Back again with another question

What I'd like to do is use a "second zone" of sorts with the 1070 to power outdoor patio speakers. Assuming the 7.1 inputs are otherwise not in use, suppose I connect just the SBR and SBL 7.1 inputs to my source (in this case a Squeezebox 3) and connect the speaker outputs for SBR and SBL to the patio speakers. In normal use the regular 5.1 speakers would be active, but if I switch the source selector to 7.1, then the outdoor speakers are active with the signal fed by the Squeezebox. I realize I would be limited to that single source, but in my case that's fine. Should this work alright or am I missing something here?

The reason I'm considering this setup is because I was thinking about the inevitable replacement of my 1070 for HT duties and considering selling my RR2150 instead of the 1070 when the time comes (the RR2150 currently powers the patio speakers via the 'B' speakers) thinking the RR2150 might fetch more on the used market considering the poor resale value of A/V receivers in general. Also, I miss not having video switching on the RR2150 as my TV only has two inputs (and I have three sources so I end up swapping cables a lot).

Thanks,
-John

It's an interesting idea... I can see where it could be really cool, but I also see a case where it could backfire a bit.

If you have the rear speakers enabled, Dolby EX and DTS ES-Discrete will engage automatically when flags dictate, and that rear surround will go out to the patio. If you disable the rear speakers, it would prevent that, but what will the 7.1 Direct input (which bypasses the DSP) do at that point? I have no idea.

If this works, it'd be a slick way to solve your problem without having to add an additional box to your system. If it doesn't work, I wonder what speakers you have outside - relatively efficient might be able to work with something inexpensive like the little Sonic Impact T-Amp (especially since you only have one source you want to pipe out there).

gonk,

That's a good point. I wouldn't expect any sound from the rears if they are disabled and the 1070 is processing a 6.1/7.1 digital signal. Hopefully, with the 7.1 input toggle set to either 'bypass' or 'hpf/lpf' it would just pass the signal through, but you never know. Then again, if I leave the patio door open maybe I can use the patio speakers as the rear speakers for a 7.1 setup

Anyway, I'll be sure to post back here if I have time to investigate this any further. I am leaning towards keeping the RR2150 and still have my fingers crossed that the Outlaw's will offer some sort of upgrade from the 1070 (like they did with the 1050) ... just weighing my options.

For outdoor speakers, I picked up a pair of Yamaha NSAW150W on sale for $80, not exactly high-end but they sound very nice with the RR2150 especially with the Bass EQ set to 80Hz. The sensitivity is rather low at 80dB, they're also 6ohm impedence so I don't know how well they'd work with something like the T-Amp. I've read a few reviews where users have complained that the volume has to be turned up to a relatively high level to get a decent amount of volume...certainly not a problem with the RR2150 though

-John

I don't think I'd probably even try using a T-Amp with an 80dB efficient speaker. I'd be curious to hear what you find if you have a chance to experiment with the 1070 in this manner, though.

Well, it was a nice theory but didn't quite work out. I tried disabling just the regular l/r surrounds in my 5.1 setup via the Speaker size menu in the OSD and the has the affect of also disabling the surrounds via the 7.1 inputs. The toggle set to either 'hpf/lpf' or 'bypass' didn't make any difference, in both cases there was no sound from the surround speakers if they were set to NONE in the OSD. I'm assuming the SBL/SBR speakers would behave similarly, that is if they're disabled in the OSD there is no output from the speaker terminals even if 7.1 input is selected.

-John

It was a nice theory...