Does anyone know how to hook up a set of speakers for the "second room " (Sony's Terminology) when you have the main room equipped with 5 sets of surround speakers? It looks like the second room speaker has to share terminals with one of the surround speakers... Very odd they dont have a regualar A/B setup...

I don't know the particulars of this receiver, but it sounds like you have the choice of surround speakers, OR a second room pair, but not both at the same time.

Most reveivers that can power a second room at the same time produce the main L & R signals on the second pair's outputs.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com

You need to send the 2nd room output (RCA) to an amplifier, then connect the 2nd room speakers/volume control to this amplifier for power. I've done this with my Sony and have in-wall volume controls in several rooms.

I'm slowly figuring out my Sony receiver (no thanks to the useless manual...).

I've figured out the part about connecting the separate amp to the Sony via RCA jacks which isn't exactly what I was hoping for. (I thought I was buying a receiver with the usual A/B speaker selector...)

What has me confused is the fact that two of the speaker terminals (center back and front center) are "double labeled" with "2nd room", somehow indicating that the speakers can be hooked directly to these terminals.

Any thoughts about this?

I would say that, according to the markings you mentioned, and if you don't mind giving up the front and rear centers, you should be able to power the 2nd room speakers. The question is: How do you route the desired signals to those two amp channels?

Questions:
Is there a 'second room source' selector?
Is there anything in the manual about the terminals?
Is anything mentioned about 'second room' at all?
Are there any RCA jacks labeled 'pre-out' and/or 'pre-in'?

In some operating manuals, features that should be explained well in one paragraph can be spread out through the book in little snippets of info. My Sony digital camera manual, for instance, has two or three different page numbers for about half of the controls.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com

|Those were all very good questions. I finally got a hold of someone at Sony Tech support who seemed to know what I am asking. Apparently there's some "secret" way to do what I want that is not documented in the manual (or even in their tech support documents). I was just about to be connected to the person who remembered the "secret" when I got cut off...


There is, but it apparently only selects the "source" to be used in the second room (i.e. CD, TV, etc)...it doesn't seem to selectively switch to that room (i.e. act like a regular A/B speaker switch)


Nope -- unfortunately, the manual depicts the labels on their diagrams, but nowhere does it say what it means..


Just a sentence or two -- not enough detail to decipher


There are RCA jacks labeled "2nd Room" which I've come to realize can be connected to a separate amp so that the main receiver would serve as the source...but still doesn't explain the speaker terminals...


Thanks for your thoughts! So frustrating!!

There are A speakers, B speakers & 2nd room preamp outs on your receiver.

-A speakers would be the mains: L & R, C, LS, RS

-B speakers would be for an additional set of speakers (for another room/area) L & R (stereo) and would have to listen to the same source as A speakers. Volume would raise & lower for BOTH A & B at the same time.

-2nd Room output (RCA) is non-amplified and would require and additional amplifier to power speakers. This can have a different source playing than main room (A & B speakers).

I use the 2nd room output on my Sony receiver the following way:

2nd room output (RCA preamp) ---> Onkyo 8211 stereo receiver (Tape input)

Onkyo 8211 stereo receiver speaker A outputs (L & R) ---> Niles Impedance matching speaker selector switch

Impedance matching speaker selector switch ---> 8 pair of speakers throughout my home (Kitchen, Dining Room, Master Bedroom, Master Bath, Guest Bath, Front Porch, Rear Patio, Garage). I can choose any individual set of speakers or all.

Hope this helps to understand the flow/connections.

Sonicflood

Well, I'm about 90% of the way to figuring all this out. Thanks all for your input...

I spoke to Sony Tech support again and discovered that the way to switch the receiver to the 2nd Room mode is via a combination of keystrokes on the Remote Control (which is only mentioned in the Remote Control instructions -- seems stupid not to have this info at least referenced in the Receiver manual).

I've got things to work okay by using a separate amp/receiver (as described in the post above). Once I get the time, I'm going to check out this Remote Control maneuver to see of the double-labeled speaker terminals on the back can be used without the need for a second amp...