AVR Front & Surround Back Preout to 1 Integrated Amplifier

[rishisaran]

Hi,

I have an AVR with preouts for Front and Surround Back in Addition to Surround and Centre.

I have 4 Floor standing speakers, B&W CM10. Both the pairs are connected to my AVR's Front LR and Surround Back LR.

I have calibrated my AVR in Bi-amp mode and this has made a big difference to the sound.

However, I am keen to use the above 2 Pairs of CM10 in the Stereo mode too in my hall. Most solutions that I have read in the threads recommend/suggest that I connect the Front Preout to an Integrated Stereo Amplifier.

However, will it be possible to connect both the Front and Surround Back to the Same Integrated Stereo and drive the same Stereo sound through them?

If yes, what is the process and what Integrated Stereo Amp will you suggest/recommend to achieve this?

Please advise.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Q1 - Which AVR do you have and does it have a "Zone 2" pre-amp capability?

Q2 - Which integrated amp do you have and can it cope with 4 ohm speaker loads?

Q3 - Is this an occasional thing, e.g. for a party or two, or something you're planning on doing on a daily basis?

Q4 - Where are the speakers going to spend most of their time? In your TV room or the hall?

Q5 - Are you planning to move more than just the speakers?

Q6 - Are you considering premanent in-wall speaker wiring to the hall or just extra-long speaker cables running across the floor?

From the get-go I would remind you that you can't put four surround channels through a single stereo (i.e. 2-channel) integrated amp. In stereo mode it's not necessary, and in surround sound mode you;ll just confuse the snot out of the surround sound effect. You also risk shorting out your amp and / or receiver.

Also, remember most AV receivers have an "all channel stereo" mode, so up to reasonable volumes, you can always just use the AVR and some extra-long temporary speaker cables.