[ljo000]

I'm in the process of planning a multi room audio system but am pretty new to stereo hardware. The plan is to have 3 rooms with 2 speakers each (something like this - JBL SP6CSII, 100w in-ceiling) with a PC as the source. Control will be via wifi and IR extenders.


My question is, what do I use for the amplifier? I want each room to be able to play independently. Is there a single amp that can do this or would I get a 7.1 receiver instead? I would definitely consider a used one and don't need too much power as the speakers are only rated to 100w max. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.


Also, in general, is an amp usually left on all the time? Do they draw much power when not in use?


Thanks!

 

[rick240]

By "play independently" do you mean with separate volume controls, or what? This will dictate most of your needs by what you actually mean.


Many amps just turn on when they have a signal or via a 12V trigger.

 

[ljo000]

By play independently I mean they could each be playing different music. Volume control will be handled by the PC.


I've had a look around and I think something like the Emotiva XPA-3 would work. Then I would have to wire each pair of speakers in series or in parallel? I really don't understand the impedance stuff - I think if I had them wired in series the impedance would be 16ohms? What I would like to get is the speaker's rated output of 100w at 8ohms.

 

[rick240]

So your computer has 3 independent audio outs then? Do you have three sound cards or a sound card with three separate outs?


Each one of those three will connect to its own independent 2 ch amp or 2 independent channels each of a 7 channel amp (with one not used).

 

[mashley]

You just need a good solid 6 (3pairs of speakers) channel amp and potentially a matrix switcher. No parellel or series needed for this. If you need help there let me know. it's easy but can throw you for a loop pretty easy. I will say that unless you find and assignable 3 zone receiver (About 1.5k and up) and are willing to not use most of the features then don't go that route. It won't work well and is a waste.


I do have a few questions for you:


-Will you ever expand to say 4,5,6 zones?

-Will your PC be the only source and if so will it have 3 independant red and whit outputs?


There are good number of solutions but as soon as switching (Being able to do independant sources at the same time) the price goes up. Look at Niles and Aton for good matrix amplifiers at a low price. It most likely will be in groups of 4 or 6 though. like a "4 Source, 4 Zone distributed audio system" or a 6 and 6. So 3 and 3 will be tough to find.


The AH66 from Aton gives you 12 channels (add more rooms/speakers if you like) and you could use your PC in place of the keypads and go through the keyad inputs for your IR. That would be a nice little set up with little to no programing. If you want to get crazy you can add a Lutron Radio RA to that system with no programing! Careful on lighting! It's addictive.


I hope this helps!


Thanks,

Matt

 

[ljo000]

Thanks for the info. To answer the above questions:


1. The computer will have separate audio outs (3 soundcards with 3 Softsqueeze instances playing on them)

2. I don't think I'll ever need to expand the number of zones so a 6 channel amp would be plenty.


Would I need multi zone hardware if I did this? Wouldn't the 6 channel amp just pass on the different sources?

 

[ljo000]

Also, the nice thing about the squeezebox/softsqueeze setup is that control is via any web-browser enabled device (blackberry, iphone etc) over the home network.

 

[mashley]

Sorry it took me so long to respond! I went out of town and had no service. (it was great!)


Anyhow, you could just use a 6 channel amp to get you there. However your pc would need to be able to switch what it's sending to where. Basically it would be the switcher and volume control!


That would work great if your pc allows. Also a great app to control your computer is "team viewer" and it's free!


Look for a 6 channel amp with as much power as you can afford with independent inputs per zone.


This is all pending on if your computer can be the

Matrix switcher. Hope that makes sense.


Matt Ashley
Www.home-technology-store.com