PIONEER SC61 AND SIRIUS RADIO

how did you set the receiver up? which speaker mode are you using?

5.1/7.1 with rears, 7.1 with wides or heights, 5.1 + speaker B or 5.1 with zone 2?

is sirius tuner hooked up with analog or digital?

I have the same set up and cannot play 2 separate sources coming through the network (i.e xm radio and Internet radio). I can play something from the tuner or cd player on the second zone and xm or internet radio on zone 1 (or visa versa)

Mark

so are you saying your speaker selection is

A: 7.2 + Front Height?
or
C. 7.2 + Speaker B?

are you trying to do zone 2 just by using the A & B speaker switching?

if so, you may have a mistake in the connections or setup because according to the rear panel diagram, true B speakers are supposed to be connected to the same terminals as the heights/wides. so setting them to A+B I don't think is going to work since you already use those jacks for heights connecting B speakers to the rears isn't going to work. you could use the B speaker selection/setup if you didn't have height channels.

if you look at the manual, pg 19, there is no setup option for using B speakers & wides or heights in the same setup.

and if you use a 2nd receiver/amp for a true multizone zone 2 setup not just speaker switching, you are also limited to analog connections only, not digital nor HDMI.

maybe I'm not understanding your setup, which is perfectly possible, but there has to be a reason why you can't get zone 2 audio. do you get sound in zone 2 with another source? if you do, then it's probably the digital connection. if you don't with any source, then I think I'm right about your setup/connections being incorrect.

what do ya think?
Edited by ss9001 - 2/2/13 at 1:22pm

same deal, did you use analog connections with tuner/CD player and digital for Sirious/internet radio? if so, the problem may be what's described on pg 31, no receiver has ever switched digital audio to a 2nd zone. but at least you get some audio to zone 2 so your setup may be A-OK at least.

can you post more details?

I think you have a setup & connection issue. you don't connect the height or the B speakers to surround backs jacks and have them work as intended. there's a diagram in the manual & you also have the AVNav disc. since I can't see with my own eyes what how you connected it up, I can't be sure. but if you described your speaker connections accurately, then they're wrong.

take a look at pg 18:

the only speakers that are to be connected to Surround Back are Surround Backs. no other options. Front Heights (if used), Wides (if used) and B speakers for a 2nd room all share the same jacks, Front Height/Front Wide. it's clearly shown in the manual. since you can't have all 3 sets connected at same time without damaging the amp, you have to make a decision in the Speaker Setup menu whether to use Heights, Wides, or B's. you can't have all 3 or even 2 out of the 3. that is not a choice as a setup. see pg 19.

you can only have B speakers with the surround rear channels option. there are no setup configurations for B speakers with height channels.

again, since I can't see what you did, I can only answer based on the info you supplied and it looks like you're trying to get the receiver to do something it's not designed to do. I suggest you take the time to re-read the manual.

sorry
Edited by ss9001 - 2/2/13 at 3:03pm

you're still missing the point - you can't make it work that way with height channels!

It's irrelevant that you aren't using the backs, you cannot use B speakers with heights, there is NO configuration that permits it. If you would bother just reading the pages I posted, you'll see this is so. there is NO option for using B speakers with calibrated heights.

these are your options -

SC-61 Speaker Options-1.jpg 172k .jpg file
SC-61 Speaker Options-2.jpg 224k .jpg file

do you see a configuration for heights + B? I don't

I don't know how much plainer it can be.

you have 2 choices:
1. don't use height channels, put the speakers in the back as rears & use the 7.1 surround + B option
2. put a 2nd receiver/amp in the outdoor room area, run the speakers off that, connect analog connects from the SC-61 to the 2nd receiver in zone 2, connect your sirius radio to the SC-61 with analog connects & use the multizone controls.

there are no other options without using external speaker switchers.
Edited by ss9001 - 2/2/13 at 4:57pm

destiny

there is 1 way you can do the outdoor speakers AND have height speakers in main room but it's cumbersome & requires extra steps.

you can wire the height speakers & outdoor speakers to a speaker selector switch, something like these
http://www.nilesaudio.com/product_selection.php?catcdID=7

then wire the output of the selector to the SC-61's front height/B jacks (see rear panel diagram). one set of connections from the switch to the one set of jacks on the receiver.

now here's the clunky part.

when you're in main room & using PLIIz or Neo X to get height channels, you have the receiver's speaker configuration in the setup menu, not the speaker selection, set as 7.2 front height option, shown as A in the pages I snipped last night. select the ht speakers in the Niles switcher.

when you want to listen to sirius (or anything else) in main room & outdoors, change the surround mode to Stereo, and you'll need to go back into the setup menu and pick either C - 7.2 surround + B, or E - 5.2 surround + zone 2. if you use C, you then use the Speaker select button on the remote to select A+B, switch the Niles switcher to the outdoor speakers. if you use E, then you select zone 2 as a multizone in the receiver, and switch the Niles switcher to the outdoor speakers.

that's the only safe way to connect both the ht speakers & outdoor speakers to the same jacks on the back of the SC-61.

destiny

you do have 1 more choice. you can trade-in the SC-61 for an SC-65, which is a 9 channel receiver. I just checked and it can do what you want. in the 65, the front wide jacks are the ones that can be used for B speakers. so you can have heights & B connected at same time. plus it does have the setup option for using heights & zone 2 at same time, E in the SC-65 manual.

SC-65 Speaker Options for Multizones & B.jpg 220k .jpg file

if you had bought the SC-65, you could easily pull off what you'd like to do.