Here is what I want to set up:

1) 5.1 system in living room.
2) Stereo sound in bedroom, playing the same source as living room.
3) Stereo sound in bathroom, playing the same source as living room as well.

The 990 only has a "Room 2" -- which I assume just plays the stereo version of whatever you have going on in the 5.1 part.

If I only wanted stereo in the bedroom, I'd be done.

But adding an additional pair of speakers in the bathroom now means I have to wire them up.

If I just wire all four of these 8 ohm speakers in parallel, I will be showing 4 ohms to the amp. Is that OK, or should I add a "speaker selector"?

I have seen some speaker selectors that -- I *think* -- have a transformer or something that shows 8 ohms to the amp even when you have four 8-ohm speakers.

Could I just add in one of these transformers myself?? Any idea what the specs would be?

Thank you very much!!

The 990's second zone is purely stereo and works with the analog stereo inputs (so you want to make sure to run stereo analog cables from any source you will be listening to in the second zone even if you use a digital cable for the main zone). If you are wiring two pairs of speakers in parallel and getting a 4 ohm load, all you really need is an amp that can handle a 4 ohm load. If, for example, you use any of Outlaw's seven-channel amps (the 7075, 7125, 7200, or 7700) and plan to use the two extra channels for these bedroom/bathroom speakers, the 4 ohm load will be no sweat for the amp to handle and no speaker selector is required.

Will your amp tolerate a load that dips below 4 ohms? Many modern amps will not.

The impedance of a speaker varies with frequency. A nominal value of 8 ohms might range from 6 to 10 ohms dependent on the frequency of the input signal. Put those in parallel and you have roughly a 3 to 5 ohm load.

The Niles Audio HPS-4 might be an example of what you're looking for, but your amp must be able to handle 4 ohm loads.

Hi,

Prior to my remodel I had the same requirement as you. I tried out an Adcom speaker selector but decided to acquire an additional stereo amplifier to power the second pair of "Zone two" speakers (because more power is better, right?).

I can't help you with the theory or design of an impedance matching transformer to do what these types of speaker selectors do but I am sure there are people on this board who can...

As to whether showing a 4 ohm load to your amp is OK... that depends on the amplifier. ANY outlaw amplifier will do just fine with a 4 Ohm load. The downside of just wiring in parallel is that both pairs of speakers will always be on when you are playing zone 2. Using a speaker selector or second amp would allow you have the bathroom off while listening in the bedroom and vice versa.

Speaker Craft makes impedance matching speaker Selectors that have built in 'protection' that presumably will protect your electronics from damage.

http://www.speakercraft.com/#Products:159:Direct%20Connect%20S4dc

Regardless, you will still need to make sure your amp can handle a 4 Ohm load.

When planning our remodel I decided to go with whole house audio for ease of use and flexibility of distribution and have installed a Sonos system.
Two of the benefits of a system like Sonos, (or Slingbox, etc...) are that you can start small (one zone) and grow as you desire, plus they offer units with and without amplification.

Whichever way you go, you'll need to follow Gonk's advice on cabling.

Here's another thought - if you are using an amp that can handle a 4 ohm load (something that receivers rarely can do well but separate amps handle routinely) and desire a way to operate each set of speakers somewhat separately, you could put a speaker selector switch between the amp and the speakers so that you could toggle between bedroom, bathroom, or both. When both were on, the amp would see that 4 ohm load, but that'd be true anyway.

Have you ever seen a speaker selector that also has a remote -- so I can use my RF remote to not only control volume from the other rooms, but turn speakers on and off?

Also, would it be better for the life of the amp to have it only see 8 ohms instead of 4? Is there a gizmo I can add in to make this happen?

Thanx!!

I've seen some selector switches for audio/video connections that offered remotes, but I don't know about speaker selectors. My usual sources (Radio Shack, HomeTech, SmartHome) didn't turn anything up except for a few in-wall speaker selectors (like these two ). Others around here may have some good suggestions, though.

Outlaw's amps won't be hurt any by operating at 4 ohms. You could do something like a speaker selector box with impedance matching to produce an 8 ohm load, but these amps are designed to operate with very demanding 4 ohm speakers (such as Polk's LSi series) without any ill effect. This assumes, of course, that we're talking about an Outlaw amp or a comparable amp from some other manufacturer.

I haven't been able to find a speaker selector with a remote, but an old reciever that supports A/B functionality might work. I use such an arrangement for my family room and dining room with a Denon 3801 fed by the record out of the 990 rather that the second zone out. It works out well and gives me a lot of additional flexibility for incorperating digital programs that aren't available over the second zone analog outs and local devices as well as those in the home theater.

Good ideas!

Gonk, the gizmos you pointed to are about $50-100, and a nice looking Niles HPS-4 costs almost $200.

With that in mind, the bottom of the line Denon AV receiver, the AVR-587 , is only about $250 factory recertified, and for that you get 75 watts x 7 channels, etc, etc.

Hmmm... here's an idea, a VERY highly rated factory recertified Denon AVR 3806 for $700 and the AVR 587 for $250 is only $1050 and you should be able to configure a zillion speakers, zones, etc with your 14 channels!!

That is a little more than the cost of the Outlaw 1070, but a lot less than any of the Outlaw separates if you want just a set of B speakers. (You *need* the 990 at $1099 just to get B speakers!)

Obviously there are a million and two ways to achieve a setup like this. How about this for a scenario: Connect your Oppo and your HD cable box to your 1070 (assuming you still have your 1070 ) using digital audio cables along with any video switching you may be using (or take the video straight to the display). Then connect stereo analog cables from the Oppo and the digital cable box to a secondary receiver (like this from Audiogon , perhaps, or even that AVR587 you mentioned for $250) which would then drive the bedroom and bathroom speakers. I suspect that you could find a used stereo receiver for this purpose at a pawn shop or online auction site for around $100 or less, assuming you didn't already have one lying around that you could use for free. Your RF remote could control input selection and volume from the bedroom. If the receiver you used for the bedroom included digital inputs and your HD cable box has more than one digital output (mine has both optical and coaxial), you could even connect both sources to both receivers with digital audio cables. This is essentially identical to what the 990's second zone and a two-channel amp (or two spare channels on a seven-channel amp) would accomplish. Certainly a separate amp like the 7075 or 7125 would handle the 4 ohm load produced by both sets of speakers better than a receiver would, such that you could hook both speakers in parallel and forget about it (might need to be a little more careful about that with the 587 or a used receiver). The only reason that I suggest a scheme like this is a concern about allowing one feature that is used peripherally drive component selection in a direction that may yield less performance for the core purpose (and feedback from 1070 owners makes me suspect that the 1070 will sound better than a 3806).