# Matching selector and subwoofer wires



## metaphorz (May 16, 2013)

We recently got a home where speakers are built in, and I have
a Yamaha RX-V465 (105W RMS) which I would like to hook to the speakers.
For this particular zone, there is a 5.1 speaker setup in one room, and L/R
speakers in 2 others. I will need to buy a speaker selection switch to
choose which speakers are active. There are two issues I see when planning the
wiring connections

1. The Yamaha does not have A/B switch speaker terminals, so if I hook up the
5.1 speakers in the ceiling to the receiver, how do I connect the speaker
selector switch to the receiver? The speaker selection switches I have seen
in Radio Shack and on the web, all have speaker wire connectors even when
hooking to the receiver. On the Yamaha, there is an Audio Out, but it uses 
RCA connectors. The only thing I can think of is to overload the speaker ports 
on the rear of the receiver with the connection to the speaker selector. This 
naturally means that any sound coming out of the other room speakers will also 
be heard in the 5.1 family room.

2. The subwoofer I am using (from Boston Acoustics) has 2 L/R speaker wire
connectors; however, the receiver has only one plug for the subwoofer. I don't
know what type it is..it looks almost like an RCA port but not quite (color is
black). Not sure how to cross-connect 4 speakers wires on the subwoofer to
a single black woofer input on the receiver.

Thank you for any clues on these 2 wiring connection issues.


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## Peter Loeser (Aug 11, 2012)

If I understand correctly, you would like the ability to use one receiver (the Yamaha you already have) to power speakers in two rooms, but with the ability to listen to only one set or the other at a given time.

1. One option would be to connect the front left and right speaker outputs from your receiver to the input of an A/B speaker switch, with one output going to the front speakers in your main room, and the other output going to the 2 speakers in your 2nd room. A typical switch should allow you to listen to one set or the other, or both together. I wouldn't worry about overloading the speaker outputs on your receiver as long as you don't turn on both sets of speakers and crank the volume way up. The catch here is that if you want to listen only in the 2nd room you would have to make sure your receiver is set to a mode that only outputs stereo (left and right) sound, or the surround speakers in your main room will still be active. And if your goal is to listen to only music in the 2nd room, this shouldn't be an issue for you.

2. The subwoofer should have at least one RCA input. RCA is the connector type (color doesn't matter). Red, white, black, etc. all work the same way and carry basically the same type of signal. Can you tell us specifically which sub you have, or post a picture of the back side? The easiest and most common way to connect a sub to an AV receiver is from the single output you found on your Yamaha to one of the RCA inputs on the sub. You don't need to use the speaker inputs on the sub since your receiver has the subwoofer crossover and output built-in.


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## Andre (Feb 15, 2010)

Without a a/b selector I am guess the audio output (rcas) in the back are outputing stereo constantly. An inexpensive way to do it is to craigs list another amp and connect the two via the Yammys output rcas and the other ones input rcas then use that ones speaker outputs to power the other 2 zones.

If money is less of an issue then I would go with a HTD multizone amp and have the ablity to expand beyond the 2 zones if I wanted to in the future.

http://www.htd.com/Products/multi-channel-amplifiers/DMA-1240


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## metaphorz (May 16, 2013)

Peter: this is a good idea, and I will try this. Also good point about needing to
switch the output to stereo when listening in the other room.

Andre: I will look through this product (HTD multizone).

Thanks to both!

PS. I initially put an "at sign" in front of your names, but my reply was
rejected because I do not yet have 5 posts and the system must have
interpreted the at-sign as an email address.


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## Peter Loeser (Aug 11, 2012)

No problem. Let us know how your chosen solution works out!


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