Hi everyone haven't been on here in awhile but I got a question, I have a Onkyo SR605 receiver. While looking on the Onkyo site I noticed that it has zone 2 line out. So my question can I use a 2ch amp to power the front L/R speakers in my 5.1 system using this zone 2 line out. I replace my Axiom M2s with M22's, would like to give them some more power for 2ch music, and second ever since I add the VP150 center receiver runs much hotter than it ever has, so I figure I could take a load off the receiver by adding a seperate amp.

I could be wrong, but I think normally when you use Zone 2 on a receiver, they share the surround back channels, and my your home theater a 5.1 setup when being used for zone 2. I don't think you can use the front channels, could be wrong though.

I would think your Onkyo should give you plenty of power to drive the m22's, how loud do you listen? Even if you get an amp with double the wattage, that will only give you another 3dB's, not much.

Do you have plenty of ventilation "around" the receiver? Onkyo's run hotter than some other receivers by design. How hot is it running when you add in the center. Also, have you changed to Ohm switch/setting to something different than 8ohm?

GTP, you're thinking, but you've overlooked one(well-buried)point: the zone 2 line out only outputs analog source material, so it wouldn't be usable for most purposes with your main M22s.

Also, keep in mind that you can't just "give" speakers more power; they take only what they need for a given sound output level. It's likely that your 605 already has plenty of output capacity. If the protective circuits of the 605 aren't shutting it down, the heat level is still within specified limits and shouldn't be a major cause for concern.