2. home-theater
  3. 129123-36302

New Two Zone System - I'm out of my League

Hello,

I've read a ton of the Home Theater posts and everyone is super knowledgeable and helpful.  I'm kindly asking for everyone's advice.

I have always been a two-channel (amp, pre-amp, tower speakers) person.  My wife and I are remodeling our main floor and now the two towers have to go - I'm sure you can guess why!


Zone 1:  In the living room I will have two in-wall speakers - left/right speakers on the sides of the TV and a powered subwoofer.  Unless you suggest otherwise, I'd like to use my existing Parasound amp and pre-amp separates to power the two in-walls and send an audio signal to the powered subwoofer (using "loop output" on the amp).  These speakers will mainly be used for TV watching, and occasional music playing.  I have no interest in anything more than this 2.1 set-up.


Zone 2:  In the kitchen on the same floor as the living room I will have two in-ceiling speakers.  These speakers will play music.  I was thinking I would power these speakers with an integrated amp.


Most times - it will be the TV audio playing through the in walls in Zone 1 and music playing through the in-ceilings in Zone 2 (simultaneously).  This is easily accomplished with the set-up I described above (I believe).  My question / confusion is this - I'd ideally like the option to play music from the same source in the two zones at the same time (same music playing through all four speakers in the two rooms).  Can you please tell me the easiest / best way to accomplish this flexibility?


Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Matt

mminor
tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 
Here is a simple, easy to use setup for two zones, however the kitchen will be Zone 1, and the living room will be Zone 2.

Zone 1 (kitchen) - Use this Yamaha R-S500 stereo receiver for the in-ceiling speakers,

https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-R-S500BL-Natural-Stereo-Receiver/dp/B0044779GI

or you could use the stepup model R-S700. Connect the music audio files and satellite radio to the inputs of the Yamaha. This is assuming you were currently these sources in a manner with analog outputs to your 2 channel preamp. If not, then a conversion will be necessary.

Zone 2 (living room) - Connect your current amp/preamp to the in-wall speakers/sub as you described with L&R audio out from TV to the preamp. Then connect zone 2 output from the Yamaha to an input on your current preamp.

This will allow you to play as you described, different sources or simultaneously.




elevick
2,636 posts
 
Matt,
They do make 2 channel multi room receivers that will handle this.  The problem is that you want to use your parasound preamp.

Here is what I would do:  
Buy a Yamaha, Denon or Onkyo multi room receiver.
Use the Parasound as a source as well as any other sources you may wish.
The multi-room receiver can usually send different signals to 2 or 3 rooms.
In each room you will want an IR repeater and probably a volume control.  Niles works great.  My Denon actually came with 2 remotes for this purpose.
You will now maintain the quality system in Zone 1 but will be able to merge it with Zone 2 if you like.  Check Crutchfield for ideas.

I have a Denon 3 zone with amps an IR repeaters in zones all over my house.  Adding bluetooth was great.  My phone plays wireless in any room I wish.
gdnrbob
4,444 posts
 
For me, I would drop Sirius/XM and get a Spotify premium account. The sound quality is much, much better, and the music selection is just as complete. 
B
elevick
2,636 posts
 
Hey, if we are bashing Sirius (which deserves bashing), I'd go with Tidal.
mminor OP
5 posts
 
Hello. I am the original poster and I want to thank everyone for their very detailed responses. I truly wouldn't have been able to solve this without your help. 

In combination with the Parasound amp and pre-amp, I went with the NAD C356BEE integrated amp with built in DAC module. The NAD will drive four speakers at the same time which will be perfect for the four in-ceiling speakers in zone 2 (the kitchen).

I also plan to get an Audioengine B1 bluetooth wireless receiver. This unit will send output signals to both Parasound preamp (using RCA cables) and the NAD Integrated amp (using toslink cable) simultaneously. Although it will be rare that I play the same audio in both zone 1 (living room) and zone 2 (kitchen) at the same time. But I believe I will accomplish this flexibility. I believe the B1 receiver will also allow my wife to watch her TV shows on her iPad in the kitchen while having the iPad audio play through the ceiling speakers instead of the iPad speakers - this would be a big win!

Lastly, I will run a separate USB cable through the walls from NAD to the kitchen just in case the quality of the bluetooth audio from the B1 is unacceptable (to me).

One question - where do you guys typically locate the IR repeater sensor in the kitchen area?

Thanks again for everyone's advice - I really appreciate it. This is what makes Audiogon so special!

Matt
More to discover