# Help with HTD whole house audio/home theater



## lcinva (Dec 27, 2009)

So - we just moved into a new house and I am DETERMINED to make this whole house audio system work the way I want it to! Downstairs, we have a TV and satellite receiver. Upstairs, other side of house, we have a MA-1235 amp, and MC-86 speaker controller unit. 6 zones, 8 possible sources. The 6 keypads have IR and can be controlled by remote. 

My goal is to do a couple of things. Most importantly, I would like a way to turn the amp/controller on and off from downstairs. I also need to run a wire through my attic to sources downstairs, but that's a whole separate issue. My questions are these:

1. The amp has a button that I press in to turn on (blue light turns on) press again (pops out, blue light goes off) to turn off. Apparently there are different "on" settings, one of which makes it so that the amp turns on in response to a voltage trigger. Will the amp always have to be turned on manually, no matter what, to function? Does it go into standby or something, and music (trigger) will make it come out of standby? It seems like the amp has to be on 24 hours a day for me to be able to turn music on or off at will, via the remote...which I think would suck a lot of energy. I don't understand why they would say something about a voltage trigger when that doesn't seem like it would turn the amp on or off. It doesn't seem like there is any way to rig this thing to be controlled either passively (trigger) or remotely...and it's really annoying to think I have to go upstairs every time I want to listen to the TV via house speakers, and then go back up to turn the amp off when we're done. (I realize I can just bypass the whole system and buy a soundbar or something for the TV, but I feel like I paid for this whole house audio and there's no reason it shouldn't do what I want it to do!)

2. The speaker controller unit has a "seesaw (?)" switch that I flip to turn on and off. From downstairs, I can use an IR remote to power the keypads on and off. This DOESN'T actually turn the unit off, even though I thought (hoped) it would. Is there anyway to program it to turn the whole unit off? I don't understand why the keypads would power off as if the whole unit was off, but the unit doesn't actually turn off. 

I've looked into IR transmitters, etc., to do this but once I found out the keypads are IR transmitters I don't think I need one. Based on what I've heard, once I turn a music source on, I thought I'd be able to remotely power on the controller unit, which would trigger the amp on. It doesn't seem to be working this way though and I'm not sure if I'm just stupid or this actually could be possible. 

As background, I have a basic (very) knowledge of systems like these, mostly from what I've learned in the owner's manual. I have a stats degree and chemistry degree, so I'm not a total moron, but I'm a little bit clueless about all of this and the more it doesn't work the angrier and more determined I get. I think my husband wishes I would get a full-time job. Haha. 

Thanks for any help!


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## glaufman (Nov 25, 2007)

Well, since you are, by your own admission, not a moron, the best advice I can give you is to download the manual and read it. The 1235 has a switch on the back that changes it from "always on" to "auto on" to "trigger activated", meaning, it can be always on, or it can automatically come on when it senses an input signal, or it can turn on/off with transitions on the trigger input... the off modes of these 2 last probably won't power it down completely, but put it into a standby mode, which may or may not be good enough for your purposes.


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## lcinva (Dec 27, 2009)

glaufman said:


> Well, since you are, by your own admission, not a moron, the best advice I can give you is to download the manual and read it. The 1235 has a switch on the back that changes it from "always on" to "auto on" to "trigger activated", meaning, it can be always on, or it can automatically come on when it senses an input signal, or it can turn on/off with transitions on the trigger input... the off modes of these 2 last probably won't power it down completely, but put it into a standby mode, which may or may not be good enough for your purposes.


Haha, thanks. I actually have done that, and while the manual is pretty thorough for initial setup, etc., it doesn't address the 3 power options at all, other than to say they are there. I guess that's where they expect me to have background knowledge? No idea. Thanks for the response though!


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## glaufman (Nov 25, 2007)

That's upsetting. I wonder if you have a scaled-down quickstart manual. Did the previous owner simply leave it, or did you go online and download it?
Unfortunately, I am abroad at the moment, and have limited time to sit down on a computer I have to split time with others and has a slow connection ...
I may be able to help more (if noone else can in the meantime) at the weekend...
What you said about having prior knowledge may jsut apply, however, as 12V triggers are often at least stated for use by custom installers... no worries, though, I'm sure we can help you plod through it...


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## lcinva (Dec 27, 2009)

Thanks! Yeah, what I have is the manual the owner left. I went online, and downloaded the manual from HTD, and it's the same thing. I am starting to think neither can be remotely turned on and off, at all. Furthermore, the controller unit doesn't have a trigger output, so it can't be used to trigger the amp on. I think the best I can do is have the amp on auto on, and leave the speaker controller on all the time, and allegedly if a source is turned on the amp will turn on from standby...although HTD tells me that method is kind of spotty because it may not necessarily respond if the source isn't strong enough, or it may respond falsely and turn the amp on and start buzzing in the middle of the night. 

If you have any other suggestions as far as rigging the thing to work, definitely let me know...I'll try anything. I guess a question I have is, for these kinds of system, is it pretty common to just leave the equipment on all the time? That seems to me like it would suck a lot of power, as well as maybe be some kind of hazard...I don't know. I know it's lazy of me, but I think we'd use the thing a lot more if we didn't have to go upstairs and turn it all on, and then go back up to turn it all off. Bad planning on the seller's part!! I guess that's why he didn't really use it either, haha. 

Thanks again!!


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## glaufman (Nov 25, 2007)

Hmmm, well, I'm having trouble find a manual on the controller, but I'm certainly not happy that HTD says it could not/falsely trigger... does the controller have a trigger in? Because the 1235 has a trigger out that could control it...
If it was me, I'd try the auto-on and see how it does... I'd also see if my source components had trigger outs that could be connected to the trigger in on the 1235...
I suppose there might be an external box that could generate triggers, but that's not my area of expertise...


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## dfeller (Sep 30, 2009)

I've only put one of that brand in before and it seemed to work set on auto. 
Problem, if I recall correctly, is that it powers up if there is audio input on ANY channel - meaning all sources have to be completely off and cycling through them all is a pain. 
You can either leave the amp on all the time (power draw is not huge if it is not amplifying and driving speakers as - again if I recall - an efficient push pull design) - or many sources have a trigger out - higher end audio sources for instance. You can pick one to be the "master" - for instance if a CD jukebox has a trigger, make it the master and turn it on to turn the whole system on.

I put diagrams and some wiring tips in chapter 8 of the eBook you can find in my signature - some of that might come in handy...

Good Luck

David


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## lcinva (Dec 27, 2009)

Thanks for that last response David, I didn't even see it for some reason. I'm going to try it on auto and kind of see what happens...before I do that though, I need to find something with a trigger out! The speaker controller unit doesn't have one (although the newest model of it does, which is annoying!)

My brother in law is good at rigging things in unconventional ways, so when he comes up I'm hoping he can figure something out. 

I had a thought - what if I plugged them both into some sort of surge protector or power strip that I could turn on and off via infrared? Do those even exist? I wonder if it would hurt the amp or speaker unit if they were turned on and off like that.

I'm thinking I will probably have to leave them both on (and like you said, I know the amp on standby uses very little power), but I'm kind of paranoid about electrical fires/hazards, and to leave both pieces of equipment on all the time seems sketchy to me. Additionally, when the amp is on (not sure about standby) but there isn't a source, there's a buzz from the speakers. A visitor wouldn't necessarily notice it, but I think it would get annoying living with it after a while. 

Thanks for all the help!!


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