Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Kitchen audio

Well, now that I've been blessed with M22s (thanks, Axiom!), I'm thinking about setting them up in the kitchen. Obviously I'll be hanging them with FMBs, but I've got some questions.

First, has anyone hung M22s horizontally with FMBs? I'm not going for top sound quality here (that'll be after we move and I can set them up in a proper room, properly), but I'm not certain if it's physically feasible or not.

Second, how on earth should I get signal to these things, not to mention amplification?

My best bet seems to be the Amphony 1550 system, but I'm not sure how well it works. There are few reviews on it, so I was hoping someone here had tried it. On paper, it sounds just about perfect--wireless, built in amplification, small and can be mounted on the speakers. The downside, I assume, would be the power bricks (which I haven't been able to find pictures of), but that's easier to deal with than speaker cables.

Third, how should I get the source out of the receiver? I'm using a Harman/Kardon AVR 525. I'm already using the zone 2 line level outs for my back room system. I suspect I can use the tape outs for this function, especially since anything playing in the kitchen probably won't be playing in the living room. The downside to this would be that the volume controls on the wireless units above are on the back of the little amps, and are per channel.

Another way to do it would be to use the preamps on the receiver, but I'm not sure if those would turn off the built in amps if used. Another downside to that would be that the volume would not be independent from the M80s. In some ways, it would be nice to be able to turn off the main system while playing to the kitchen one. Which brings us back to the Zone 2...

I'm not using the Zone 2 built in amps on the receiver; I'm using the Zone 2 line level outputs to my back room. The wireless doohicky above has both line level and speaker level inputs. I could therefore use the zone 2 speaker level outs to the Amphony and then I would have independent volume control, sort of.

Whaddya all think? Am I crazy?

Yes, you are crazy but that is beside the point. I only wish I had your problem!

Ken, got a bit dizzy reading this, but one point that I'll make is that using the receiver pre-outs doesn't shut off the receiver amplifier; there's no problem with feeding voltage to two amplifiers.

I'm completly confused, good Luck Ken.

ditto

Take heart Ken, I got the same response with my confusing post about how to power my Algonquins. The good news for me was that just writing it out helped me solve the problem.

I too admit I don't totally understand the problem, but another solution for independent volume is buying a cheap 2-channel receiver that will control the volume for the kitchen system. I know you're not running wires to the speakers so I'm not sure if you have anywhere you could put a new receiver where you could hit it with a remote control for volume. If so, you could still run the outs from your main receiver to the new one and get the signal to it that way, but control volume with the second receiver.

Good luck.

Jason

Sigh...

OK, let's try this again:

I want to put the M22s in the kitchen. I'd like to run as few wires as possible.

The place in the kitchen that they'll be is 30 & 40 feet from the receiver in the living room.

Since I'm already using the zone 2 outputs on the receiver, I need to figure out how to get the same signal out of the receiver that is playing on the mains into the kitchen.

I've found a couple of wireless audio devices that include amplifiers on the receiver end (little T-Amps, it looks like), but have no volume controls, other than physical knobs.

Anyone tried any wireless audio recently? These are going to be right next to a 5.8GHz phone and a 1000 watt microwave, so they'll have a little work to do. On the other hand, it's essentially line of sight from the main receiver in the living room.

Ken - I use iTunes wireless (2.4 ghz I believe). It's called AirTunes and is not wireless amplification, but it does transmit the signal wirelessly. Phones do not seem to be a problem, but the microwave is guaranteed to interrupt the signal, every time. Nevertheless, that's the setup I have, so it's not so bad that it's unusable, it's just a given that it will happen when you fire up the microwave.

Jason

Yeah, I've considered the Airport Express, but since I primarily use iPods for digital music (and CDs) and the only computer that can be reliably on (since the laptops get closed all the time) is a power sucking G4, it doesn't seem to be the right fit for me. Thanks, though!

Why is it that we should help you, again?



Can you use a Y-Splitter on the zone-2 line-out jacks?

Personally, I'd opt for remote amplification/volume control in the kitchen. As far as how to get the signal TO the kitchen, that's what copper is for

Or just get a T-Amp and an iPod dock and make it a separate, stand-alone system for now.

That Amphony thing looks pretty good.