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Which 5.1 Amplifier to buy?


paulbirk

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Hi All,

We have a project nearing completion. There are 9 Audio zones, 8 of these are stereo, and connected to a Control4 8 Channel Amplifier. The 9th "Zone" is a home theater with 6 ceiling speakers: front-left, front-center, front-right, rear-right, rear-left and subwoofer. The stereo outputs from sources such as SKY HD and Blu Ray Player are plugged into the control4 8-channel amp. The 5.1 optical outputs of those sources are connected to the inputs on the 5.1 Amp for the 9th zone. For some sources, such as the iPod dock, we are using a phono (RCA) splitter cable to share the source between the two amps.

The 5.1 Amplifier we currently have is the clients old one (a Sony str-db940), it does not have an active subwoofer output, only a low-level output. So we would like to purchase a 5.1 amplifier that meets the following specs:

- Has at least two 5.1 optical inputs

- Has at least 2 Red and White stereo phono inputs

- Has a high-level output for all 6 speakers, including subwoofer

- Has an RS232 connection, (IR control is an acceptable alternative).

- *Has an existing control4 driver*

Can anyone recommend any products that meet our requirements?

Thanks in advance,

Paul

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for your help. Also, by looking under receivers in control4, instead of amplifiers, I Was able to see the much bigger list of available drivers.

Note that some of the Onkyo receivers which are listed as having a certified serial driver on the contorl4 website, do not have an RS232 connection. Both Onkyo and Control4 were not able to say how you could physically connect them to a Control4 system.

Thanks again,

Paul

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Hi All,

We have a project nearing completion. There are 9 Audio zones, 8 of these are stereo, and connected to a Control4 8 Channel Amplifier. The 9th "Zone" is a home theater with 6 ceiling speakers: front-left, front-center, front-right, rear-right, rear-left and subwoofer. The stereo outputs from sources such as SKY HD and Blu Ray Player are plugged into the control4 8-channel amp. The 5.1 optical outputs of those sources are connected to the inputs on the 5.1 Amp for the 9th zone. For some sources, such as the iPod dock, we are using a phono (RCA) splitter cable to share the source between the two amps.

The 5.1 Amplifier we currently have is the clients old one (a Sony str-db940), it does not have an active subwoofer output, only a low-level output. So we would like to purchase a 5.1 amplifier that meets the following specs:

- Has at least two 5.1 optical inputs

- Has at least 2 Red and White stereo phono inputs

- Has a high-level output for all 6 speakers, including subwoofer

- Has an RS232 connection, (IR control is an acceptable alternative).

- *Has an existing control4 driver*

Can anyone recommend any products that meet our requirements?

Thanks in advance,

Paul

If it's in the budget, have a look at the Arcam products. I'm a huge fan of the new AV888 (it's on my drool list for when my Arcam AVR350 dies - on a side note: DIE AVR350, DIE!!)

Seriously, these are great sounding AV receivers - on par with most separates (IMHO)

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Hey IloveC4: But the certified drivers are serial drivers, not IR drivers. It seems a bit strange that there are certified serial drivers for a product that has no RS232 connection. Onkyo said they would contact their US office (I'm in the UK) and get back to me, but they haven't yet.

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