Hey all, I just got my 990 last week and I am not sure how to use the 2nd zone feature. Will the 2nd sub preout work for anohter sub in zone 2?

Thanks in advance

The second zone is best thought of as a separate two-channel analog audio and s-video/composite video pre-amp tucked inside the 990's chassis - it will let you use any audio or video input with a separate display (such as a TV with audio/video inputs, an extra stereo amp and speakers, or whatever tickles your fancy) completely independently of the main 990 system. The second subwoofer pre-out is a convenient means of connecting two subs in the main system - a simple way to think of it is as a built-in splitter cable (both sub outputs get the same signals, as does the balanced subwoofer output).

That makes sense. Is there any way to run a seperate sub in zone 2 then? I have an extra amp and set of speakers but I would like to have another sub to go along with them in zone 2.

The 990 doesn't have any internal bass management for zone 2, but there are methods for integrating a sub even from the analog domain - for example, Paradigm's X-30 and Outlaw's ICBM both provide adjustable bass management for two or more full-range channels of analog audio (two for the X-30, six for the ICBM). In some cases, you can also simply use the crossover in the subwoofer's amp.

I think I got it. Run the zone 2preouts to my sub analog inputs and then connect the speakers to the high or low level outputs? and then active the subs crossover and use it that way??

Yep - run the left and right analog pre-amp outputs to the low-level inputs on your sub, then run the low-level outputs to your extra amp to drive the speakers (assuming your sub has low level inputs and outputs). That way, the crossover in the sub's amp can divide the signal as needed.

Thanks gonk but you lost me with "run the low-level outputs to your extra amp to drive the speakers" I was was thinking that maybe I could use the sub's amp to power the speakers. Will that not work?

Nope, I think what Gonk is saying is that if you want to have a sub in the second zone, it depends on how you route the audio from the main room where the 990 is to the second zone/room.

If you connect the 2nd zone of the 990 to an amp located next to the 990, and then run speaker lines to the second zone/room, the thing to do is run the speaker fede through the "speaker inputs" on the sub, then to your speakers.

If you run line level audio to the remote room and the amop is there, then run the line level feed through the sub first, and then to the amp, and onward to the speakers.

Does that make sense?

A sub amp is generally a monoblock - it may have binding posts for left and right channels (although that's becoming less common as receivers provide the bass management work), but that's just for passing high-level signals through (between an amp and a speaker). It doesn't amplify signals for anything except the sub itself.