[Photek]

Hey everyone I'm new to HTS - been busy driving myself up a wall trying to figure out a way to do 5-channel stereo output on my Marantz SR-19 receiver.

I currently have (2) Definitive 450 speakers with a decent Definitive sub. I just put on hold two Definitive tower speakers BP6B. With these new towers I want to move my smaller Definitive speakers to the rear (probably will wall mount them) and place the towers up front.

However, here in lies the problem that I'm praying you guys have a solution for.. I really use my setup for mostly music so when I have all four speakers set up I am going to want to have equal output levels from each speaker (5-channel stereo output I believe this is called?) - I do not want my rear speakers to be only able to play at 20% volume of the fronts.

For the life of me I can't find an obvious setting on my Marantz receiver that will allow me to play equal levels from all speakers.. but everyone I talk to says a nice receiver like that which is fairly new (bought it within the last 5 years) should have zero problem doing a simple 5-channel stereo output. Am I missing something? Are there other ways to do equal volume levels out of all 4 speakers ? Help!

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Did you look in the manual for something like 'all channel stereo?' I did and found nothing. Apparently, this AVR cannot do that but only matrix the rear channels.

Kal

 

[Photek]

Yeah I tried looking through the manual and didn't see anything similar to 'all-channel stereo'.. guess it doesn't support this

However, I was told that picking up an ~80-100 W external amplifier would solve my problem seeing as my receiver does have a pre-out jack. Someone explained that I could run my two (larger) tower speakers into this amplifier, then run the amp into my receiver's pre-out. I would keep my rear bookshelf speakers hooked into the "front L/R" input directly on my receiver.

Would this setup give me essentially 5-channel stereo; equal volume levels throughout my four speakers?

If so I'm going to pick up an amplifier, which seems like a better option than getting a whole new receiver..

 

[salvasol]

First of all ... Welcome to the forum :wave:

Yeah I tried looking through the manual and didn't see anything similar to 'all-channel stereo'.. guess it doesn't support this

However, I was told that picking up an ~80-100 W external amplifier would solve my problem seeing as my receiver does have a pre-out jack. Someone explained that I could run my two (larger) tower speakers into this amplifier, then run the amp into my receiver's pre-out. I would keep my rear bookshelf speakers hooked into the "front L/R" input directly on my receiver.

Would this setup give me essentially 5-channel stereo; equal volume levels throughout my four speakers?..

If you get the amp and connect the towers, you'll be using the front pre-out, Right??? ...so this will be front speakers.

If you keep your bookshelf speakers in the front L+R, they will also be front speakers; to get stereo in all speakers means that your bookshelf will be placed in the back of the room, but they can't be used as surrounds ...Is that What you want???

If you're willing to place the speakers anywhere (just keep the towers in the front), it will be cheaper to get a "Speaker selector" (around $40-$100) ...you just choose which speakers you want to use. If you get the speaker selector, you can connect from 4 to 6 pairs of speakers, for the whole house maybe :whistling: :yes:

EDIT: If you're planning to use front pre-outs and front speakers terminals, I suggest you to contact Marantz and ask if this is okay, I saw on my Yamaha manual that if you use the pre-out to don't use the speaker terminal (doesn't say Why???, it could be because is the same signal or because a possible damage).

 

[Photek]

Yes you are correct in that I really don't care too much about surround sound, I more or less want to be able to listen to music (and other audio) through all four speakers equally - I'm going to position them still in four corners of the room.

Hmm I've never heard of a 'speaker selector' but yeah that seems to be what I may need.. Does a speaker selector plug into where the main R/L front speakers would, then allows you to plug all 4 (in my case) speakers into that one box?

If this is how it's setup, my real concern then would be will my receiver have enough power to split that one signal (to the front L/R) into four? I listen to music up to around -18 Db, would this be enough power if I split that signal up 4 ways.. I may be misunderstanding how it works.

Hm amplifier or speaker selector... ?

 

[salvasol]

Hmm I've never heard of a 'speaker selector' but yeah that seems to be what I may need.. Does a speaker selector plug into where the main R/L front speakers would, then allows you to plug all 4 (in my case) speakers into that one box?

If this is how it's setup, my real concern then would be will my receiver have enough power to split that one signal (to the front L/R) into four? I listen to music up to around -18 Db, would this be enough power if I split that signal up 4 ways.. I may be misunderstanding how it works.

Hm amplifier or speaker selector... ?

That's correct, just use the speaker terminal on the AVR to connect the speaker selector and connect all speakers you want/need.

Most speaker selectors have "impedance match" ...so you'll protect the AVR from overloading, and believe me that will not be a problem; I have two speaker selector connected to my Sony STR-DG500 and I'm running seven pairs of speakers without any problem.

Amp or speaker selector??? ...cheapest way speakers selector :bigsmile:.

Want some links ...here you go

http://www.hometheatershack.com/electronics-retailer/index.php?k=speaker+selectors&c=blended

http://www.avdeals.com/homeautomation/speakerselector.htm

http://www.outdoorspeakerdepot.com/speaker-selectors.html?gclid=CJe2r_WUwZcCFRlRagodv1MwSg

 

[Photek]

Thanks a bunch for the links, you definitely found some cheaper ones than I was able to!

Wow so you run 7 pairs of speakers off one receiver without any external amplification? If that's the case I'm certain my "measly" 2 pairs should be easily powered off my receiver, no? And you don't hear any degradation in sound running through the speaker selectors?

 

[salvasol]

Thanks a bunch for the links, you definitely found some cheaper ones than I was able to!

Wow so you run 7 pairs of speakers off one receiver without any external amplification? If that's the case I'm certain my "measly" 2 pairs should be easily powered off my receiver, no? And you don't hear any degradation in sound running through the speaker selectors?

No problem, that why we're here to help each other :bigsmile:.

Yes, I'm happy with the sound (is just background music), my Sony goes to 75 on the master volume, usually I use up to 45 (we can say half) and it sounds good. I bought the speaker selectors at Radio Shack, but I think they're out of stock right now. :T.

 

[Photek]

Great, well I guess my last question before I go pick one up is should I make sure the selector supports up to a certain wattage? I think my towers are rated as 20-175 W

 

[salvasol]

Great, well I guess my last question before I go pick one up is should I make sure the selector supports up to a certain wattage? I think my towers are rated as 20-175 W

Most selectors will be okay to handle 100WPC from AVR (BB sells one that goes to 150WPC but cost $150+), your Marantz is rated 120WPC and I doubt you'll be using the full power, Right???...now, speaker rating is different; the 20-175watts is the recommended wattage to feed the speaker, the more you feed the better it sounds specially if you're using a pro-amp you'll notice the difference :yes:.

Just be sure that it has the "IMPEDANCE MATCHING" to avoid any damage to your AVR :T.

 

[Photek]

Thanks! One last thing.. promise!:hide:

Take a look at this one: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8783015&st=speaker+selector&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1205246213634

Can I use my high-end banana plug speaker wires in those sockets?

 

[salvasol]

Can I use my high-end banana plug speaker wires in those sockets?

It looks like it accepts banana ...but to be sure, ask the salesperson to try one to see if it fits, and if it doesn't there's some straight pins bananas that I'm sure you won't have any problem.