[andystratton]

Having spent a fair bit of time here I think I am going round in circles!

I need to replace my Sony receiver and would like to have a solution that provided sound in 3 principal areas:

Lounge - 5.1 with the fronts bi-amped
Kitchen - 2.0
Terrace - 2.0

We are finally being dragged into the 21st century and now have an MP3 which can go into a USB port. Can this (or a CD via the BD player on HDMI) be fed to the terrace or kitchen?

It would be perfect if I could be in the lounge watching Brighton & Hove Albion beating Arsenal in the FA Cup Final whilst my better half could listen to Adele via the MP3 or CD in the kitchen or terrace.

Is this possible on a mid range reciever such as Denon AVR3312, Yamaha RX-A810, Marantz SR6006, Onkyo TX-NR1009?

I appreciate that it is possible vis the pre-outs but that seems a complete waste of time to me because if I need to buy a stereo amp for the other areas I may as well plug the MP3 directly into them and avoid having to walk 30 meters to adjust the volume.


I know my Sony had 'B' speakers so I could switch the music to a different area but it meant that the lounge had nothing (or the same).

All advice welcome - especially if I can being a complete dimwit!

[dante01]

Firstly, you cannot both bi-amp and power speakers in an additional zone. The back channels can be assigned to do either, but not both.

Audio to additional zones is restricted to analogue, USB or audio sourced via an amps network abilities. You cannot output audio sourced via HDMI or S/PDIF to additional zones with amps that have multizone abilities.

The new Denon AVR3313 may be of some interest because of it dedicated second zone HDMI output? THis would still be restricted to outputting audio sourced via HDMI though and would require an HDMI equiped device in the second HDMI zone.

[andystratton]

Thanks Dante01 that makes it a bit clearer. By using an amp's assign function then one can only achieve one of the amp capabilities and not 2 or more simultaneously? Shouldn't this be made clearer in publicity?

If I am understanding you correctly then the following are possible:

Lounge: anything in 5.1 with maybe the fronts powered by a stereo amp via the pre-outs. Would this result in a substantial improvement (assuming the speakers are adequate of course)?
Kitchen/Terrace: 2.0 listening to MP3 via USB or CD player via RCA's

[dante01]

Originally Posted by andystratton

Thanks Dante01 that makes it a bit clearer. By using an amp's assign function then one can only achieve one of the amp capabilities and not 2 or more simultaneously? Shouldn't this be made clearer in publicity?

If I am understanding you correctly then the following are possible:

Lounge: anything in 5.1 with maybe the fronts powered by a stereo amp via the pre-outs. Would this result in a substantial improvement (assuming the speakers are adequate of course)?
Kitchen/Terrace: 2.0 listening to MP3 via USB or CD player via RCA's

Yes.

Improvement would depend on your expectations, the amp you use and the speakers you are powering with it. I'd suggest not to expect too much from AV amps and AV setups in terms of music, even if using power amps.

Also note that only the higher end AV amps will have more than one additional zone and a third zone will need to be active and have its own off board external amplification in order to power speakers with in that zone.