1056 technical question: 2 sets of speakers

[phillipk]

I use my 1056 for 2 channel but plan on getting a separate amp shortly. I'd like to use the 1056's amp to power two small speakers in another room... then use just the separate amp to power my main speakers in my living room. I might play them both at the same time.. but, naturally, the same signal will go through both.

I'm just curious how hook this up. I want to pass through to the amp... but then, do I just hijack a couple channels from the 5.1 that I'm not using?

How do I switch around when I want to play stuff?

Thanks!

[srb]

Phillipk,

You would connect the stereo power amp to the L & R preamp outputs of the 1056.

You can then redirect the L & R amplifier channels of the 1056 to Zone 2 in the 1056's Setup Menu.

Zone 2 can only pass analog signals, so if you have a CD or DVD player, for example, connected to a digital input, you would also need to connect the analog output from the player to an analog input on the 1056 as well.

You can then independently choose the source and volume for Zone 2 with the Zone button on the front panel of the 1056 or on the remote.

[phillipk]

That's neat--thanks. Now, is it that you can only pass analog to zone 2 or that you also can only pass a separate input. That is, say I'm just doing analog out from the CD player... going into one input on the back of the 1056. Can I then send that same signal to both the external amp and zone 2?

Also, do you suspect any interference running them both at the same time? Like making the signal to the external amp dirty? Also, any possibility that when the zone 2 is off that it affects the quality to the amp? That is, how does one ensure the pre-amp out from the 1056 is as clean as possible?

Thanks,
Phillip

[srb]

You can only pass an analog signal to zone 2, but it can be the same input OR a different one. If you select the Zone 2 input "Source", then it will pass whatever input you have selected for the main.

I am using the RB-1080 power amp to power the main L & R. As far as any interference or degradation of the signal, I could not detect any difference with Zone 2 on or off.

I should mention that I am currently running B&W 602 S3 for the L & R speakers, so it is possible that with higher resolution speakers like the N805, there could be a difference. Anyone out there have any experience with this and high-resolution speakers?

As far as the cleanest possible sound, I would say running in Stereo Bypass mode without any digital processing would be best.

~Steve