andy434343

I need a receiver that has 7.1 surround sound, hdmi in/out, and 2 zones for speakers which can have their own independent source. So if the receiver is being used in the living room for the television sound, it can also play music at the same time in another room. I know the Onkyos look to fit the bill, but I am dealing with their flawed hdmi inputs/outputs as we speak so I have chosen not to buy from them again.

Any recommendations?

JZ1276

http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=PRVSX1122K

Just got mine this week. Never heard of this website but it was only $359, arrived in 2 days and had no issues. Avg price on other sites is $550 so at $359 it's a steal. Best receiver I've owned (and I've owned a lot).

andy434343

Thanks jz1276, that looks good and I have looked at that one before, but does it have a powered zone 2? It doesn't say on the description....

Spiky

The Pioneer does have powered zone 2, but only 7 amp channels. Search for it at Crutchfield if you want better description. They don't sell it anymore, but the page still exists. If you are looking for 7.1 surround + zone 2 simultaneously, that is 9 channels you need. Or you could get by with 5.1 surround and zone 2.

9 channel receivers is a short list, and starts around $1500. It would be cheaper to get something like the Pioneer linked and a small stereo amp to power the other room. I linked that particular amp because it has auto-on, instead of needing a 12v trigger from a receiver, since most receivers in this price range don't have triggers.

If you aren't familiar with how they do zone 2....The Onkyo xx10 series (starting at $1800) is the only one (other than truly expensive stuff) that will provide zone 2 from the HDMI inputs. Otherwise you will have to also run analog audio wires from whatever source you might use for zone 2. Historically, most of these products have been analog-only zone 2.

andy434343

Thanks spiky, I was hopping to hear from you!

2 questions for you......

I guess the 7.1 and 2nd zone do not need to be in use at the same time, so I wouldn't need a 9 channel. If we are watching a movie then we can turn the zone 2 to off and then have 7.1, correct?

In the rare occasion that we have a movie playing;while music is playing in the next room, it would be 5.1 surround at that point for the movie, correct?

Thanks for the responses....

Spiky

Yes. And yes. But, you are talking about two sets of speakers hooked to the same speaker output. You would need some sort of switch to make that possible. Or physically switch cables each time. I'm guessing no one would like that. You may not even like having to switch an external switch plus whatever you have to do in the receiver to switch from 7.1 to zone 2. So you'd have to figure that out.

I'm sure there are inexpensive speaker switches at amazon and monoprice. Can't look up right now.

andy434343

Thanks again spiky.....just to give you an idea of what i am doing:

I plan on having a volume control dial on the wall in about 4 or 5 different areas of the house. Each of those rooms with a dial, will have one pair of speakers in the ceiling. Then the wires from these speakers will either all go directly into the zone 2 speaker inputs, or if that is too cramped then they will all go into a speaker selector and then just have 2 wires go out of the speaker selector into the zone 2 speaker input.

I plan on these speakers to all be switched on at all times, but the volume is turned all the way down on the dials in the rooms that are not being occupied. I plan on my music player to continuously play my own personalized large music playlist on zone 2. So when you enter a room, you just turn up the dial on the wall and the music will turn up in the room you are in.

Spiky

That makes it a bit more complicated. Frankly, whole house audio often goes along a much more expensive line.

You may want to look at something like this for four rooms. Running multiple sets of speakers can easily overload an amp if the impedances don't match up. You don't want to do that to your receiver. This is a basic set that is designed for all of that, just add speakers. It would leave you your 7.1 full time, also. I have no idea of the quality, though, zero experience.

Or the speaker selectors can help prevent impedance issues, but that often means you have to switch the different rooms on/off at the switch instead of in each room like you want. And the volume controls would have to match, also. You might get to the same price as that HTD, anyway.

andy434343

As of right now I am doing this with my onkyo 606 with three pairs of speakers outside my house for zone 2, and a 5.1 / 7.1 for the tv. This receiver can handle all three sets of speakers being on, plus the 5.1 at the same time with no problem.

I just assumed that a receiver could handle a few more sets of speakers, especially if in my new scenario I will only have a few of the pairs of speakers on at the same time at most. That was my thought process at least.

Thanks for all the info so far!

JZ1276

BTW the Pioneer also has 2 sub preouts so you can run that second sub to your 2nd zone.

andy434343

Awesome, good to know....thanks!