[kgzero]

Hello everyone,


I have a question for you (I apologize if it is a dumb question, but I'm not very knowledgeable about this stuff).


I have an Onkyo HT-R550 which came with HT-SR800 home theater in a box. I wanted to know if I could take the speaker wire from the "Speakers B" outputs of the HT-R550 and put that into an amplifier input that would then output to 4 speakers. Is this possible, or would this possibly damage speakers/components?


What I'm trying to do is hook up all 7 speakers for surround sound in the house, as well as 2 outdoor speakers (which would be hooked up to the "Speakers B" outputs, but I would also like to hook up 2 more speakers to be used in the kitchen. I was trying to not have to buy another receiver or amp, or if I have to, get the cheaper of the two since funds are very slim right now with my house remodel.

 

[m_vanmeter]

unless you have a very unusual amp that takes "speaker level" input, the amplified signal you are trying to feed to another amp will grossly over-drive the amp's input section. The amplifier is designed for low voltage "line level" input.


you could put the HT-R550's "B" speaker output into a two way speaker switch and select the outside or the kitchen speakers. If you want to select both sets of speakers at the same time, you would need an impedance protecting switch to insure the combined speaker load does not drop below 4 ohms.

 

[walbert]

AudioSource makes a few (relatively expensive) amplifiers that do this, and you can buy transformers as well - I'd probably go with m_vanmeter's suggestion though.


Remember that B does not mean a second zone, and therefore if you have 5.1 playing in the main room, you won't get a stereo composite thereof in your other locations. This could be potentially annoying.

 

[kgzero]

Thank you both very much.

I will look into a speaker switch that allows me to select both at the same time.

 

[kgzero]

Looked into Audio Source amps, but they do seem to be expensive as you mentioned.

 

[kgzero]

Would either of these work?

4-channel Speaker Selector
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

The above mentions protection switch, but not like the next one


4-Channel A/B Speaker Selector (this specifically says the protection switch prevents the load from being reduced below 5 ohms)
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2


Also, I was planning on buying volume controls for these speakers (one kitchen, two outdoor) from monoprice. Would this negatively affect anything?

 

[kgzero]

Anyone?

 

[m_vanmeter]

the 6857 (2nd choice above) will work fine

 

[kgzero]

Thanks m_vanmeter