Why Home Theatre?

[jeffandrenea]

.

 

[sdifox]

You don't care about hd, surround sound? have you guys actually experienced surround sound?

While you are at CC returning the receiver and the speakers, return the plasma too. Get one of those old crt rptv since that is all the resolution you need

 

[pennylane]

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.

 

[sdifox]

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.

I know a CRT RPTV can look great. That is why I suggested they return the plasma. They didn't care for HD, so why pay a premium on it?

similarly I suggested they return the receiver since they are not going to get any value out of it.

I guess the smileys were not big enough to suggest I am not overly serious?

And the op only wanted single source, all speakers play same thing.

If I came across as sarcastic, I apologize. I did not intend it that way.

 

[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

 

[sdifox]

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

Thinking out loud is the cheapest way to get thing right the first time you do it
You didn't need to have more than 2 speakers working at a time?
Do you have a wiring cabinet where all the speaker cables go to? Like into the mechanical room?

All channel stereo and 7 channel stereo won't help your cause since it will assume all the speakers are setup as 1 environment and try to create stereo sound from all the speakers.

 

[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).

 

[sdifox]

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).

So you will have how many pair of speakers playing (the same source) at one time?
Do you see all speaker wires or is there RCA cables? Just trying to figure out your exact setup, wouldn't want to plug an active inwall speaker into an amp. That would guarantee a smelly fireworks show

Do you know what kind of in-walls you have? Like make and model?

 

[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.

 

[fisheerman]

you will need volume controls in ever room that do impedance matching unless your speakers selector has this built in.

-fish

 

[sdifox]

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.

Actually, you said you 2 in the back of the tv room, 2 fronts are the Polks. You can do surround with just those 4, or add 1 centre + sub if you so decide. You have flexibility there.

Key question is how many pair of speakers are you going to drive at one time?

 

[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.

 

[sdifox]

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.

You want to power them all at once? I don't think that stereo receiver will be able to handle the impedance drop when you run all the speakers in parallel.

You don't need a speaker selector if you want all of them on all the time. You did say you have volume control in each room already right?

The comment I made about home theatre was that since you have speakers in the ceiling at the back of the living room already, you could just use them as surrounds, when you decide you want surround sound.

what 2 channel receiver is it? and how loud do you expect to play them?

So how many pair of speakers max would you be playing?

 

[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.

 

[sdifox]

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.

Hold off on the receiver purchase, I am not sure a 5 nor a 7 channel is really what you are looking for.

5 channel stereo or 7 channel stereo mode takes a 2 channel source and mix it so that all 5 channels emit sound. Problem with your setup is that your '5' speakers are not setup in a home theatre configuration. They are in fact in different rooms which means the algorithm used to create that mix would not sound great. the 5 channel surround would work in your tv room since you have 2 speaker in the front and 2 in the back. The geometry is correct.

What is your budget and how much convenience factor do you need?

Example of what you can use

This part has to be used for each pair of speakers.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe...cfm?Partnumber=300-548

This is main panel

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe...fm?&Partnumber=182-820

You just control volume locally.

You may need a bigger amp. Also, if your in wall speaker wire is bigger than 14AWG, you have a problem.

Later when you decide to go surround sound, you can use your existing speakers as mains, the 2 ceiling speakers at the back of the tv room as surrounds and add a centre speaker and a sub. Of course you would also need a 5.1 receiver.

 

[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.

 

[sdifox]

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.

err, that would not work that way... you would not be able to play all 8 pairs at the same time. You have to pick which ones play and so on so forth if you use a speaker selector.

 

[jeffandrenea]

Ok, I am confused again. I made a quick visual of what I currently have already installed.

My setup so far.

 

[sdifox]

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.

That means you have 8 speakers, not 8 pairs...

Let me summerize what you want to do, and you point out what I got wrong.

You have 8 speakers, in 3 zones.

2 of the 3 has volume control

You would like to control each zone independently

you currently has a 2 channel receiver

You would like to play the same source over all the speakers, maybe all at the same time


Anything I am missing or got wrong?

 

[pennylane]

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).

 

[jeffandrenea]

I would like to be able to play two sources, but they don't have to be at the same time (i.e. movie in surround and outside/secondary room music). For instance, if I have a party, I would like music in all three areas. If I want to watch a movie/tv in surround, the other rooms don't have to be on (but it could be an option).

The two-channel receiver is something I can return to Circuit City, since I bought it this week. It was only $70 after rebate. Should it be kept and used in conjunction with another receiver?

The ceiling surround speakers in the TV room are already wired.

The volume controls for the outside and secondary rooms are already wired.

All wires end up behind the TV in the main/TV room.

I hope this makes it more clear what I need. Thanks to both of you for the help. It's very frustrating, hearing different things from multiple people. I am trying to do the right thing for my needs and you have been VERY helpful.

 

[pennylane]

Okay.

Since the ceiling surround speakers are already wired, does that mean you want surround sound?

And, I'm still not sure how the volume controls work. Will you simply be able to put them in-between the receiver and speakers? ie, receiver -> speaker wire -> volume control -> speaker wire -> speaker?

 

[jeffandrenea]

It would be good to have the surround option in the tv/main room.

Yes, I believe it looks like the volume controls are exactly how you described.

 

[sdifox]

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).

Actually, 5 channel stereo does remix the 2 channel source into surround. So your left surround would have mostly left channel sound with a little right mixed in.

Here is a H/K pdf file talking bout their processing called Logic 7

http://manuals.harman.com/HK/T...s/logic7-TechSheet.pdf

In a way, 5 channel stereo is no different than DPL, except it is specific to music.

 

[jeffandrenea]

So, then would I be able to have a receiver only put out 2 channel stereo when I only want music?

I'm still trying to figure out what I need to buy. I can take back the 2 channel stereo receiver.