Need Ideas setting up music in three rooms

Room 1 has a 7.2 Onkyo with Zone 2 capability.
Room 2 has a pair of speakers.
Room 3 has a pair of speakers.

Here's what I want:

I want to be able to play music in Room 2 or Room 3, and sometimes during get-togethers, play music in Room 2 AND Room 3.

I purchased the Onkyo in Room 1 with the intentions of utililizing the ZOne 2 capability, but, problem is that I have 1) three zones, not two, and 2) I'd like to be able to play room 2 & 3 simultaneously on special occasions.

I should also mention that I have a very basic Stereo receiver with Speaker A and B capability, as well. I've read in other sites that it is possible, with RCA cables, to hook up the main receiver (Onkyo) to the second reciver, and be able to play in three zones. (Anybody have more info on this?)

Problem is, I'm not sure if it would be possible to play Zone 2 and 3 at the same time.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'd be happy to provide more info, if necessary...

Edit: play Zone 2 and 3 at the same time with the same music.

thanks!!

Well, are rooms 2 and 3 speakers 8 ohm, and can you run speaker cable from the reciever in room 2 (ie, the stereo receiver) to room 3?

I assume you only need 2 zones, but 3 different rooms.

i need to check the info on the speakers...

but, i believe i need 3 zones since I'd like to play any of the three independently in addition to playing zone 2 and 3 simultaneously when i like.

Oh. Well then.

i'd like to update that the stereo receiver i have is able to play speaker A and B at the same time, solving one of the issues i was having.

any word on if I can plug the stereo receiver to the surround sound reciver and be able to play 3 zones?

You still wouldn't get 3 zones, just 2. There's no way to make a 2 zone capable receiver do 3 zones; it's just not in the software. There's also no way to make a 1 zone (ie, stereo) receiver do 3 zones. Unless you run zone 2 from the speaker outs on the Onk, then run a line level cable from the onk to the stereo (in room 3) on the aux setting, for example. Then hook an ipod dock (or a cd player, or something) to the stereo in room 3 to play something different on that. It's not really 3 zones, but it's as close as you're likely to get without buying a new AV receiver.

Can you tell us what kind of Onk it is?

it's an onkyo ht-rc 260

i'd like to refer you to this link, if I may:

http://www.crutchfield.com/learn/learningcenter/home/multiroom_power.html?page=4

i need to step out and will be back in a few hours thanks for your help, kcarlile!

Pretty much what I described in my first post. Here's the pertinent bit from that article:

Quote:

Most stereo receivers can't send different audio sources to your second and third listening rooms. (If you find one that can output two audio signals to its "A" and "B" outputs, you'll still need to hook up at least one source directly to the stereo receiver, since your home theater receiver can only provide one source at a time.)

You know, that paragraph in particular confused the heck outta me.

Let me say this (w/o completely comprehending the paragraph), I'm not interested in playing different sources from each of the three zones.

In reality, what I want, if anything, is to be able to play zone 2 separately from zone 1, zone 3 separately from zone 1, and occasionally, zone 2 and 3 (same music) separately from zone 1.

I'm not interested in playing zone 3 separately from zone 2 separately from zone 1. Wow, that was a mouth full.

Hope I didn't confuse anyone. Will the information from the link I provided help me accomplish what i just tried to describe?

thanks again.

After reading you're initial question and the link you supplied, I take it that you have 2 receivers. The smaller one is a stereo receiver with A/B capabilities which I'll call receiver #2. What you want to do is have receiver #2 play the same signal (radio or CD or ipod or whatever) as receiver #1 is playing.

I've no experience at this, but perhaps if receiver #1 has pre-outs, for the L/R channels, that you could connect these pre-outs to receiver #2 as input from say, axillary.

Many receivers have zone 2 pre-outs. That'd be a feature to look for.

Monk, welcome. As both Ken's replies and the Crutchfield article indicate, what you propose is feasible. Your Onkyo 260 has line level Zone 2 outputs to connect an external amplifier with the usual coaxial cables terminated with RCA plugs. Either the same or different source material can be played in Zone 2 as is played in the main room.

In your case "Zone 2" is actually two separate rooms, both driven by the stereo receiver. The A/B switch on the stereo receiver would determine which(or both)Zone 2 room would be playing. Zone 2 would be turned on or off by the 260, or simply by manually turning the stereo receiver on or off.

Yup, your link looks spot on for what you want to do.

Bigmonkey,
Just an alternative - have you looked into Sonos or Logitech Squeezebox and similar devices? If I understand correctly what you want to do, I believe they also offer a good solution to get music to different rooms. They might offer more functionality than what you are looking for, but they will get the job done for sure.

Hey fellas, I really appreciate all your responses. I am truly grateful by not only your help, but your kindness and patience.

Thanks again...and cb, I will look into those devices you mentioned.

I feel ALOT better now knowing that my situation is quite feasible and not too difficult to make a reality!

Regards.