Hello. I just moved into a house that is wired for audio throughout. I bought a Pyle 8-speaker selector (there are eight rooms wired with speakers), an Onkyo M-282 amplifier, and a pioneer vsx-820 receiver. I have all the speakers plugged into the Pyle. I then have R and L speaker wire running from the Pyle into the Onkyo. I have red and white audio jacks from the input on the Onkyo to the output on the Pioneer. But when I try to play music, I get no sound. When I run the L and R speaker wire from the Pyle directly to the Pioneer R and L, the system works fine. Why can't I get sound when using the Onkyo? Do I have it set up wrong? Do I even need an amp? Thanks for helping!
A "Pyle 8-speaker selector" doesn't tell me much about the switch. The only unit I can see online is a Pyle switch that is selling for $53. A $53 switch isn't going to cut it if you're trying to run more than two pairs of speakers at any one time. The load is too difficult for most amps and the amplifier will go into protection to save itself. That the Pioneer drives the load isn't too important since we don't know how long the Pioneer will drive the load.
What you haven't determined - going from what you've posted - is whether the Onkyo will power each set of speakers without the Pyle box in the way. What the Pioneer does is inconsequential since it's not the amp that is driving the eight speaker pair load. Connect each pair of speakers directly to the Onkyo and gradually increase the volume, then shut everything down and move on to the next pair of speakers. It's not all that uncommon for whole house installations to have been wired before the drywall went up. The drywaller then has multiple chances to run a staple through the wires which would cause a short in the amp/speaker cicruit. A safer way to do this would be with a multimeter if you have one. Of course, if there are volume controls in the rooms, this will make the VOM test more difficult.
From what I see you simply haven't made sure the Onkyo is operational. Check it with each individual set of speakers and, if it checks out as OK, then proceed to connecting the Pyle switch in line. Connect one set of speakers and check for operation. If that checks out, connect another set and check for operation. And so on. As I said, I wouldn't try running more than two pairs of speakers simultaneously through the Pyle switch.
You say you have the Onkyo connected to the "output" of the Pioneer. What "output" are you using to drive the Onkyo amplifier? From what I see the Pioneer is a 5.1 HT receiver. That could explain why you aren't getting any input to the Onkyo. You're going to have to set up the Pioneer to play as a two channel only system and switch on - possibly - any "pre amp outputs" the Pioneer might have. I can't tell from any online literature what outputs you might be using.
Do you need an amp? You have an amp in the Pioneer - five of them to be exact. But it isn't the same quality as the Onkyo so I would tend to want the Onkyo in the system if you're intent on running lots of speakers.
Hi, and thanks for the response. I will tell you exactly how I have it wired.I have the red and white audio cable plugged into the Pioneer where it says "surr back/front height...L...R Pre Out". Then I plugged the other end into the input of the Onkyo. I took speaker wires and plugged them into the L and R ports in the Onkyo and ran them to the Pyle's L and R ports. Then I took the speakers wires that come from throughout the house and plugged them into the back of the Pyle. For instance, the living room speakers I plugged into port A, the dining room into port B, and so on. The specific Pyle I'm using is the Pyle-PSS8-8-Channel-Speaker-Selector which sells for $146 but is on sale at Amazon for $53.
I know all the speakers and wires are ok, because when I take the speaker wires that I had hooked into the back of the Onkyo and plug ythem into the L and R of the Pioneer, they all work. We had all eight rooms going all yesterday afternoon and evening with no problems, however, I had the Pioneer's volume up to 30. I thought that the Onkyo could amplify the signal and make it so the speakers were a bit louder without having to turn the Pioneer up so loud.
" I will tell you exactly how I have it wired.I have the red and white audio cable plugged into the Pioneer where it says 'surr back/front height...L...R Pre Out'."
You're running the Onkyo from the surround channels? That's what comes out of the "surr back/front height...L...R Pre Out" outputs. I'm not familiar with your specific receiver but it would be very strange for Pioneer to not have surround information coming from outputs labelled "surround". The "front height" tag is another indication you have the wrong outputs. In either case, however, there would need to be some switching done in the set up menu of the Pioneer to allocate which output jacks send which information to an external power amp.
Who told you you could use an external power amp with this system?
The first thing to do here is to go through the owner's manual again and make sure you can get what would be considered "Front L/R + center" - or more simply, just plain ol' two channel stereo - signals from the surround outputs by doing some switching in the set up menu. I'm guessing this can't be done. But HT receivers have become very strange since I stopped selling them several years ago. Pioneer is well knbown for having what you might call "funky" features and possibly you can get the signals you need from the surround jacks, but I doubt it. If you can, it can only be done through a switching set up in the main menu.
Assuming the Pioneer can't send main output signals from the surround jacks, that would leave you with the surround information being all that is available from the surround outputs. This would normally be very low in level which would, of course, necessitate raising the volume level on the Pioneer to get what would even be considered background levels. If the Onkyo is running only surround information, it should also sound rather strange - kinda phasey and as if there are things missing.
(So what did you change to get any signal at all from the Onkyo? Earlier, in your op, you stated you had no signal coming from the Onkyo when run through the Pyle.)
In a case like your's, if you switched the receiver to a (two channel) stereo only input such as CD or FM and set the DSP (digital signal processing, which controls the allocation of two or more channels of output) to something akin to "five channel stereo", the output from those surround jacks would be at a higher level. This is not, however, how you want to run the system.
You need to set the Onkyo up with a straight two channel signal which would be the equivalent of either "Front L/R+Center" or just a simple two channel output taken from "pre out" jacks specified to run an external power amp. How you actually do this I can't say because I can't find a good photo of the Pioneer's rear panel to even see which jacks exist.
Did you buy this system from a dealer with their assistance? If so, they should be able to provide the information regarding set up menus which will allow the Onkyo to receive full range, stereo input from the Pioneer's output jacks. If you put this system together on your own without a dealer's help, then you're going to have to find; 1) a photo of the rear panel I can see, or, 2) someone more familiar with the Pioneer's set up menu than I am - whether that is another forum or going directly to Pioneer. I'm totally blind in this situation other than my knowledge of how most HT receivers should behave. HT receivers being what they are and manufacturers constantly looking to add more "funky" features, what is "normal" isn't always to be expected from any single HT receiver.
Remember, when you are playing eight pairs of speakers, the power output of the amplifier is divided between those speakers and while the amplifier might be producing sufficient power to drive the total load, each speaker is only working on a small fraction of the total power being produced. Running the Onkyo from the Pioneer's output will likely require a higher volume setting than running the speakers directly from the Pioneer. That's not your problem with your current set up - the allocation of proper signal flow is your problem right now - but don't confuse the volume setting with any sort of quality difference between the Pioneer and the Onkyo. The Onkyo is more likely to have a slightly lower input sensitivity which would require a different setting than the Pioneer in any case.
As to running all eight speakers with the Pyle switch box?
I certainly wouldn't suggest it. The Pyle is a rather basic switch which - at the very best - has a load resistor you can switch in line to raise the total impedance of the speaker load. This is very difficult for your amplifier to deal with as total impedance (think overall resistance to work being done and then add something just for fun to make the amp work even harder) is only a small portion of the values an amplifier must deal with. Impedance is, however, the simplest way to figure the load on an amplifier and each speaker pair you add to the output of the amplifier will essentially halve the total load. A solid state amplifier like the Onkyo is intended to run an average eight Ohm load (one pair of speakers typically) and it begins to be stressed at anything less than that. If we just asssume that each pair of speakers represents an "average" eight Ohm load, start at eight and with each speaker pair you switch in take the total load and multiply that figure by 0.5. (If you have four Ohm speakers, you've started this with three tires on the car being flat and in a muddy ditch up to the axles.)
So the first set is eight, the next set added is four and the next set is two and so on. The Onkyo - or any similar amp - isn't going to be happy with a load that falls that low and that far away from its ideal operational preference. The amp will heat up when driven above more than background level, which will endanger the life of the amp. Switching in a "protection" device in the Pyle will raise the overall load somewhat but this is now like climbing a hill in your car with the hand brake engaged along with those three flat tires as the amp has to work through the speaker load plus the large value load resistor in the Pyle.
Maybe there's something about the set up of your system that I am unaware of. Possibly the installation includes some autoformer type volume controls at each location. If that's the case, the system can be run with the Pyle as long as you are aware of the temperature of the amplifier when driving multiple speakers. However, if there are no autoformers in the volume controls just simple L-Pads or worse, just resistive loads, then you should seriously consider buying a far higher grade of speaker switching device than the Pyle. If this system came with the purchase of a new home or was installed and sold by, say, a security systems retailer, then you should find a qualified installer to go over the system and correct whatever mistakes were made to bring the bid for the install into lowball category.
So, basically, the first question is; who constructed this sytem? You? Or, someone you thought knew how to do this? If it's you, and you don't know about impedance and surround channels or set up menus all that much, then I would suggest you get some professional assistance before you do damage to the system. If you went through a dealer, then they should be able to assist you. They should have also set up a safe system and not intended for the Pyle switch alone to be your only protection aganst damage to the amplifier.
Here is a picture of the back of the Pioneer. I ordered the equipment from what I read online, but maybe I better have someone come and take a look. I don't run all eight speakers on the Pyle at once. Usually there are 2-3 rooms where I have the music on. Or, if my wife and I are on the deck, I'll have them all turned off except the deck. We had the speakers running to two rooms upstairs and the kitchen downstairs yesterday from the Pioneer to the Pyle, and it worked perfectly all day. But if the Onkyo will take the load off the Pioneer and give more power to the speakers, I'd prefer that. Thanks for all your help, also!
"Here is a picture of the back of the Pioneer. I ordered the equipment from what I read online, but maybe I better have someone come and take a look."
Your link doesn't want to work. Bringing in a professional is the best idea. Ask around and find someone who has a good reputation or you'll likely be worse off than when you started on your own. Ask for referrals and, if possible, ask if you can contact a few of their most recent customers for their opinions and possibly even an audition of the final product.