Multi Zone AV Receiver

Archived from groups: rec.audio.high-end (More info?)

Gerald S. <gerald@geraldandnicole.com> wrote:
> Hello All, I am looking for a A/V Receiver with these particular
> requirements:

> 1) Multi-Zone (at least 2)
> 2) 5.1 surround in 2 zones
> 3) HD TV output for both zones
>
> Price is not as important as finding a component that meets these
> requirements. Does anyone know of a component that meets these
> requirements?

I don't know about such a receiver. The ones I have seen have at
most two channels for the second zone. I think your best bet is to
buy two receivers, and connect them digitally.

But you will have some problems:

1 - You need a receiver which has a coaxial digital output (since
making or buying a fiber optic cable of the length you need
might be difficult or impossible). Yamahas and Pioneers don't
seem to have those (I have not checked all models), but Marantz
(the model I checked was the sr4400) has. Also, there might be
adapters to convert a optical output to a coaxial but I don't
know about them.

2 - I don't know the maximum length of the coaxial digital connection.
You might want to check that before buying (maybe by testing.
For instance, carry into the shop a coil of cable of the length
you need and use it to connect the two receivers.)

3 - Multichannel receivers have ADCs (Analogic-Digital Converters),
since the "special effects" modes work in digital, but despite
that, at least some of them don't convert a analogic input to
the digital output. It is better to check. So you might have
to also pass 2 analogue cables.

4 - If you use DVD-Audio or SACD, you won't have digital ouput available,
so you would have to pass 6 coaxial channels. And I think the outputs
of the receivers are after the volume control, so volume control on
the secondary receiver would not be very practical. You could also
use tees on the cables to send directly from the DVD player to the
second receiver.

5 - I don't know if i-link would help, but probably not. I suppose the
receivers might disallow this use and anyway I think maximum length
is short. This page:
http://www.ramelectronics.net/html [...] ables.html
says that "4.5 meters maximum cable length" . But there are hubs and
repeaters available:
http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/ieee-1394_hubs.html

Receivers with i-link cost nearly $1000:
Pioneer Elite VSX-56TXi $998.00 (Froogle)
Pioneer VSX-2014i 829,50 euros *
Pioneer VSX-D2014i 999.00 **

* http://www.guenstiger.de/gt/main.asp?produkt=349027
** http://www.monsieurprix.com/listin [...] 91722.html
http://hifiphotovideo.kelkoo.fr/b/ [...] 93761.html

6 - The video should be easier (the connexions are analogic coaxial, no ?).

--
http://www.mat.uc.pt/~rps/

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Europe | Villeneuve 50-82, Toivonen 56-86, Senna 60-94

Archived from groups: rec.audio.high-end (More info?)

Check out the new Denon AVR-5805.
"Gerald S." <gerald@geraldandnicole.com> wrote in message
news:cne67202vqa@news1.newsguy.com...
> Hello All, I am looking for a A/V Receiver with these particular
> requirements:
>
> 1) Multi-Zone (at least 2)
> 2) 5.1 surround in 2 zones
> 3) HD TV output for both zones
>
> Price is not as important as finding a component that meets these
> requirements. Does anyone know of a component that meets these
> requirements?
>
> Thanks,
> Gerald