Using 5.1 rear speakers in 2nd room?

[bdf123]

Hi all.

Sorry if this is in the wrong section.

Im looking for some advice please. I've bought a Pioneer VSX 824 to use for TV, radio, iPod etc.

i mainly want it for music and want good sound but I'm not an expert in this field and not looking to spend a fortune. I live in a 1 bed flat and the question I have is:

can I use the rear speakers of a 5.1 set up in my bedroom as a multiroom purpose so that music plays throughout the flat and keep the other 3 speakers in living room?

As I say main use will be music so not fussed on losing surround sound capability if I had the 2 rear speakers in bedroom.. A designated multi room av amp such as the 924 may have been better but typical me too late now.

Ive not yet bought speakers but was going to get some sort of 5.1 set up with sub.

Is there any major drawback to this or a better way of doing it? I'm looking at spending £600-800.

Many thanks in advance!!

 

[Petherick]

Hi.

I don't think this receiver has options for either 'Zone 2' or for 'Dual Stereo', perhaps someone else will put me right if this is not so. This being the case, if you were to place the surround speakers in another room, you would only hear the 'surround' effect, which would be a bit weird.

Is there any opportunity to swap the receiver for a different model?

 

[bdf123]

Hi.

I don't think this receiver has options for either 'Zone 2' or for 'Dual Stereo', perhaps someone else will put me right if this is not so. This being the case, if you were to place the surround speakers in another room, you would only hear the 'surround' effect, which would be a bit weird.

Is there any opportunity to swap the receiver for a different model?

hi thanks for your reply. I don't think so either but not certain. Surround sound only doesn't sound good. I'm not sure whether I can return but can check. I was hoping to find a solution without needing to do that as I might not be able to so hope someone has one! Would the vsx 924 work better? Thanks again for your quick reply.

 

[bdf123]

Looks like Richer Sounds is 14 days to return so I won't be able to as had it longer than this!

 

[Petherick]

If you don't have speakers yet, does that mean you haven't used the receiver at all? If so, it may be worth calling Richer to see if there might be a chance of returning it for an exchange. Worth a try anyway!

 

[bdf123]

Good idea but I'm using it with old speakers at the moment. I forgot as well I've thrown the box out, doh! I've mainly been using the blue tooth function for music so thought about wireless speakers for the bedroom but I don't think I could still play the same music through the amp/speakers in front room to the wireless speakers in bedroom at the same time as it would be 2 different devices...? Unless there's a way to connect wireless speakers to the amp so it all goes the the one source. I've tried thinking of ways round it but am struggling!

 

[bdf123]

Me again! According to the features, it has Extended Stereo

http://www.pioneer.eu/uk/products/42/98/405/VSX-824-K/specs.html- just did a quick google and I think that means stereo is played over rear speakers too. Have I got that right and would that then be sufficient for the bedroom? Thanks!!!

 

[Petherick]

Hi again!

I just checked the manual and it does indeed say it offers Extended Stereo mode. It's not clear whether any processing is applied, but the name infers it is indeed 'stereo' to all speakers.

If you already have some speakers to try this, I'd say give it a go. Please let us know how you get on

 

[Leeps]

The Extended Stereo function isn't really designed for the purpose you intended. Yes it plays a stereo signal through all available speakers, but it will use the MCACC parameters gained from the initial set-up to time delay the two rear speakers so they sound right when in the main seating position (the place where you put the mic in the set-up process).

If you then placed the speakers in another room entirely, it might work, but the timing may be ever-so-slightly out. And putting the rear speakers in the other room while dojng the MCACC set-up would probably make the amp indicte that it could not detect the rear speakers, so would confuse the MCACC set-up.

Considering the money you're prepared to spend to resolve this problem, to be frank I'd seriously consider swapping the amp in at Richers for the VSX-924 which is currently on offer at £280 which is an absolute bargain. The VSX-924 supports Bluetooth and Airplay and will output to a Zone 2. My amp has this feature which I used in the past and it works very well, with the caveat that it may not output HDMI sources to Zone 2. I think it's only the high-end models that do that, but for stereo music sources it will be fine.

Then just keep an eye out on Ebay for some Monitor Audio R90HD's (for the 5 speakers) and a R360HD or R370HD sub and you'll be sorted. The Radius range makes fairly regular appearances on Ebay and are beautifully finished. The R90HD's are perfect for a second room. They're small but quite punchy and (to my ears) suit the Pioneer house sound very well. They're still fairly new but have been superceded so can be had for pretty good prices now.

The other option would be to keep your current amp and get a Sonos Connect for your main system and a Play 1 or 3 for the second room, which would synch together, but overall this wouldn't save you much money and I personally think this would offer an inferior sound in the second room to the MA R90HD's.

 

[bdf123]

Thank you both for your replies and taking time to read manuals and give me advice. Over the weekend I will be able to try some multiple speakers (will use my dads) to see how the ext stereo sounds.

Id love to change to the 924 as this seems to be the best option to solve all my problems (if only id thought about all this before!). Trouble is I've had it about a month now, thrown box out etc so think it's unlikely Richer would exchange. I could sell the 824 but would take time and no doubt make a loss. The Sonos idea looks good but as you say by the time I've paid out for that and it would be inferior sound, if be better off going down the 924 route. I'll try out the speakers over weekend and let you know how it goes - no doubt I'll have another question! Thanks again, you people are great on here!

 

[bdf123]

The Extended Stereo function isn't really designed for the purpose you intended. Yes it plays a stereo signal through all available speakers, but it will use the MCACC parameters gained from the initial set-up to time delay the two rear speakers so they sound right when in the main seating position (the place where you put the mic in the set-up process).

If you then placed the speakers in another room entirely, it might work, but the timing may be ever-so-slightly out. And putting the rear speakers in the other room while dojng the MCACC set-up would probably make the amp indicte that it could not detect the rear speakers, so would confuse the MCACC set-up.

Considering the money you're prepared to spend to resolve this problem, to be frank I'd seriously consider swapping the amp in at Richers for the VSX-924 which is currently on offer at £280 which is an absolute bargain. The VSX-924 supports Bluetooth and Airplay and will output to a Zone 2. My amp has this feature which I used in the past and it works very well, with the caveat that it may not output HDMI sources to Zone 2. I think it's only the high-end models that do that, but for stereo music sources it will be fine.

Then just keep an eye out on Ebay for some Monitor Audio R90HD's (for the 5 speakers) and a R360HD or R370HD sub and you'll be sorted. The Radius range makes fairly regular appearances on Ebay and are beautifully finished. The R90HD's are perfect for a second room. They're small but quite punchy and (to my ears) suit the Pioneer house sound very well. They're still fairly new but have been superceded so can be had for pretty good prices now.

The other option would be to keep your current amp and get a Sonos Connect for your main system and a Play 1 or 3 for the second room, which would synch together, but overall this wouldn't save you much money and I personally think this would offer an inferior sound in the second room to the MA R90HD's.

On the 924, would the zone 2 play music from my iPod via Bluetooth? I take it this 2nd zone would mean I could use all the different sound options like stereo alc for example

 

[bdf123]

Hey guys. I've managed to swap it at Richer Sounds! I'm in possession of a brand new Pioneer vsx 924! I work in sales so had to try my luck and it worked haha thanks for your advice. Would you suggest going for a 5.1 like I mentioned and splitting between 2 rooms? Or do 2.1 in each room as there are 2 sub connections...? Thanks!!!

 

[Leeps]

As to your questions, the Zone 2 should be able to play any sources except HDMI, so yes, that ought to include streaming from Bluetooth. Also, you should have the option to plug your ipod straight into the input on the front of the AV receiver.

As for your speaker set-up, you simply choose the particular speaker setting you want when going through the initial set-up process.

The subwoofer outputs are for your main room (should you want two subs there). Zone 2 will have to be a straight 2-speaker system.

But the good thing about the Zones is that you can choose to have both zones playing at the same time, or just Zone 1 or Zone 2 playing on its own. So you can enjoy listening to something in Zone 2 while someone else is in the main room undisturbed and vice versa.

The Pioneers are excellent amps, but can need quite a bit of tweaking to get them sounding right. It's almost like there are too many options at times which can be a little baffling if you're comparatively new to AV receivers.

Let us know if you need any assistance with set-up. I'd recommend downloading the manual if you have a tablet or laptop. I still refer to it fairly often for features that I may not have used in a while. Also, if you use a smart-phone or tablet, do check out the app, which works very well now and makes controlling Zone 2 a pleasure because you don't have to be in the line of sight of the receiver, unlike the conventional remote.

On my iPad I use the app "iControlAV5" which is the latest iteration and is backward-compatible for the last few years' models. Glad Richer Sounds came up trumps. My local store has been consistently excellent and far less stuffy than some other dealers I've visited.

 

[bdf123]

As to your questions, the Zone 2 should be able to play any sources except HDMI, so yes, that ought to include streaming from Bluetooth. Also, you should have the option to plug your ipod straight into the input on the front of the AV receiver.

As for your speaker set-up, you simply choose the particular speaker setting you want when going through the initial set-up process.

The subwoofer outputs are for your main room (should you want two subs there). Zone 2 will have to be a straight 2-speaker system.

But the good thing about the Zones is that you can choose to have both zones playing at the same time, or just Zone 1 or Zone 2 playing on its own. So you can enjoy listening to something in Zone 2 while someone else is in the main room undisturbed and vice versa.

The Pioneers are excellent amps, but can need quite a bit of tweaking to get them sounding right. It's almost like there are too many options at times which can be a little baffling if you're comparatively new to AV receivers.

Let us know if you need any assistance with set-up. I'd recommend downloading the manual if you have a tablet or laptop. I still refer to it fairly often for features that I may not have used in a while. Also, if you use a smart-phone or tablet, do check out the app, which works very well now and makes controlling Zone 2 a pleasure because you don't have to be in the line of sight of the receiver, unlike the conventional remote.

On my iPad I use the app "iControlAV5" which is the latest iteration and is backward-compatible for the last few years' models. Glad Richer Sounds came up trumps. My local store has been consistently excellent and far less stuffy than some other dealers I've visited.

thanks for the tips. I'm away next few days so will have a play around on it when I'm back and let you know if I need help (probs will!). I'll also get some speakers in time, money is a little tight at the mo so will make do with the ones I have for now. I don't want anything too big so will see what's out there. You mentioned the r90hd, do they have a built in sub? I like music bassy, would these be sufficient as no sub in 2nd room? Any other small speakers to consider? Thanks!!! Have a nice day.

 

[bdf123]

Also another thing to note is that I live in a flat so looking for something that produces good sound even at low volumes.

 

[Leeps]

In which case the MA R90HD's might not be to your taste. I like bass to be present and fast, but I don't personally like bass in large quantities, which is why I initially recommended them.

It's not going to be especially easy getting speakers that provide sufficient bass for your taste while also being successful at low volumes in order to placate your neighbours. As bass is omni-directional and much more prone to making the floor or walls operate as part of the speakers' own resonance, it's often bass that causes the most issues with neighbours. Make sure you take sufficient care in isolating your speakers from the floor. If you go for standmounts, then make sure you get decent stands that do their job well.

I live in a flat too and I had to get rid of my previous floorstanders as they were just too bassy and despite trying a number of methods to isolate them from the floor, it didn't calm the bass sufficiently (to my taste anyway), so I've gone for fairly small standmounted speakers on decent filled stands, which (bass-wise) is a big improvement.

When you're ready I can only suggest going back to Richers and asking them to demo a few pairs of speakers with your amp within budget you have in mind.

 

[bdf123]

Thanks! I've had a quick go on the 924 although much yet. I notice there isn't a bass / treble button on remote like 824. No doubt I can change it but not sure how! Best get the manual! Ha

 

[Leeps]

First of all, you really need to set aside an hour or two to go through the set-up process step by step. Choose the speaker system, go through the MCACC calibration, re-set your speakers to small, choose the crossover with your sub, then once your system's baseline is established with the room correction being applied, then you can consider adjusting channel levels or bass and treble.

By far the easiest way to do this is on the Pioneer app using the "Finger EQ" screen.