Zone 2 Trigger Behavior

Hello all. I've discovered some strange behavior with my 990 and the way the trigger works for Zone 2. Well, actually it's the way the 990 behaves when I turn on zone 2. So here goes: when I turn on zone 2 with my little zone 2 remote, the trigger for the main zone also gets activated. So even though the audio signal is only going to my zone 2 amp, my main zone amp also gets turned on. I would really rather not have this happen. Can anyone think of any way around this? Seems to me that if I am only turnig on the zone 2 portion of the 990, it should only activate the trigger for zone 2.

Any input is appreciated. And, as always, TiA.


later,
Simp

Trigger 2 is not a zone 2 trigger. It is a source assignable trigger. For example, you might assign it to all video sources to trigger an automated screen to raise and lower with source selection.

Got it. My misunderstanding. Thanks for the speedy response, Scott.


later,
simp

I don't understand how Scott's answer solves Sraber's problem. If his main amp is controlled by trigger 1 on the 990 it's still going to be turned on whenever the 990 is - even if the 990 is only wanted as a source for zone 2. Yet apparently Sraber doesn't want the main zone amp on if he's listening only in zone 2. It looks to me like there needs to be a way of choosing which zone one wants to listen in and turning on only the appropriate amp.
Is there, and I haven't found it? or have I misunderstood Sraber's problem?

No, You haven't misunderstood my problem. And you are correct in that I don't want my main zone amp turing on when all I want is my zone 2 stuff working. In my response to Scott I was just acknowledging the fact that I misunderstood what the 2nd trigger was used for. The problem persists regardless of the trigger assignment. It'd be nice to see an option in the setup menu that could change trigger 2 into a zone 2 trigger. That setting could also be used to make the trigger one NOT activate when only zone 2 is being used. The Rotel unit that I demo'd had that type of feature and it seemed real nice....


later,
simp

I don't own a 990 but is this the same issue as the 950 as described here?: http://ubb.outlawaudio.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=15;t=001289

The second trigger on the 990 is an addressible trigger - on each input's setup screen, there is a choice to have the trigger on or off. This means that (for instance) a front projector on the Video2 input could have a motorized projection screen that is commanded by trigger 2 to extend when that input is selected. The Model 950 has a main trigger (which behaves the same as the "trigger 1" on the 990) and a separate trigger for the second zone.

Right. All I really want to be able to do is turn on my Zone 2 amp without having the 990 also turn on my main zone amp. Doesn't appear that can be done. Bummer. More energy consumed, more on/off cycles for my main zone amp. Double bummer. Sadness...


later,
simp

So will the Sears auto switch described at the end of this thread work?

In theory, you plug the 990 (or 950 in my case) in along with your main amp. The main amp will only turn on when the 990 is on. On the 950, zone 2 works even though the power is off (is this the case with 990?) This means the "auto switch" will shut off the main amp when the 950 shuts off after enabling zone 2. Or am I dreaming?

Well, I decided to give up on using my Parasound HCA750A amp for 2nd zone audio. In addition to not getting the triggers to operate the way I wanted to, I could never get the sound in my 2nd zone to sound as good as it did with my very old school Pioneer receiver. Yeah, I know, sounds weird, but that old receiver really drives my zone 2 speakers pretty well.

So, using the Parasound and a pair of older Polk Audio M3II speakers I added back surround speakers to my home theater setup. I must say that I am VERY impressed with how going from a 5.1 setup to a 7.1 setup has improved the sound of my theater. WOW. I'm still playing around with all the different different surround formats but so far I'm REALLY impressed. (Maybe should move this to a new 990 thread....)

later,
simp

I have exactly the same issue with zone 2. For now, I have configured as follows: plugged DC trigger for main zone into "trigger 2" output on the 990 and programmed only 2 video sources to turn on the main zone amp. Not ideal, though, if I want to use one of the other sources in zone 1. (usually Zone 1 only uses these 2 sources, but not always). My amp allows a manual switch over-ride of the trigger state.

I haven't tried it yet, but in contacting outlaw directly they suggesetd that I connect my main zone amp to trigger two and program trigger two to activate for all sources. Thus, whenever the 990 is powered on for the main zone, trigger two will activate the amp (but turn off when only zone 2 is on). I have a separate distributed audio system for my other zones and only use the 990's tuner for zone two and thus don't want any amps triggered when zone 2 is active in the 990, but you could connect a zone two amp to trigger one and it would stay on when zone 2 is active (but also be active when zone 1 is in use).