- Jul 4, 2007
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Originally posted by: fanerman91
That was a rather sarcastic and worthless comment. That was the guy's first post and you probably scared him off of Anandtech. Sorry jeffandrenea. Not everybody here is that rude, and your question certainly was worth answering (I remember reading it but I didn't have time to write a reply at the time). BTW sdifox, a CRT RPTV that does 1080i can look amazing. Please be more respectful.
I don't remember all the details of the original post, but if you want to have the option of having different sound sources going on in different locations, then you'll need a receiver with multiroom capability.
If you want to have 5.1 surround sound in your living room and duplicate the front channels to another 2 speakers in another 2 locations, then you'll need a 7.1 receiver with multiroom capability.
If you want to have just a 2.0 speaker set-up in your living room (only front left and front right), and then have the same sound going in different rooms, you can just get any 5.1 or 7.1 receiver and then just set the surround mode to "all channels stereo" or "7 channel stereo" or whatever the equivalent is. It's basically a setting to send the front stereo information to all of the surrounds. So everybody would hear the same thing. A 5.1 receiver would get you sound in 2 rooms. A 7.1 receiver would let you have 3 rooms.
If you have any questions just reply to this thread or PM (private message) me. Not everybody here is an asshole, really.
Originally posted by: jeffandrenea
I returned the 7.1 receiver and got a plain old stereo receiver and will buy a speaker selector. Yes, the goal is to just have stereo throughout the three rooms. I didn't know (and none of the three salesmen informed me) about using an "all channels stereo" or "7 channel stereo".
I think a stereo receiver with a speaker selector will do the same as putting a 7.1 on all stereo. Correct?
However, a 7.1 will give me more options for the future.
Forgive me for thinking "out loud". I'm really lost and have no one to ask (besides forums).
Thanks, fanerman91
Originally posted by: jeffandrenea
Hmmm...(thinking).
I have all the wiring behind the TV. These wires go to rear ceiling speakers in the TV room (which also has two floor speakers), ceiling speakers in the family room, and ceiling speakers outside on the porch. Volume knobs are built-in for the family room and outside. I picked up a cheap stereo receiver - should that be used for the outside and the family room speakers?
My goal is to be able to have all speakers play from the same source for background music. I don't see the point in having different sources if two of the rooms are right next to each other and the sound will bleed into one another. I am not really interested in surround sound at this point as it will require more speakers (and is not desired by the family).
Originally posted by: jeffandrenea
Just speaker wires - I will have to put in a wall plate to make it look good. All the speakers are passive. I will have to get the ladder and look at the ceiling speakers (they are all identical - about 8"). The floor speakers I just bought are Polk M20's. I have 4 speakers in the TV room, 2 outside, and 2 in the family room (8 total). If I want surround sound in the TV room at a later date, that will be more speakers.
Originally posted by: jeffandrenea
For playing all at once (one source, like CD), minimally, I would want 3 pairs of speakers for just audio (2 in family room, 2 outside, and 2 in TV room). So should I take back the el cheapo stereo receiver I have now and get a 5.1 or a 7.1? Would I still need a speaker selector?
Thanks to everyone for advice so far. I am learning a lot.
Originally posted by: jeffandrenea
It's only 100 watts stereo. I would be better off at spending more and getting a 5.1 or 7.1 which has much more power, right? I would like to have all the speakers on at once for occasional parties.
Volume controls are in the family room and outside.
Max speakers playing: 8 pairs
If I understand right, a 5.1 or 7.1 would allow me to have all speakers set to stereo when I have parties. When I want to watch tv or movies, I can just have the two floor speakers and rear ceiling surrounds. I can later buy a center channel and a sub.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
Originally posted by: jeffandrenea
I just got off the phone with the company that installed the speakers and wiring.
They said I would need a speaker selector and a receiver that has two zones - the 2nd zone would be connected to the speaker selector, which would run the speakers in the secondary room and outside. For what I want, he said I don't need a 7.1 receiver if a 5.1 is less expensive.
The ceiling surround speakers are Speakercraft (CRSZERO) in the TV room.
The secondary and outside speakers are Klipsch (CS650R).
I have the speaker volume panels already on the secondary and outside speakers. I guess I can wait for the main panel plate.
So, I could take back the stereo receiver and get a 5.1 (multi-zone) receiver instead, along with a speaker selector. That should allow all the speakers to be hooked up.
Originally posted by: jeffandrenea
Ok, I am confused again. I made a quick visual of what I currently have already installed.
My setup so far.
Originally posted by: fanerman91
I was away for awhile but I'm back. Sorry if I was harsh sdifox. I find that Anandtech (especially off topic) has a huge "I'm better than you" mentality so I get very defensive when I sense something vaguely close to it. My apologies.
sdifox,
A 5 channel stereo (or 7 channel stereo) set-up won't do any mixing of the sound source. It'll just duplicate the stereo track for each set of speakers. If you had 3 identical pairs of speakers in 3 identical rooms, and you hooked up all 3 rooms to a receiver in "7 channel stereo" mode, you'd hear the exact same thing in each room. In this case I think it's what jeffandrenea sort of wants. I think you're thinking about Dolby Pro Logic or some similar algorithm, which creates a 5.1 mix out of a 2.0 source.
jeffandrenea,
I'm not sure what you want exactly. Can you clarify a few things? I also want to understand your situation exactly.
1) Do you plan on wiring the ceiling surround speakers in your living room (do you want surround sound)? You mentioned that you don't desire it, but you have the speakers in the drawing.
2) When you mentioned the volume control panels, how do they work? Do you wire the speakers to the panels, and then wire the panels to the receiver? What is the main panel for? (I've never encountered this before).