[stuthemonkey]

I have been trying to determine the best receiver to upgrade to. Currently I have an old Sony 7.1 receiver that is only an HDMI passthrough, so it can't decode the full 7.1 signal out of the HDMI.


What I'm looking for is a new receiver under $500 if possible. That will not be an HDMI passthrough, which I know is pretty much everything anymore. I also need zone2 speakers. Now what I view zone to speakers as is a receiver that has a full 7.1 speaker outputs in the back for the "main room". Then two more speaker outputs in the back for a left/right of zone 2. That I can switch between which zone speakers I would like to have audio coming out of. What I also need is the ability of the receiver to output to zone 2 from any input coming into the receiver.


My setup and reasoning for this is as follows:

Currently I have 7.1 speakers in my movie room. DirectTV, PS3, xBox 360, Apple Tv and other various devices hooked up to it. On my side porch I have 2 speakers I would like to hook up to the "zone 2" of my receiver. And I would like to be able to use the apple Tv (HDMI output) into the receiver to have music play through to zone 2. I do not expect the receiver to be able to play audio from one source into full 7.1 zone 1, and a different source into zone 2. However if that was possible that would be sweet.


I've looked at the Yamaha RX-V671, and the Denon AVR-1912. However the Denon does not have zone 2 speaker outputs, just zone to rca outputs. The Yamaha has the outputs, but from reading various reviews and setup instructions it seems that zone 2 speakers can only receive audio signals from analog inputs on the receiver, meaning it would not be able to play the audio from the Apple Tv.


Can someone point me in the right direction to a receiver that can do what I'm looking for? Or point out that what I want to do is not possible? Maybe no receivers will decode the digital HDMI for a zone 2. That could very well be the answer I hear. I just figured a place like this would be the place to ask to get an answer quicker then trying to read reviews, and articles all over the place trying to find it.


Thanks for any help anyone can give.

 

[ccotenj]

^^^


nothing will do what you want...

 

[jdsmoothie]

The Denon 2112CI is currently on clearance and if not yet out of stock would be available under your budget at several authorized resellers to include Electronics Expo, AV Science, and J&R. It features Zone 2 pre-outs. The vast majority of AVRs (to include the 2112CI) will only pass "analog" connected sources to Zone 2. Some newer 2012 AVRs (eg. 3313CI) will pass HDMI audio to Zone 2 but at 2x your budget.

 

[ccotenj]

^^^


woot! gotcha again!!

 

[stuthemonkey]

I guess what I would have to do then to support what I want is have the apply TV hdmi to the receiver for normal use. Then use a optical converter to take the apple tv optical out to an analog signal on another input on the receiver that could go to zone2. Would this method work with most receivers for zone 2?


as far as the Denon 2112CI goes. Am I missing something with Denon? I do not see any zone 2 speaker outputs on any of the Denon models when I look at the backs of them. I only see Zone 2 rca outputs.

 

[ccotenj]

^^^


yup, that would work for all receivers with zone 2...

 

[jdsmoothie]



Quote:
Originally Posted by stuthemonkey  /t/1418963/new-receivers-with-zone-2-speakers-question/0_100#post_22194982


I guess what I would have to do then to support what I want is have the apply TV hdmi to the receiver for normal use. Then use a optical converter to take the apple tv optical out to an analog signal on another input on the receiver that could go to zone2. Would this method work with most receivers for zone 2?

as far as the Denon 2112CI goes. Am I missing something with Denon? I do not see any zone 2 speaker outputs on any of the Denon models when I look at the backs of them. I only see Zone 2 rca outputs.

Denon 7.1 AVRs use the Surr Back/Amp Assign speaker posts for a number of other configuration settings to include Zone 2 with the factory default setting actually being Zone 2 as noted in the image below.

 

[stuthemonkey]

If the Denon support the Surr Back speaker posts for Zone 2 as well. That would mean that my Zone 2 would have to either be the same speakers as my surrounds for zone 1. Or I would have to have two speakers plugged into each post. Or I would have to switch out speakers if I wanted to use zone 2. Unless I'm missing some other way of having a different set of speakers for my zone 2 then the surrounds on my zone 1 on a denon.

 

[jdsmoothie]

If you want a 7.1 setup in the main zone, you would have to use the Zone 2 preouts to an external 2CH amp to power the Zone 2 speakers. IIRC, some Yamaha AVRs can shift from 7.1 to 5.1/Zone 2 without having to change speaker wiring.

 

[stuthemonkey]

thank you all for the replies. It looks like for what I want to do, without having to buy an external 2CH amp I would have to skip the Denon.


From looking at the Yamaha RX-V671 it can do the auto switching between 7.1, and 5.1/Zone 2. And this is definately in my price range. If someone knows much about this unit and can verify I read that correctly I would appreciate it.


So the last thing I would need is the tosLink to R/L audio converter for the apple tv. So I could hook it up via hdmi for normal use, and analog for zone2 use. One thing I've noticed with the toslink to analog converters is some say they do not support dolby 5.1 digital conversion. I would assume for listening to normal itunes library music the apple Tv would not be outputting 5.1 dolby audio, so I would not have to go with the more expensive converters. I could go with something simple like this: http://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-Digital-Optical-Toslink-Converter/dp/B0040TQOMK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341582121&sr=8-1&keywords=Digital+Coax+%26+Optical+Toslink+to+R%2FL+Stereo+Audio+Converter .


Thank you cc, and jd for all the information. You've been a big help.