How to hook up my speakers to my receiver? (with amp and switch). Low Volume when I try wiring instead of headphone jack.

[crewxp]

I have an issue.

Whenever I hook the speaker wiring from the receiver to my amp, the volume is extremely low when I play audio and the receiver constantly shuts off and says 'protection on'. I used a L/R RCA Cable and stripped the headphone part off to try to hook in the receiver. Is it my wiring or where I'm trying to plug into? Do I use Front L/R or High/ Bi-Amp Front L/R?

The Ceiling Speakers were installed without specs given to me after they were installed. So it's hard to figure out how to wire them. There's about 8 speakers in total in the room

But when I hook my amp's headphone jack to my amp directly (instead of using speaker wire), everything works fine. But I feel this is just ignoring the issue. I want to create a permanent solution and make it not have a random wire sticking out the front.

Can someone tell me what's probably happening? The ideal setup is to use all 8 speakers for maximum audio coverage, all in stereo.

Here is my setup (In Order):
Sony STR DN840 Receiver (Bluetooth/Pandora Audio Hosting)
XLS 1000 Amp (L/R RCA to Phono on Receiver)..(Want to utilize Receiver's speaker inputs)
Episode ESS-6-BLK Speaker Selector (Left,Right,Ground,Ground going to Amp. 4 Wires)
Unknown Speakers installed. (16 wires going to selector, 8 speakers)

My failed Attempt's Setup:
I tried hooking the amp's L/R RCA Jack input slot to my receiver. I did this by stripping a RCA to Headphone Cable and plugging the L/R stripped part in the 'Front L/R' slots on the receiver. I didn't use the High Front or Bi/Amp Front L/R. Then I attached a ground wire to the two ground terminals since the RCA cable only had a Red/White cable, no ground. This caused my audio to be really low and the receiver to shut off.

Images:
Receiver Back: http/i.i.cbsi.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim2/2013/07/12/Sony_STR-DN840_35734383_09.jpg
Amp Back: http/a248.e.akamai.net/pix.crutchfield.com/ImageHandler/fixedscale/900/900/products/2014/22/859/x859XLS1000-B.jpg
Switch Back:: http/www.snapav.com/images/Product/large/ESS-6-BLK-B.jpg

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... you need to use Shielded Audio Cable ( $5.00 )... Speaker wire is not applicable here.

 

[ien2222]

Short answer is that you can't do it.

Specifically because the Crown amp needs line level input, which your AVR doesn't provide. You don't plug an amplified signal into a line level input as it will damage things (it's one of the reasons why you're going into protection mode, it's trying to save your equipment).

 

[crewxp]

Ah, okay.

Going to try ditching the amp that was provided tomorrow. Seems it's just providing us more confusion and is a waste of space? :O

Quick question, the receiver has a Bi-Amp/High Front L/R outputs as well as regular Front L/R.

Would there be any difference to hooking it to the 'high' Front L/R slots instead of the regular?

And I'm guessing I'll know if I need the amp or not if the receiver doesn't give loud enough audio once changed?

 

[americanaudiophile]

You can use one of these:
http/www.crutchfield.com/p_142LOC80/Scosche-LOC80.html
connected from the front speaker outs on the Sony Use a regular stereo RCA cable from it to the ch1 and 2 RCA inputs on the Crown. Set the receiver to stereo or 2 channel since you are not doing surround sound.
The speaker outs on the Crown connect to the amp in on the speaker selector switch. If there is an impedance protection switch on it make sure it is engaged when you use more than 2 pair at once.

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... Use the Tape Out or any other Out, on the Reciever, because the Original Audio signal will be present for recording.... Use the RCA sheilded cables to the inputs of the AMP.... Adjust Volume as Needed.
Any Sound source on the reciever will be sent to the Crown Amp.... B )

 

[ien2222]

@Ironsounds: His AVR doesn't have any pre-outs.

@americanaudiophile: That's an interesting item, I've never come across them before.

 

[crewxp]

Good update!

I got setup1 working fine without the XLS amp. Straight from the receiver to speakers actually sounds a bit better in my opinion. I wonder why that is.

Setup2: Having issues with the outside speakers. They are 'popping'/'distorting' when the audio first starts playing. Then it seems like it levels itself out, then it 'pops' only on bass parts on songs/audio. Mostly during commercials or from digital bassy sources.
Wiring: I'm running the indoor speakers straight from the receiver to the switch, which then goes to the speakers. For OUTDOOR speakers, The switch goes to the amp, which is set to 70V Transformer 'Parallel' mode. Which then feeds directly to the 8 speakers outside.

I can't get the popping to stop on the outside speakers. The inside sound great.

-Also bought a line-out to RCA coverter. Would I need that for my second setup to decrease receiver voltage to the amp to the outside speakers?

 

[americanaudiophile]

You can't send speaker level into the amp so you do need that converter. Also make sure the outdoor speakers are designed to work with a 70v output. The woofer in the speaker may also be a problem. People often overdrive speakers especially outdoors.