Am I looking for a 4 channel amp?

I have a similar set up in my bedroom and ensuite. I have an onkyo theater receiver, a TX SR504. It has a speaker A and B outputs and I use one for each room. Current receivers have Zone 2 output, but it might not be powered output.

What you can do is get an old school 2 channel stereo receiver with speaker A and B outputs, like the Harman Kardon 3390. It looks like it will power them at the same time, but they need to be 8 ohm speakers.

Yes.

Right. The best way to get 4 channels is to buy 5! ;-)

Yes you can do that, but then you lose independent control of each room. That may not be an issue for you by the sound of it so you'd be good to go.

If you run 2 speakers on one channel, the effective ohms seen at the receiver would depend on how you wire the speakers. In series, the ohms would add up, and in parallel they would be 4 ohms. Why not just run 1 speaker per channel if possible? On an entry level receiver( any current receiver that only has 5 channels would be the lowest priced models) the amp sections are pretty basic and they might not recommend 4 ohm loads at all. The amp might heat up frequently unless you play at lower volume levels. Just a thought.

What sources do you want to connect? If analog only, the 2CH amp below should fit the bill.


http://www.amazon.com/AudioSource-AMP-100-Stereo-Power-Amplifier/dp/B00026BQJ6

Yup.