Realistic High Power Remote Speaker Switch

marsworth75

Well-Known SatelliteGuys Member
Original poster
We have just moved in to a house that has wired speakers in 4 of its rooms. These speakers are connected to a Realistic High Power Remote Speaker Switch. There are 2 wires, which look like speaker wire coming out of the box to connect to a receiver or whatever? I am totally new to this type of thing. How can I connect a radio, ipod, satellite box etc. to the house speakers. Any help would be appreciated but be warned I am a definite newbie to this so please explain in very simple english.
Thanks for any help and advice
 
These are designed to allow you to connect up to 4 sets of speakers to one amplifier. Each can be turned on and off at the center, so you can have all 4 on at once. Be advised though that when you connect multiple speakers, the impedance drops at the receiver. If you are using 8 ohm speakers and you turn on all 4 sets, the impedance the receiver sees would be 8/4=2 ohms. Most reasonable amplifiers are designed to work at 4-16 ohms impedance, so I would be careful using all 4 at once. You would probably be OK, but keep the volume down when all 4 are in use.

Sorry about getting technical with the impedance stuff. Bottom line is to use the speakers one at a time, or keep the overall volume down. Also use an amplifier that has around 100W per channel capacity.

There should be speaker wires going to the speakers in each room, likely 2 sets for stereo. There should also be 2 pairs of wires going to a place for your amplifier. Connect the amplifier and any source material (such as an ipod, CD player, etc) to this location, and you should be set to go.
 
First thanks for the reply. Secondly what kind of amplifier do I need. See I told you I was a newbie. I'm also not an audiophile so I would be looking for something inexpensive and functional. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Again thanks for your response, the info really helps.
 
In order to answer this, I need a little more information. Are you looking to simply distribute music throughout the house, or are you looking to distribute music in addition to having something that works for video/home theater needs? Is this switch in a convenient location? Is there room to place traditional components?

If you are just looking for distributing audio and you have the space, any stereo receiver will do. Couple it with a CD player and an ipod adapter and you are set. Equipment that is a couple of years old can be had almost free from craigslist, or you could look at this new unit: Amazon.com: Onkyo TX-8255 Stereo Receiver: Electronics

If the switch is built into a small dedicated space, look toward whole audio systems that work with ipod. Something like this:
Amazon.com: Sonos CONNECT:AMP Wireless Streaming Music System with Amplifier for Speakers (ZonePlayer120): Electronics

If you need to integrate this with a home theater setup, you should look at a 5.1 or 7.1 receiver from Denon, Yamaha, Onkyo or Pioneer. Look for a 7.1 one that has a second zone capability. You can then feed audio to the house while still having a 5.1 theater playing at the same time.

Fortunately/unfortunately, there are a lot of options out there.
 
Another consideration might be to use a "pro" amp available from some place like Guitar Center combined with the line level outputs from a receiver. You can pick up a pro-amp which is rated to drive down to a 2-ohm load for about $300. This would allow you to drive all speakers simultaneously.

This Crown amp for example.
 
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