Zone 2 and Multiple Speakers (1 Viewer)

[Mike Zimmerman]

I'm a newbie to all this so I'd appreciate any help...

I have a Denon 1803 which has Zone 2 capability. I'm currently using the 6th amp to run 2 speakers I have on my patio. This works well, but I would like to increase to 6 outdoor speakers.

I have an older Sony 5.1 receiver which I could use to power 4 speakers, but I'm not sure if I can get to 6 speakers with this setup. The Sony can handle 2 pair of speakers and has 3 surround channels (if I remember correctly - I've never used this unit). So I should be able to run 2 pair of speakers with no problem, but how do I run the 3rd pair? Can I use the surround channels to accomplish this or is there some other way?

What would be recommended?

Thanks in advance,

Mike

 

[Mike Zimmerman]

OK, I'll try this again and hope for a response this time.

I have my Denon 1803 hooked up to the Sony receiver via the Zone 2 line-out. I hope to have 4 speakers running from the Sony. The Denon runs the 5 HT speakers and (I hope) 2 more speakers from the Zone 2 speaker connections. I have the 6th amp on the Denon assigned to the 2nd zone.

I have optical cables running from my Sat Box, DVD, and CD players to the Denon receiver.

So far nothing when I pull all this together. Since there's no digital output to Zone 2 would I need to run coax cables from each of the input sources to the Denon or should the Denon recognize the digital input and send it to the Sony receiver as analog?

Does any of this make sense?

One other thing. The guys at Good Guys said I could not run the 2 speakers off the Denon Zone 2 speaker terminals when I use the line-out to another amp. The owners manual states that the "speaker out and line-out terminals can be used simultaneously in Zone 2". They will just have seperate volume controls. Anyone here have experience with this?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Tod Golden]

Mike

Try posting in the Amps/Receivers, you might get a response in there.

Tod

 

[Ted Lee]

it sounds like you want to output the denon's zone2 (via rca connections) to your sony (which can handle two pair of speakers) ... correct?

afaik, that will work fine.

the problem will be trying to get that 3rd pair of outdoor speakers hooked up. (how big is your backyard anyway? ) the sony's rear channels normally don't carry the same signal as the front, so unless your sony receiver has some sort of "party mode" (which usually sends the same signal to *all* the spakers) you're stuck.

i guess you could always get a speaker selector switch. check out nilesaudio.com for more info on that.

[edit] - check out this thread - sorta related to what you're trying to do.

 

[Mike Zimmerman]

I do have the Denon Zone-2-out connected to the Sony with an RCA connector.

The yard is 3 acres, but I'm only trying to get music to a small portion. It's just 3 distinct areas, a patio, a pool area, and a separate patio on which we have a spa.

I've concluded that I won't be able to do this through the Surround channels on the Sony so I'm focusing on the extra 2 channels supplied by the Denon with the 4 on the Sony.

I was hoping to do this without spending money on a separate amp.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Mike,

A few things:

First, you will not be able to use the Sony’s surround channels for this – unless they have direct amp inputs. All you will get is whatever effects signals that would be fed to them.

Second, as Ted noted, you can connect all three pairs of speakers to the Sony’s front L/R channels if you use a speaker selector unit. Niles is a good source; Radio Shack has them too.

Third, if you’re not getting any signal to the second zone, either to the speakers connected to the Denon, or those connected to the Sony, it’s probably because you have only digital connections between the source components and the Denon. Try adding the analog RCA connections and that should take care of it.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Mike Zimmerman]

Thanks for the input guys,

It worked last night when I ran RCA cables from all sources to the Denon and the RCA from the Denon Line-out to the Sony. I guess the RCA, Digital, and S-Video inputs don't "talk" to eachother. If a signal is input from a source in RCA it needs to output in RCA. Is this common in all receivers?

It turns out the Denon 6th amp will work when running the line-out to another amp (which I was told by the guys at the Good Guys store it would not) so I didn't need the surround channels from the Sony after all.

The only drawback is the volume control on the 2 speakers off the Denon run off the Denon remote and the 4 speakers off the Sony run off the Sony box.

Actually, now that I think about it, that's not a bad feature. I think I'll like having the ability to control them seperately.

Thanks again, this is a great source for those of us who don't know what the heck we're doing.

Mike

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

As far as I know all modern receivers are like this. The analog and digital signal paths are separate.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt