Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Setup for Three Pairs Speakers, One Source?

I would love anyone's help on this as the idiots at Best Buy, etc. gave me blank stares when I asked about the following. My goal is to be able to drive three pairs of speakers from a single receiver, using a single audio source (I have no need for multi-source as the rooms are all adjoining). I have an existing 5.1 5x100W receiver with A and B speaker options. Before I attempt this and end up blowing up my receiver, was wondering if the following is possible and/or smart. I would hook up my deck speakers to the Speaker B pair. I would hook up my dining room speakers to the Speaker A front speaker pair and my kitchen speakers to the Speaker A rear speaker pair. The center channel goes unused. All of my speakers are rated at 100W, 8ohm. I would like to be able to run just Speaker A (kitchen & dining room), just Speaker B (deck), or all at once - Speaker A+B (kitchen, dining room, deck). My concerns are that the total wattage of all speakers (A+B) is 6x100W = 600W, so with a 500W receiver, if all speakers are running at once, is the sound underpowered, or does it overload the receiver? If either of of these scenarios are correct, could I do the same exact setup with a new 7.1 receiver, assuming 100W per channel such that 700 total watts exceeds the amount of speaker wattage that I need to power? Another assumption I am making is that I am okay with impedance since I have a dedicated two channel Speaker B pair and a 5 channel Speaker A set. Not sure if I am assuming correctly there or not. Lastly, if any of the above is possible, is it smart? Keep in mind, I am trying to make this setup as inexpensive as possible, so I am not interested in multiple receivers, distribution amp, etc. Thanks in advance!

The configuration your thinking of will work just fine as long as you run the reciever in 5 channel stereo.Your speakers may be rated at 100 watts, This is their maximum power. In reality you'll be using probably less than 5 watts per speaker. Also, You will not "blow" the speakers up because your reciever puts out 100 watts and your speakers are 100 as well. Its always better to have more power on hand than you will actually need. Because your speakers are all 8 ohm, you wont have any problems with impedance either.

Many 7 channel recivers are really 5.1 and zone 2 or 7.1, Which means that you can use the back 2 channels for a seperate zone, meaning you could listen to one source from your main speakers, and another source through the zone 2

KRP, welcome. The first point is to disregard any sort of watt rating on speakers; they theoretically relate to the maximum power a speaker could handle continuously without going up in smoke, but even if accurate, wouldn't be relevant to your question.

You don't identify the receiver, but most with A and B provisions are simply a parallel connection to the front L/R channels. The result is that the impedance of the speakers on A and B(when running simultaneously)is cut in half; this may or may not be a problem, depending on the impedance of the speakers and how loudly you're playing them.

You don't detail how you'd employ the speakers connected to the rear A terminals, since usually that carries only surround sound rather than the main front channel material. You may be thinking of setting the receiver for 5-channel stereo, which would duplicate the front channels in the back channels.


Assuming that the impedance on the paralleled front A/B channels doesn't cause the receiver to shut down, what you propose seems workable.

If speaker impedance for A is a problem, you can connect the A speaker pairs in series along with two external double pole single throw switches to select between kitchen, dining room or both. The wiring for this gets a little complicated but it can be done. You may also want a separate volume control for speaker B as B will be much louder than A when all are turned on.

Thanks to all for your quick responses. To address some of the replies, my thought was to run the 5 channel stereo so that the front and rear pairs would push out the same signal and levels. The receiver I have in mind is a Yamaha RX-V2200 that a friend might let go on the cheap. Not sure how it does its A+B speaker outs (parallel or not). I also got a response from one of the Axiom guys (Brent) and he suggested a Russound speaker switcher (a little research uncovers that the $89 SS-4 looks like a good fit) along with my receiver. With that approach, I guess I could get a simple stereo receiver as long as it is 4ohm capable as Russound requires it if I want to drive three pairs of speakers at once. Thoughts on this approach and does anyone know of any good, cheap, 4ohm stereo receivers out there?

KRP, your first post stated that you "have" a 5-channel receiver; now this has changed to the 6-channel Yamaha 2200 which you might buy? Anyway, yes the Yamaha is one of the receivers that simply parallels its front channel amps when A+B is set. So, you can use the 2200 as mentioned in the previous reply(no separate speaker switcher is necessary)and despite the parallel operation when A+B is set, unless you play them at very high levels the 2200(which is a more substantial receiver than was implied in your first post)can probably handle the load without going into protection.

Since you'd have 6 rather than 5 channels of amplification, note that the A/B selection wouldn't be strictly necessary. If 6-channel stereo was set the dining room and kitchen speakers would get stereo, using 4 of the amp channels. The deck speakers would use the remaining front center and rear center channels(and would be silent when you set center front and back as "None"), but would get the combined output of the front left and right channels(i.e., mono)in 6-channel stereo mode. If acceptable this would avoid a possible(maybe unlikely)impedance problem with paralleled operation in A+B.

JohnK, Thanks for the follow-up and sorry for the confusion on the receiver model. The one I own is a Yamaha HTR-5250 and I was basing my original concept off of that - just got sidetracked by the RX-V2200 offer. The 6-channel set-up you mention is intriguing. To muddy the waters even further, I am also a big fan of XM Radio and am contemplating perhaps picking up a low-end Denon (either DRA-37 or DRA-297 - they seem to be the exact same receiver, not sure if/how they are different) which is 4 ohm stable, can run XM and assuming that 50W is enough to get substantial volume out of all three sets of speakers when all are on. I would run this through the previously mentioned Russound SS-4.2 speaker switch. At this point, I need to pull the trigger on something. Thanks again for your help.

If you want to try out something similar with your present 5250, set it to 5-channel stereo with the kitchen and dining room speakers connected to the 4 amp channels. Connect a single deck speaker to the center amp channel output(the combined L/R main signals),which will operate except when you set the center as "None".