Connecting an AV receiver to another AV receiver

[KillJoyThree33]

I am remodeling my basement and setting up a new home theater down there. I want to be able to have a receiver on the main level playing XM radio and have the new receiver in the basement playing the same broadcast. My current receiver doesn't have a "2nd audio" output. Is that necessary to achieve what I am wanting? Or could I simply use a different output from the amp upstairs to the amp downstairs (ie video 1, video 2, etc.)? I want each amp to have its own set of speakers and not share speakers. I have searched the web and cannot find anything about connecting one receiver to another receiver. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

KillJoy

 

[anwaypasible]

your wishes arent easily accomplished when trying to connect two receivers.
most '2nd audio' output is a simple A/B switch.
that means you can have audio playing upstairs or downstairs.. only one at a time.

obvious solutions, look for an output on the receiver upstairs that isnt a speaker output.
if that doesnt exist, you need to get the xm player signal downstairs.
your best bet is probably using one of those FM modulators that connect to the xm player and sends out an FM signal that can be picked up by both receivers FM tuner.

this sucks because your signal to noise ratio will probably go down (but that might change if the FM signal is close enough)
sometimes simply turning the radio knob to FM tuner is enough to drop the signal to noise ratio.. regardless of how clear the FM signal is.

does the receiver upstairs have an internal xm player?
because that would make things worse.
you could probably get an adaptor to split the output of the xm player, sending one pair of wires to the radio upstairs and the other pair of wires to the receiver downstairs.

i dont have much experience with xm player options available.
but industry standards tell me that you can split the signal with cords or conceive a wireless signal.

i am worried that using too much wire from the output of the xm player might be too much resistance.

maybe you could do something like this...
get yourself some kind of wireless speaker kit.
plug the wireless transmitter into the xm radio.. then tear apart the wireless speaker and use those speaker wires to feed into the receiver's preamp inputs.
you gotta keep the wireless speaker volume down so you dont overdrive the inputs.
but the sound quality from the wireless speaker amplifier might alter the sound.

maybe you can look into wireless distribution for general use.
i'm sure they have kits or you could build one yourself if you have some instructions.

sorry.. the answer isnt easy because your situation is rare.

from the experience i have.. i would say just run an adaptor to split the signal.
keep the xm radio close to one receiver to keep the wires short, then use a car audio line driver on the longer run of cord going downstairs.
you probably want to connect that line driver close to the xm radio to keep the cords short.
hopefully that will keep the resistance of the extra pair of cords down enough to not put any excessive load on the output of the xm radio.

the line driver will boost the electricity on the cord going downstairs.
because the longer the cord gets, the lower the electricity will be at the other end of the cord.
if you boost the electricity, it will be higher at the end of the cord.
but be careful.. dont use the highest boost setting at first.
start with the lowest setting and work your way up.
you dont want to send 7 volts into the receiver inputs if the receiver inputs can only handle 2v - 5v

the line driver is supposed to disconnect the signal between the long run of cord and the cord going to the xm radio.
that will dramatically change the overall resistence (load) on the output of the xm radio.

home audio preamps that disconnect the connection internally might work too if they send enough electricity down the long run of cord.
but they arent designed to be a line driver.
line drivers take the preamp voltage and increase it.

car audio and studio enthusiasts have been doing it for many years to 'overclock' their systems.

i had a kicker amplifer in my trunk and added an epicenter (which is a bass DSP and line driver)
the output from the amplifier quadroupled..!

 

[fatterpat1]

Use the Tape out connection on the upstairs reciever and connect it to an input down stairs. You should probably go ahead and get you a couple Henry Engineering Match Boxes so that you can switch to a balanced signal for the long run downstairs. You will need 2 of them so that you can switch back to unbalanced at the input end.

The tape output is for connecting to a recording device or in your case another reciever.

 

[anwaypasible]

i didnt think of that.
do receiver's still have that option? lol

i had a look at the back of my receiver and it has analog outputs for 'tape' and 'md/dat'
it also has an optical out for 'md/dat'


do those have a filter like phono inputs/outputs ?

 

[fatterpat1]

Use the analog output it is not filtered.

 

[KillJoyThree33]

Use the Tape out connection on the upstairs reciever and connect it to an input down stairs. You should probably go ahead and get you a couple Henry Engineering Match Boxes so that you can switch to a balanced signal for the long run downstairs. You will need 2 of them so that you can switch back to unbalanced at the input end.

The tape output is for connecting to a recording device or in your case another reciever.

Nice, sounds easy enough. That is what I was hoping to hear. Thanks.

 

[anwaypasible]

maybe connecting the 2nd receiver to the outputs of the 1st receiver have a noticeable affect on the circuit inside.
if the sound from the 1st receiver changes.. take note as to whether that change is better or worse.

lots of receivers are coming with '2nd room output'
doesnt matter if its preamp output or amplified output.
the point is, if you put the extra resistance on the 1st receiver.. there might be a change in sound.
there shouldnt be, but that would be appropriate for design choice and opinionated quality from the manufacturer.

i'm sure we would all prefer that there is no change.. but reality hurts sometimes.

 

[pjmoses]

The tape output and input is the best way to do that. There will be no sound issues if you use other amplified outputs, or phono, if you have it on both. You just need the signal without amplification. And you really do not want to go over 50ft worth of cable. If you have quality receivers, you should be in good shape.

 

[metemp102502]

I just bought a new Denon AV receiver and it does not have any tape out, or for that matter, any other "out" L/R connection (my old one does), so how do I send a signal out then for additional speakers?

 

[menauhant]

fatterpat1 your suggestion to connect from the tape out on my 15 year old Yamaha Receiver to my 25 year old Sony Reciever did the trick for me. I can now play my CD, Radio on the Yamaha and listen to the audio in other rooms in my house that have speakers connected to the Sony. My only issue now is that when I play Pandora on my TV the Sony does not get the audio from the Yamaha to play in the other rooms. My TV audio is connected and controlled by the Yamaha. Do I need to find a TV out on the Yamaha and connect that to the Sony and then select TV on the Sony? Any help will be appreciated, hopefully you can follow my question.

 

[fatterpat1]

fatterpat1 your suggestion to connect from the tape out on my 15 year old Yamaha Receiver to my 25 year old Sony Reciever did the trick for me. I can now play my CD, Radio on the Yamaha and listen to the audio in other rooms in my house that have speakers connected to the Sony. My only issue now is that when I play Pandora on my TV the Sony does not get the audio from the Yamaha to play in the other rooms. My TV audio is connected and controlled by the Yamaha. Do I need to find a TV out on the Yamaha and connect that to the Sony and then select TV on the Sony? Any help will be appreciated, hopefully you can follow my question.

You are right not quite following here. Let me see if I got this right. You have all things including your TV, inputting to the Yamaha. You are using tape out of Yamaha to feed Sony and everything is coming through except your TV?