[rickrayl]

I just bought an Onkyo 875 and will use it to power my main home theater room. I also have three sets of speakers in other areas of the house and plan to add outside speakers in the future.


I am looking for a relatively inexpensive way to distribute sound to those other speakers.


I saw this 12-channel amp, and wonder if it might suit my purposes, connected to the Onkyo as Zone 2 (I already know this will only drive analog inputs and will be connecting my components both through HDMI and analog):

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000XUNK90?...0&linkCode=asn


I realize this may not be a perfect solution, but until now, I have driven these speakers throuhg a very inexpensive Niles splitter box, on which you connect one set of speaker wires (my "B" speakers from my current receiver) and it then splits the signal into six channels passively (no amp involved at all).


If this is not a good solution, do you have any other recommendations at about this price point? Thanks!

 

[rickrayl]

Haven't gotten any reponses yet, but I've continued poking around for information on these. Based on 2 reviews of a similar model, it appears that these are under the brand Knolls and/or TruAudio.


One review said it caused a loud hum and that he was returning it. The other said it was OK for the price, but also noted a hum.


I will be looking elsewhere.


I suppose I can just use 2 channels from the 875 (I have only a 5.1 setup) and continue running to my Niles splitter for the time being, but I'm still looking for a better solution that does not break the bank.


I may also try to use my old receiver as an amp for the extra speakers. (I think I can use Tape Out or something else as Zone 2 on the Onkyo, feed into old receiver, and use its amps. Thoughts?

 

[Legairre]

The amp will work as long as 40w per channel is all you need to drive the second zone. If the hum people reported is a 60Hz ground loop hum then you can eliminate that cheaply too.