er, how do you get the zone B working?

[cameronl]

hi there all, I've probably not the read the manual well enough but how does the zone B work?

I have a coxiail cable going into my C2, 2 phono cables going from Zone B into my amp but no noise

CaM

[MarkStega]

Zone B is a separately powered function. With the C2 "on", press "Zone", then press "Power" and you will see Zone B power on. You have, perhaps 5 seconds, and the front panel controls revert to Zone A. Press Zone again, and you can set volume, select source, etc. Oddly, you can power down the C2 & Zone B remains on the last set source & volume, but you can no longer change source or volume.

Apparently the upcoming s/w refresh will put Zone B control on a separate page of the remote.

[Chris D]

Apparently the upcoming s/w refresh will put Zone B control on a separate page of the remote.

No kidding? Hmm, didn't know that. (see next post)

Mark's right, Cameron. Think of your "Zone" function as a completely separate and independent pre/pro from the C1/C2. You need to turn it on and off separately, change sources, volume, etc. It's like getting two processors for the price of one! (or like having a separate Halo P3 buried in your C1/C2) This works awesomely for me, as I'm using my zone function to drive my all-home audio system. I can turn my main theater on and off, change sources, volume, surround modes, etc, and never affect my wife who is listening to her own stuff downstairs, all driven by the Halo. :T

[Chris D]

One reason that's interesting is that in my customizing my remote with the MX-700 software, I created my own page of Zone controls. So when I press my amplifier power button from the main page to turn on my zone amp, it branches to the zone control page. That way, I don't have to go to the C1/C2 page on the remote, hit the zone button, then scroll to other pages to select the function that I want. It's all right there.

I've got a macro set up to turn the Halo zone on, my zone amp on, and turn up the zone volume to the maximum +16db. This is due to the Halo design that when you turn either the main unit or zone off, and then back on, if the volume was high it will revert back to -20db to avoid the sudden volume blast from your speakers. My only problem is that my zone amp is pretty weak when driving 5 rooms of all-home audio, so I need the Halo zone output signal higher to compensate. Otherwise my zone amp clips and turns itself off. Having the -20db volume reversion is great for my main theater, so I don't freak myself out when turning it on after a high-volume listening session the night before (not that that ever happens ) but I wish I could disable it for the zone.

[cameronl]

ok, thanks for your help guys. That has made things eaiser for me - it least it looks like its working even if i can't hear anything.

last question then

does the "zone b out" go into the i.e. "cd in" of an integrated or the "power in" on a poweramp?

thanks for helping me with these noob questions!

CaM

[MarkStega]

CaM,

I'm not certain what a "power in" labeled input would be (other than 120V power, so I'm certain you aren't talking about that!).

From the two inputs you gave, CD would be an appropriate input on a receiver. You will have to decide which amp does volume control. Alternatively, many receivers implement a jumper set on the back that are labeled something like "preamp out" & "amplifier in" or "line in". If you are lucky enough to have that situation, you pull the jumper and bypass the processing part of the receiver by connecting the C2 directly to the receiver's amplifier (now have only one volume control and one signal processing unit, the C2).

I "inherited" a whole house Bose (don't shoot me) music system that had an amplifier with zone volume controls. I just ran the C2 at 0db (having the same turn-on issue as Chris with the -20db safety feature). Subsequently, Ive had time to rip the Bose out and replace it with more reasonable multi channel amplifiers. For a short interim, I had a receiver without the jumpers and just used the "VCR IN" jacks (I was using CD IN for a different source) successfully.

[cameronl]

hi there, ok - I'm understanding it more now. My amp is an Arcam A32 - which i'm currently using in 'power amp' only mode, but which also has a fixed gain so that a processor can control its volume if i want to use it as a preamp / intergrated stereo amp.

I guess i've just found it complicated because the A32 is curently driving my back 2 channels in a 7.1 configuration. I need to keep it doing this while using the b channels on it to drive another room. The A32 has enough configurations to suit almost anything so i'm sure i can do it....

thanks all for your time and help.

CaM