. Or, you could try the combined pairs at low volumes and probably get away with the pairing since the receiver will not be stressed to deliver large amounts of current at low to moderate volumes. This does not mean you can crank the combined pairs and hope for the best, the receiver will deal with low volumes but might go up in smoke at higher levels.
I think I used "multizone" incorrectly. I'm just interested in playing the same music in two rooms. I gernally prefer moderate volumes, which is why I don't want to simply crank it in the living room and hear it in the computer room. But I'll see what the manual says. FWIW, the speakers appear to be 8 ohm Boston Acoustics CR-85 bookshelves. But I'm guessing there's probably more to ohms than just that number.