Adding stereo speakers to a 5.1 system

[Zellarman]

So........here I am telling my wife's friends husband about how I can hook up another pair or two of speakers up in his backyard.   Shoot me now, great guy and I really want to help him out, but now I don't know how.  If he were to hav a simple two channel system, then just for simplicity's sake, we were going to hook up an apple airport express to his system and connect a pair or two of speakers in his backyard from which he'd be able to use apples remote app to control his iTunes library from. Simple, right, just get a speaker selector And basically wire away?  NOT, the system is a Sony Bravia surround system, 5.1, it has no alternate speaker out, excep for possibly hooking up 'air play' which I just don't think would be cost effective.  So, how can I hook up a 5.1 system to a speaker selector so that all channels from the main zone turn off and have just one or two pairs of speakers simultaneously (maybe additional zones in the future). This home theater thing has thrown me a curve. All my A/V is simple two channel, so I just thought I'd be able to hook up a simple speaker selector and wire away, but the additional 3.1 channels would still be playing  in the main zone when not desired.  
What do I do?

 

[wuench]

So........here I am telling my wife's friends husband about how I can hook up another pair or two of speakers up in his backyard. Shoot me now, great guy and I really want to help him out, but now I don't know how. If he were to hav a simple two channel system, then just for simplicity's sake, we were going to hook up an apple airport express to his system and connect a pair or two of speakers in his backyard from which he'd be able to use apples remote app to control his iTunes library from. Simple, right, just get a speaker selector And basically wire away? NOT, the system is a Sony Bravia surround system, 5.1, it has no alternate speaker out, excep for possibly hooking up 'air play' which I just don't think would be cost effective. So, how can I hook up a 5.1 system to a speaker selector so that all channels from the main zone turn off and have just one or two pairs of speakers simultaneously (maybe additional zones in the future). This home theater thing has thrown me a curve. All my A/V is simple two channel, so I just thought I'd be able to hook up a simple speaker selector and wire away, but the additional 3.1 channels would still be playing in the main zone when not desired.
What do I do?

Set the Sound Field/Mode to 2 Channel Stereo. If available this should only use the 2 front speakers which you can then use your speaker selector plan to redirect.

 

[Zellarman]

Cool, looked at the closest to an owners manual I could find on line. That MIGHT work, but according to documents, the receiver appears to continue powering subwoofer in 2 channel mode, maybe Sony should call it '2.1' mode.
Any other ideas?

 

[tmbrown97]

Honestly, what I did in one of my houses was just buy a $50 receiver from Fry's (Kenwood - wasn't a bad deal!) and hooked it to the Line Out of my main receiver (there's usually a tape in, line out, EQ out, or something similar that puts line out) - that made it so my back yard receiver would either mirror whatever was on my main one (in aux mode), or use its own built-in tuner (in tuner mode). May be even cheaper than a speaker selector.

For more suggestions, link to the manual of said stereo.

 

[Neurorad]

Lots easier with a 2 zone receiver than with the Bravia 5.1.

I agree with Work2Play - 2nd AVR, used, CraigsList. I have several myself. That's how I used to do it, before I bought a dedicated multichannel system.

Line out of Bravia -> input of 'whole house' AVR; whatever is playing on the Bravia will play out the other AVR. No need to ever touch the 2nd AVR, except for volume.

My whole-house AVR was the same brand as my primary AVR, so the remote controlled both - when I didn't want it to. I covered the IR receiver on the whole-house AVR, and used in-wall volume controls to turn zones on and off, and to adjust volume. Without the volume controls, you just change the volume on the whole-house AVR; all speakers will be affected equally.

 

[Zellarman]

Lots easier with a 2 zone receiver than with the Bravia 5.1.

I agree with Work2Play - 2nd AVR, used, CraigsList. I have several myself. That's how I used to do it, before I bought a dedicated multichannel system.

Line out of Bravia -> input of 'whole house' AVR; whatever is playing on the Bravia will play out the other AVR. No need to ever touch the 2nd AVR, except for volume.

My whole-house AVR was the same brand as my primary AVR, so the remote controlled both - when I didn't want it to. I covered the IR receiver on the whole-house AVR, and used in-wall volume controls to turn zones on and off, and to adjust volume. Without the volume controls, you just change the volume on the whole-house AVR; all speakers will be affected equally.

I agree, and would suggest exactly that, if the system only had a line out!

I remember seeing a speaker selector for surround systems once, I think it was a Niles, almost antiquated by now, but useful if I could only find one.

 

[Neurorad]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Niles-SPS-6-Speaker-selector-/250860087804?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a686d29fc

Niles SPS-6.

Did you mean one specifically made for 5.1?

Do you have a Bravia AVR manual link handy?

A used 2 zone AVR can be found pretty cheaply.

 

[Zellarman]

http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&partNumber=BDVE300#specifications

That's the system, the selector I was referring to is for 5.1 systems specifically Selector

 

[Neurorad]

The headphone output can be used as a pre-out.

BUT, the instructions say that output from the AVR will be 2 channel stereo ("HP 2CH") when headphones are connected. Pretty much excludes this option.

There is an option to purchase an additional Wireless Surround Speaker Kit (WAHT-SBP1), to expand the 5.1 to 7.1, but that kit doesn't appear to offer much.

You could connect the Front speaker outputs to an impedance matching speaker selector box, and connect several pairs of speakers to the speaker selector box, including the Fronts. I don't think this would work because of the drop in sound to the Fronts.

I still think the easiest solution would be another AVR, perhaps 2 zone.

 

[Zellarman]

The headphone output can be used as a pre-out.

BUT, the instructions say that output from the AVR will be 2 channel stereo ("HP 2CH") when headphones are connected. Pretty much excludes this option.

There is an option to purchase an additional Wireless Surround Speaker Kit (WAHT-SBP1), to expand the 5.1 to 7.1, but that kit doesn't appear to offer much.

You could connect the Front speaker outputs to an impedance matching speaker selector box, and connect several pairs of speakers to the speaker selector box, including the Fronts. I don't think this would work because of the drop in sound to the Fronts.

I still think the easiest solution would be another AVR, perhaps 2 zone.

Doh.... That's it! Headphone jack, I'm only looking for two channel on the second zone, and it's for listening to one zone OR the other, never both simultaneously. If by chance the guy wants both zones at the same time he'll get by w/o 5.1 on main zone for time being.

Thanks

 

[Neurorad]

Cool. Thought the 2.1 would be a deal breaker.

 

[Neurorad]

Not sure if the problem is solved.

I have a feeling that a physical disconnect of the headphone jack would be required in order to listen to 5.1.

 

[Zellarman]

Not sure if the problem is solved.

I have a feeling that a physical disconnect of the headphone jack would be required in order to listen to 5.1.

That spec sheet may be the wrong if it says there's a headphone jack. The owner said there isnt one, maybe I got the model wrong, or maybe owner is wrong, but I don't want to insult his intelligence, so can't ask to have a look for myself. What you thought might be the deal breaker wouldve been fine, user would have to just get used to plugging/unplugging when desired or not.

 

[tmbrown97]

I still say you should go with a second cheap receiver and figure out the best way to mirror sources so they're available to both units.

 

[Zellarman]

I still say you should go with a second cheap receiver and figure out the best way to mirror sources so they're available to both units.

What are some ways to mirror sources? The Sony avr as an additional input, but then you'd only be able to listen to one source at the same time, if I linked the two receivers that way.