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Looking for a receiver that can drive Zone 2 without robbing channels from Zone 1's 7.1

post #1 of 12
1/21/13 at 5:09pm
Thread Starter 
I am building a 7.1 theater, but I will also have a pair of speakers in a nearby area. This other pair will not be in use at the same time as the 7.1 set, and I want to drive all the speakers with one receiver.

All of the multi-zone receivers I have seen have forced you to take a pair of speakers out of the 7.1 set in order to drive another zone. Are there any receivers that will let you wire up 7.1 + 2.0 simultaneously?

When I say "all" I mean about a half dozen units in the $400-800 range, so what I want may be available at a higher price point, but it is a hard thing to search for. I would appreciate any leads.
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post #2 of 12
1/22/13 at 3:01am
The Marantz SR5006 (2011, MSRP $799) is 7.1 with a dedicated set of Front B speaker posts that you can use for speakers in another room.

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post #3 of 12
1/22/13 at 9:10am
Anything with 9 or more sets of speaker terminals should be able to do this one way or another. Pioneer receivers can do it through Speaker B, Yamaha and Onkyo receivers can do it through Powered Zone 2. Either way if you only have sepaker A or the main zone active then you'll get 7.1. It's only if you try to use both at the same time, speakers A+B or main zone and zone 2, that you'll be limited to 5.1.
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post #4 of 12
1/22/13 at 9:45am
I have an Onkyo NR1007 for sale... it has 9ch of amplification which can be used for 7.1 + 2.0 Zone 2, 5.1 + 2.0 Zone 2 + 2.0 Zone 3, 5.1 + Height/Wide + 2.0 Zone 2, etc... It's completely configurable and very versatile. Not only can you wire 7.1 + 2.0 Zone 2 simultaneously, you can OPERATE both simultaneously and independently of each other.

If you're interested, PM me or see my classifieds post.
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post #5 of 12
2/8/13 at 9:01pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the leads, folks!
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post #6 of 12
2/8/13 at 9:59pm
Thread Starter 
Oh man, I thought I found just the ticket in the Onkyo 818... But the powered zone 2 can only play analog sources!
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post #7 of 12
2/9/13 at 12:43am
Yup .. which is also the case for virtually every AVR on the market today.
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post #8 of 12
2/9/13 at 12:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by horseflesh View Post

Oh man, I thought I found just the ticket in the Onkyo 818... But the powered zone 2 can only play analog sources!

That's pretty much the way every receiver with Zone 2 works.
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post #9 of 12
2/9/13 at 10:09am
Thread Starter 
Yeah, I am just now figuring that out. :/

Fortunately I think I can work with that limitation. I need 2 zones because my projector can be aligned to point at 2 surfaces. One is the main screen with a 7.1 array. The other is a smaller area behind the bar, where there are stereo speakers--but I will only ever need to play the FL/FR signals from the 7.1 system there. Therefore, I should be able to connect the pre-amp outputs for FL/FR to a set of analog inputs, and drive zone 2.

If for some reason that doesn't work out I'll have to add an auxiliary amp I guess, but per the 818 thread this trick should work for copying the main sound to a second pair of speakers.

Anyway, now to find a good price on an Audyssey XT32-equipped unit with powered Zone 2... I just missed all the 818 deals.
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post #10 of 12
2/9/13 at 10:15am
From your description you don't actually need two indepedent zones. A receiver which supports Speaker B (A+B) will work, and this doesn't require analogue connections. You could also connect an impedence matching speaker switch to the front speaker terminals of any AV receiver and then use a DSP mode that down mixes to stereo when using only two speakers.
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post #11 of 12
2/9/13 at 10:52am
Thread Starter 
But doesn't Speaker B use a pair of speaker connections from the Speaker A set? I mean, you'd still need terminals for 7.1 plus another pair. Right?

OK, this must be what you mean--here is a 7.1 AVR with a pair of separate Speaker B terminals. I always thought this should exist, just had not seen it yet... all my past units made you choose between using B and some pair of speakers in A.



I never thought about a simple speaker switch + DSP.

So, looks like I have some options. Thanks!
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post #12 of 12
2/9/13 at 11:21am
Yah, basically what you need is an AV receiver with 9 sets of speaker terminals. The extra two sets should either let you use them as Speaker B or Powered Zone 2 while still letting you connect 7 speakers in the main zone at the same time. There are plenty of AV receivers like this, though I think Pioneer may be the only manufacturer that gives you the option of using them as Speaker B.
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AVS › AVS Forum › Audio › Receivers, Amps, and Processors › Looking for a receiver that can drive Zone 2 without robbing channels from Zone 1's 7.1