The sonance box in question is a speaker distribution box, not an amp.
Do do the RCA splitters have any major negative effect?
Do do the RCA splitters have any major negative effect?
Can I rig a home theater amp to run in wall speakers?
My friend has an older rotel 5 channel power amp that he used to use with a rotel home theater preamp for a home theater. Now he has a modern marantz home theater receiver that handles the home theater. His new house has 8 in wall speakers distributed throughout the house. He has a sonance speaker distribution box. I advised him to use the rotel power amp to drive the speakers in the sonance box, using the pre-outs from the Marantz. The current set up can only make use of 2 channels, due to the 2 pre-outs from the marantz, and thus, 3 of the channels in the Rotel power amp are going unused. I'd prefer to put one pair of in walls at least on its own channels in the rotel, and minimize the quantity of speakers in the sonance box.
any thoughts?
any thoughts?
Showing 7 responses by marktomaras
tls49, thanks for the help! he has 1 pair of outdoor speakers, 1 pair in living room, 1 pair in family room, a single speaker in kitchen, and a single speaker in a hallway (which is a low priority). On the Marantz HT Receiver, he is using the main speaker outputs for his home theater, and then the stereo pre-outs to the Rotel amp. Is there a better way to feed the Rotel here? What is the A/V out? no way to control volume in each zone At this point, we are shooting for a minimally functional system! I advised him that a great way to do this properly would be to purchase a Sonos Connect Amp to each pair of speakers for excellent control, but that is an expense he does not want to incur at the moment. So, to use what he has will have to do for now. Is there a way to disable the speakers on the Marantz HT Receiver while the pre-outs send signal to the other speakers? |
That is hard to say, though I would guess the outdoor speakers will need more amplifier juice, by nature of them being outside. Looks like they may not be summing speakers, he sent a photo and 3 pairs are connected as usual, but one line speaker only is connected to one channel. Thank you for the help! |
Thanks guys. The source is an Apple TV via HDMI to the Marantz. The Apple TV serves up a large collection of music on hard drive. My friend is not an audiophile, he just likes music. He is not even a gear enthusiast, nor one to obsess over the quality. Of course, he appreciates nice sound, but there you have it. TLS49, I think we are on the right track with the stereo output, taking advantage of the HDMI input on the Marantz. So, he chooses stereo mode, sets the speakers to speakers B only, and his in-wall system is doing its job. Sounds great. This is a relatively temporary band aid situation. I think a stack of Sonos Connect Amps (or similar) would serve him better, but this solution may remain for a while, so we'd like to get the most out of it. I really like the idea of using all 5 amp channels on the Rotel. It just makes sense to have a speaker than can get its own 100 watt channel to take advantage of that, as well as to reduce the load and loss on the sonance box. I think the outdoor pair can get 2 Rotel channels, perhaps the kitchen gets one (in mono?) and the sonance box gets a pair, now with only 2 pairs of speakers, reducing the load! What do you think of this product? https://www.amazon.com/HDE-Composite-Video-Powered-Splitter/dp/B009NK550I/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&a... How do we get the kitchen in mono? One of these? https://www.amazon.com/Cables-Go-03161-Stereo-Y-Cable/dp/B0002J1KVM/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=... Ah heck. I just realized there is a flaw in that plan. He'd need to be able to turn off the outdoor speakers. Cant be jamming in the living room, not using the outside area, and pissing off the neighbors. Ok, please advise. thanks! |