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What to do with extra speakers?

post #1 of 4
11/1/09 at 9:08am
Thread Starter 
 My HT is 9' x 16' and I decided during construction to wire for 5.1.  Since then, I went and bought a 7.1 HTIB system (ONKY HTS5200).  Now I cannot run additional wires because everything is sealed up.  What can I do with the extra two speakers.  Can I hook them up in addition to my front speakers (I have access to wire this) or can I put them on a "B" channel and sit them in front of the HT?  Or, can I split the wire coming from my rear speakers and have 4 rears instead of 2?  
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post #2 of 4
11/1/09 at 9:35am
I would hook them up to the "B" speaker outlet and use them in another room for casual stereo listening.

I wouldn't hook them up to the front or back speakers because it would either throw off the surround effect by having sound coming from where it wasn't designed to or it would screw up the impendance the receiver would see. Splitting the wire and hooking up two speakers to one speaker wire in "parallel" would change an 8 ohm load to a 4 ohm load. I'm pretty sure your avr isn't 4 ohm compatible. For the surround channels it probably wouldn't cause a problem, but why take chances. Wiring two speakers to a single wire in "series" would convert an 8 ohm load to a 16 ohm load. This wouldn't hurt anything but the volume of each speaker would be cut in half. It would be the better of the two wiring options but again, the surround field might sound a little strange.

You could invest in a wireless speaker adapter (expensive) and hook them up to the proper surround back channels. Otherwise, put them in a box and stick them in your wife's shoe closet .
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post #3 of 4
11/1/09 at 9:46am
Thread Starter 
 Gene C...

You have helped me reach a conclusion.....I think, but one more question.  With the info you provided I would like to hook them up to "B" channel.  The laundry room is just opposite the theater and I still have access to run wires from the receiver to that room.  Coincedantally this is where the wife shoes are located and this is also the laundry room.  Now if there's music in there running from the IPOD dock (this was included with the Onkyo HTIB) she may be inclined to wash and fold clothes.  So this may all work out perfectly.  

Now for my question.......if I hook this all up and switch the receiver to "B" channel only, will it only p[lay through "B" speakers?  I know that sounds like a silly question but I just want to make sure.  It actually will only take me 30 seconds to hook this scenario up and try it, so that's what I will do.  No response required.  Thanks for your comments.  Much appreciated.
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post #4 of 4
11/1/09 at 10:21am
Actually, a response is required because I forgot to mention a couple of things.

First, when hooking a pair of speakers to the B speaker output, whatever is heard thru the A, or main speakers, is what will be heard thru the B speakers. In otherwords, if your watching a movie in the main room you will hear the movie in the laundry room as well.

Second, in order to get Dolby Digital or DTS in the main room the B speaker might have to be turned off. Otherwise, the receiver might switch Dolby/DTS to Dolby ProLogic. Different systems handle this differently but I thought I'd mention it.

To answer your question, a stereo source will send an identicle signal to the A and B speakers, assuming both buttons are pushed in. In short, both the A and B speakers share the same amplifier and signal processing so they both emit the same program material. This is quite different from a Zone Two, for those who have that feature.
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