Looking for advice on audio system for my 1st floor
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New member Username: Timm44Post Number: 1 Registered: Jun-08 | I am planning to install a system on the main level of my house to provide music throughout. The areas I want included are as follows: 1) Living/dining room (area is split by half-wall and pillars) 2) Front porch 3) Kitchen 4) Back porch The plan is to get a receiver and speakers for the Living/Dining and front porch areas for now and add on to the system later. I want the ability to control the areas that have sound, but do not necessarily need central contol (volume control and shut-offs on the speakers would work fine.) My uses are music/radio throughout and movies in the living room. Most of the advice regarding receivers I have read seems to be recommending Onkyo(SR606 or 705) and whatever speakers make me happy. My plan is to have a 7.1 speaker set providing surround for the liv/dining room and 2 outdoor speakers (on zone 2) on the front porch. It sounds like the receiver can handle this just fine. One question I have about this preliminary setup is if I can place 2 of the surround speakers in the kitchen, which is located straight ahead and a bit to the right of the movie-viewing area. As I write this I am listening to the radio in the kitchen while I am sitting where movies get watched in the living room so speakers can be heard to provide some surround sound. My concern is that music in the kitchen might sound odd when the system is trying to provide a surround experience. I would guess settings on the receiver could alleviate this, but is this a bad idea? Another question I have is can I just use some kind of splitter to add speakers to the back porch as well as the front porch. My plan is to have these on the a zone 2 setup. At what point do I need to consider an additional amplifier and how does that kind setup work with the receiver. Any thoughts about all or any part of this scheme would be appreciated. Thanks |
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Silver Member Username: CclashhPost Number: 281 Registered: Jan-08 | I do it the way you are suggesting with the 705 and I am happy with it! I have my rear channel there. Connecting more speakers than are intended for your system is a good way to blow your system but there is a device that can be used to add speakers the way you suggest. They are called Impedance matching speaker selectors but they are not cheap. You can easily google this using "Impedance matching speaker selector" for the search criteria and get a myriad of choices and prices. Let me warn you now to never attempt to do this any other way as it will damage your system. |
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Silver Member Username: MccambleyBREEZY POINT, NY USA Post Number: 504 Registered: Jun-05 | I'm not 100% sure but I think with Onkyo it's either 5.1 plus zone 2 or 7.1 or no zone 2. If that is the case 5.1 surround is fine. When using zone 2 if you only had the front porch and the living room hooked up there would be no need for any speaker switches or additional amps. But if you want to also feed the kitchen sound and the back deck then you would need anther device. Personally I see no need to feed the kitchen when the living room is so close, and putting the rear backs in a 7.1 set up in the kitchen is not a good idea. Reason is they will not receive a full stereo feed but just a surround feed. If you want to feed multiply rooms from the living room you can use a speaker switcher but it is best if only one zone 2 room is played at a time. If you want to play all the rooms at once you would be better off running separate amps for each room. 7.1 sound in the living room and amps for each additional zone. 5.1 in the living room and zone 2 to the front porch, add a second receiver (TX-SR506 $275) connected to zone 3 and use that to run the kitchen and the back deck. |
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Silver Member Username: CclashhPost Number: 291 Registered: Jan-08 | Casey, I am not a 100% sure but I think that what he is suggesting for the rears is not to supply sound to the kitchen but that the placement of those speakers would be to the rear of the viewing area. I think what he is asking is would it be ok to place them there as part of his 7.1 setup for the viewing of the TV, etc. with the added benefit of the speakers being in that area so he would be still be using the 7.1 setup this way. As far as zone 2 on the Onkyo.. Zone 2 on this receiver is in addition to the 7.1 setup having there own separate (stereo only) outputs to be fed to where the sound is desired. I am pretty sure that the only limitation to this is that you cannot listen to both zone 2 and the 7.1 at the same time. He could use just one impedance matching speaker selector and expand zone 2 into several zones (6 plus) and even have the option of getting one that controls volume without having to invest in a second receiver(s) and or amps. You can play all zones at the same time if desired. There are several to choose from, the below link are just a few of them. http://www.thetwistergroup.com/category/audio-video-selectors-modulators-speaker -selectors.html |
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New member Username: Timm44Post Number: 2 Registered: Jun-08 | Thanks for the replies. Actually the kitchen is around the corner from the viewing area (living room) and I was hoping to get somewhat normal speaker function from the speakers in the kitchen. It sounds like placing 2 of the 7.1 speakers there is a bad plan. Speakers in either room can be heard from the other, but it needs to be loud enough that it is unpleasant (for most people) to be in the same room. So, I am thinking I should have the 7.1 speaker set around the living/dining area, then zone 2 output to an impedance matching speaker selector and have stereo speakers on the front porch, back porch and kitchen. I could consider a possible extra amp if power becomes an issue with all the speakers on. Is this just a volume issue. Does each speaker just get quieter or do they cut out? Another question regarding the 5.1 + zone 2 setting on the Onkyo: Do 2 of the speakers from the 7.1 set just duplicate one of the other channels or do they not play or what? Also, is there anything special I should consider when picking a speaker selector? Thanks again. |
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Silver Member Username: CclashhPost Number: 292 Registered: Jan-08 | You don't have to do 5.1. You can do 7.1 and Zone 2. Zone 2 is a separate stereo output that you will select with a button on the receiver. Zone 2 connections are completely independant of the 7.1 surround output. You can get an impedance matching speaker that also controls volume separately for each zone. There will not be a problem with needing another amp to do this. You will be able to use any combination of speakers that you desire. This device is more than just a switch. It makes it possible to connect more than one speaker to the same output which you would not normally be able to do. You want to get an impedance matching speaker selector that will handle the wattage of the receiver which is 100 watts. You should also take into consideration what gauge of speaker wire the impedance matching speaker selector supports when selecting speaker wire. Make sure the speaker selector supports the number of zones that you need. Do not get this device confused with a switch -it is important that you refer to it as an Impedance Matching Speaker Selector. When making your selection pay particular attention to its specifications. Do not allow anyone that you do not trust to play with its settings and follow the instructions carefully! This is a perfectly safe way of doing this provided you follow the instuctions when setting it up! |
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Silver Member Username: CclashhPost Number: 293 Registered: Jan-08 | OK, I am in shock a little as to the 705's Zone 2 capabilities and how it should be configured. I am getting varying stories on how Zone 2 works on this thing. John S or Jim If you are looking at these post can you please clarify. None of what I am reading on this makes any sense to me as it counter-indicates any expectation that one would have when showing an interest in the Zone 2 capability. -Sorry "T" I am having little luck making sense of this. I am getting conflicting stories on how it works. Somethings I read say it only outputs analog inputs. Others say you may need a separate amp to get Zone 2 and 7.1 but I am truly not convinced one way or the other... I do not need or use this but If I needed to I would be a little disapointed! Back to the manual for me! I will revisit provided my manual does make some sense of this. Wait before making your decision on the receiver until further clarification of the 705's Zone 2 ability... The impedance matching speaker selector suggestion is still a good one. |
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Silver Member Username: CclashhPost Number: 294 Registered: Jan-08 | This is what Onkyo.com says and it looks like you can select any source to go to Zone 2. Powered Zone 2 By dedicating a pair of channels on receivers with this capability, you don't need an external amplifier to enjoy an independent stereo audio source in a remote room. For example, on higher-end models this allows for a full 5.1 channel movie to be enjoyed in the home theater, while simultaneously sending a song from a CD (or other source) to speakers in another room. So it looks like Casey is right about the 5.1 requirement in Zone 2's basic setup. The receiver has preamp outputs for zone2 as well that could be used to feed another amp which would then allow the 7.1 output while using Zone 2. So it looks like you could do it the way you have planned but only get 5.1 output. Don't miss the previous 2 posts.. |
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Silver Member Username: JrbayLivonia [Detroit area], Michigan USA Post Number: 286 Registered: Feb-08 | Now your on the right track!!! |
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Silver Member Username: MccambleyBREEZY POINT, NY USA Post Number: 505 Registered: Jun-05 | In order for zone 2 to work you must use anolog connections in addition to your Digital connections. Digital connection will not feed out to zone 2. Some new receiver like the Denon 4308 will out put digital connections to zone 2 but not HDMI connected sources. |
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Silver Member Username: CclashhPost Number: 295 Registered: Jan-08 | I guess that makes sense since the expectation would be that digital connections are multichannel and Zone 2 is just stereo. Hope that is not an issue for you "T"! |
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New member Username: Timm44Post Number: 3 Registered: Jun-08 | Nope. The analog connections will work just fine. It is all going to be a serious upgrade anyway. You would all have good laugh if you knew what I have been using for a cobbled together "audio system" now. I have a question about the difference between the Onkyo 606 and the 705 (is there a 706 in the works?) So, I have done the features comparison on the Onkyo website and the main difference is the watts per channel and some obscure features that I know very little about. The number of HDMI inputs is fine for both and the HD upconvert on the 606 is available on many DVD players. Does any one have thoughts or experience to sway either way? |
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Silver Member Username: CclashhPost Number: 296 Registered: Jan-08 | I don't think the 606 has a Zone 2, does it? Either way go with the 705! |
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New member Username: Timm44Post Number: 4 Registered: Jun-08 | The 606 does have a powered zone 2. The Ccity guy pointed it and the Onkyo site confirms it. I am still leaning toward the 705, however. |
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Silver Member Username: CclashhPost Number: 297 Registered: Jan-08 | I was not sure but as I said either way I really think that you will enjoy the 705 more than you would the 606. In my opinion the minor difference in price does not justify going with the 606. The 705 is a much better receiver for not much more in price. The 705 is the best bang for the buck and does not exhibit the problems the 805 has. |
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