Can I add extra speakers to my Sony Bravia Home Theater system? (1 Viewer)

I recently bought a Sony Bravia DAV-HDX585 Home Theater System and Television. I enjoy it - for my imperfect ears it seems like good value and I like the way the AV system and TV work together. But there's a problem. I have speakers on my deck from my old receiver and would love to hook them up to the Sony AV but the tech tells me it can't be done. He says there are outputs for the 5 speakers that come with the system but no other audio outputs.

Is there any type of speaker jack splitter or switch that I can purchase to allow me to hook up these two other speakers to the system?

I apologize if this question has been asked before. I did spend a couple of hours searching but may have not understood all the technical specs (I'm a computer geek, not an audiophile).

Yeah, that's the biggest problem with the HTIBs, limited flexibility. Most full receivers have a 'B' channel for this kinds of thing.

I think you have one or two options. You could hook up your front speakers to the outside speakers in series (not in parallel). That would mean, for the right front channel, take the (+) off the receiver, connect it to the (+) on the inside speaker - then take the (-) on the inside speaker and connect it to the (+) on the outside speaker - then take the (-) off the receiver and connect it to the (-) on the insider speaker, then take the (+) from the insider speaker and connect it to the (-) on the outside speaker. The downside to this is your outside speakers would always be on.

The other option is to connect your speakers through a switch box. The B seating on the switch box would only have the mains routed to the outside. The downside to this is you could only play one or the other.

Thanks so much for the response. I'm such a newbie in this field I almost don't have the nerve to ask questions for fear of sounding like a complete idiot.

It never occurred to me that speakers could be hooked up in series--makes wonderful sense when you explain it though.

The switch box would actually be my preferred solution since I don't want the outdoor speakers on all the time (the neighbors) but the tech guy says there's no output for the speakers. I think the only output I have left is an HDMI. Can I use that to some sort of switch box that could run the outdoor speakers?

I just did a quick search, but this is an example of the speaker selector.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062682&y=7&x=18&retainProdsInSession=1

You would take the front left and right signal from the back of your sony unit to the selector box where it is labeled input.

Then you would run speaker wire from the selector box channel A to the sony speakers and channel B to the outdoor speakers.

This would actually give you the ability to either play A speakers (sony indoor speakers) B spekers (outdoor speakers) or both at the same time.

I can clarify further if you have questions. You shouldn't feel like you will sound like an idoit, one of the best ways to learn is asking questions.

Pat,

Just make sure the speakers on your deck match the Ohm output of you Sony receiver.

Thanks so much for the explanation. A bit of irony: before I thought of looking for an answer from the online community, I called Radio Shack and asked if they had anything that would help me. They said no.

Intelligence AND information are such a lovely combination. Thank you again.

Pat

But of course there would be additional technical details. What would AV equipment be without a few additional details?

Thanks for the warning - I'll check those Ohms.

Pat

Ha Ha...not surprised they didn't even know about their own product. This actually happened to me as well, I went to a radio shack and asked about this years ago and the guy basically said no way, not at all you would have to open up the stereo and reconfigure the amplifier to add speakers and all this garbage, it was clear he had no idea what I was even asking for.

So I went to another radio shack and went in and picked off the self what the other guy swore COULD not exist. Ha ha, it amazes me the amount of misinformation people are giving out there.

Good tip, always make sure you check the impedance to keep your system safe. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but as long as your speakers aren't a lower impedance and you're not going to be playing the system at full volume for long periods of time the numbers don't have to match exactly.

Example if your system can power 4 ohm speakers and your outdoor speakers are 8 ohm, there shouldn't really be an issue, you're just not maximizing your output capabilities.

You are correct. Some will even drive a lower impedance load than the owner's manual says. My Pioneer is rated to drive 6 ohm speakers but others on here and other forums have confirmed with will drive 4 ohm speakers without breaking a sweat. After learning that, I connected a 4 ohm center channel and they have been a happy pair for 3 years.

Given our mutual feelings about Radio Shack, I decided to look online for a speaker selector (wonderful what you can find once you know the search terms--I was looking for speaker jack and/or speaker splitter to no avail).

This selector looks like it might do what I want with aesthetics as an added bonus. I have an electrician who is used to my penchant for fishing wire if you think this would be an acceptable choice. Is Niles a good brand? (newbie alert)

www.crutchfield.com/p_190ABA1DA/Niles-ABA-1D-Almond.html

I think this would work good.

A few things to keep in mind...this switch won't allow both "Front channel" speakers at the same time (which I don't think you want anyway).

Does your Sony system have a setting for just 2 ch music listening? The reason I ask is if the system normally plays out of ALL speakers (fronts, center, surround, sub) switching over to the outdoor speakers will only cut out the sound from the FRONT sony speakers, the center, surround and sub will still play. I wanted to make sure you understood that.

Now if your system has a setting that only uses the front speakers then it doesn't matter.