Proper setup for whole home audio

[ghtk743]

Hi all,

I recently bought a home that was wired by the previous owner for whole home audio and am trying to figure out the best (and safest) way to get the system up and running as I'm a relative audio novice. There are 10 zones in all, consisting mostly of in-wall speakers, though realistically I'm only interested in running 8 of them. Each zone has a dedicated volume control and the wires from each zone terminate in the same location.

Right now, the only audio components I have are an Onkyo TX-8020 receiver and a Russound SS-4 speaker selector switch (left behind by the previous owner). With this I was able to get 4 of the zones up and running using the speaker A output on the receiver. Sound quality is fine for my purposes.

What I can't find a definitive answer on is whether I could safely connect a second speaker selector to the B output of the receiver to run the other 4 zones simultaneously with the first 4. I'm sure it's possible, though I don't want to risk frying the receiver. Am I better off just picking up a dedicated 8-zone switch? Is the receiver I have even capable of handling the load from this setup? FWIW I don't plan on using the system to blow the roof off, just listen to talk radio and background music. Thanks!

 

[whoaru99]

If the SS4 speaker selector impedance matches to 8 ohms, then a 2nd SS4 or equivalent on output B would be 4 ohms net on the receiver. If the receiver is rated for 4 ohms it should be fine.

Bear in mind, however, even if you are not cranking loud in any given room, it all adds up and can still be fair work for the amp.

 

[ghtk743]

If the SS4 speaker selector impedance matches to 8 ohms, then a 2nd SS4 or equivalent on output B would be 4 ohms net on the receiver. If the receiver is rated for 4 ohms it should be fine.

Bear in mind, however, even if you are not cranking loud in any given room, it all adds up and can still be fair work for the amp.

Thanks for the reply. I double-checked the receiver specs and it is rated for 4 ohms. However, I pulled up the SS4 selector manual online and it states that "The system impedance of the SS-4 with 4 pairs of 8 ohm speakers is 5.0 ohms." Based on that if I connected a second switch then I would be well under the 4 ohm rating, right? If that's the case, it seems like an 8 zone selector switch may be a better option. That or getting a second receiver and switch.

 

[whoaru99]

Yeah, two 5 ohms in parallel would be 2.5 ohms. It might live but probably not recommended.

 

[swechsler]

Used multi-zone commercial amps are fairly cheap and very reliable. Niles, Rane, Crown, Speakercraft, Russound, Elan all make amps that are designed for this sort of application and will fare well being left on for weeks at a time. Check eBay. Only thing you may need to consider is the connectors - many of them use Phoenix connectors instead of RCAs and binding posts, but these are readily available..

 

[whoaru99]

That's a good point. I bought two Elan Z-660 amps that were originally used for distributed audio. I bought them to use for active biamping/triamping...but the point here is you can find stuff like that fairly reasonable. And, while.maybe costs a bit more it's overall a better solution than impedance matching switches.

 

[ghtk743]

Used multi-zone commercial amps are fairly cheap and very reliable. Niles, Rane, Crown, Speakercraft, Russound, Elan all make amps that are designed for this sort of application and will fare well being left on for weeks at a time. Check eBay. Only thing you may need to consider is the connectors - many of them use Phoenix connectors instead of RCAs and binding posts, but these are readily available..

It looks like my receiver only has one set of audio out connections. In that case, would I need to stick with a single 16-channel (8 zone) amp for this application, or is there a way to pass the signal to 2 amps simultaneously (e.g. bus output of amp 1 to bus input of amp 2)? From what I'm seeing the 16 channel versions aren't especially common and are still fairly pricey used.

 

[whoaru99]

Many of that type of amp have inputs/outputs for linking.

All else fails you use plain old Y cables to split the one output into two.

 

[swechsler]

Most of the multi-channel amps that I was talking about have a separate input for each channel, but you should be able to split the output of your receiver several times with a Y connector without significant loss (or if they use Phoenix connectors, just daisy chain them).