advice on connection

Aug 5, 2018
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I have a home music studio. A new iMac as my primary audio source. I need volume and power for practicing. I currently have a Yamaha RXV479 av system with sub, center and 4 satellite speakers in the ceiling. I also own 4 Polk towers. I want to add in the towers, but obviously there are no more speaker connections. I tried a high end speaker switching box, but it seemed to rob power. A 7.2 av receiver is going to be 2 speaker connections short, plus I don't have a tv for set up. I tried a Denon, but connection to the Mac with cdmi didn't support video, so I couldn't even access the set up menu. My question: would the easiest solution be a 4 channel audio receiver with the towers connected, the current system as is, and just split the 3.5mm 1/8th audio cable from headphones out to both receivers aux in, or connect both receivers together hdmi out to hdmi in? Or am way off base here? Also in the past trying to make an aggregate device between Bose 5.1 everyday computer speakers and the existing Yamaha didn't work due to clocking issues. They never matched up, so I suspect an airplay connection to a new receiver for the towers would have the same issue. Any help would be appreciated.
 
Solution
Are you mixing in surround sound?
I suspect not so in reality you need your best pair of speakers (the towers I assume) plus maybe the sub. No movies so you don't need surround sound and just running all the other speaker will screw things up. Using two pairs of towers will just get you 3 db more volume (not a lot) and the multiple speakers will cause cancellation effects which will affect the frequency response.
If you want to use the Yamaha receiver then set it for 2.0 or 2.1 if you want the sub too. A speaker selector with impedance matching will rob you of a bit of power so I would suggest just one pair and the sub with the Yamaha.
If you have to use both pairs or want to improve the sound quality then stop messing around with...
Are you mixing in surround sound?
I suspect not so in reality you need your best pair of speakers (the towers I assume) plus maybe the sub. No movies so you don't need surround sound and just running all the other speaker will screw things up. Using two pairs of towers will just get you 3 db more volume (not a lot) and the multiple speakers will cause cancellation effects which will affect the frequency response.
If you want to use the Yamaha receiver then set it for 2.0 or 2.1 if you want the sub too. A speaker selector with impedance matching will rob you of a bit of power so I would suggest just one pair and the sub with the Yamaha.
If you have to use both pairs or want to improve the sound quality then stop messing around with surround sound gear. You want to an integrated or power amp that is powerful and stable enough to run them both pair in parallel. If you want to use the sub you would want a crossover to allow you to properly set it up with the towers if the Mac doesn't have that capability.
 
Solution