3 speaker sets from one amp?

[eFestivals]

I'm trying to find out about hifi amplifiers which support 3 pairs of speakers, and where any one, two, or all three sets can be playing music at the same time.

Does anyone know of any specific amplifiers which do this? The can be both ones available new or older ones that I might find 2nd hand.

[t8yman]

Im fairly sure my dads av amp can do that. Ill check and report back. I think its a denon.

[Guest]

wouldn't any amp, with simple mixer be a reasonable option? Get the amp you want, or already have, then send the output as many ways you want, and be able to adjust the level of the different speakers...

[eFestivals]

wouldn't any amp, with simple mixer be a reasonable option? Get the amp you want, or already have, then send the output as many ways you want, and be able to adjust the level of the different speakers...

There's all sorts of issues with that, including the fact that mixers are generally used for inputs, but the main one being balancing the speaker load. You can't just connect speakers together without it having impact on the sound you hear as well as risking blowing the amp. And another device between amp and speakers will always equal poorer sound quality.

There are (or were) devices around that allow for the connecting of more than one speaker pair to just one speaker output, but that also impacts on sound quality (as well as volumes). I'd far rather have an amp which is built to support 3 speaker pairs.

My current amp (a Yamaha 'A' series) supports two speaker pairs, and I know that the Yamaha 'M' series (or some of the 'M' series, anyway) supports three speaker pairs, but the 'M' is either horribly expensive or hard to find (depending on exact model; they stopped making them in the mid-80s) - so I was hoping to find some other options.

[Guest]

how about something like this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SPEAKA-BT-13PT-4-WAY-LOUDSPEAKER-SWITCH-SPEAKER-OUTPUT-/350675888847?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Speaker_Parts&hash=item51a5e96acf

[eFestivals]

how about something like this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SPEAKA-BT-13PT-4-WAY-LOUDSPEAKER-SWITCH-SPEAKER-OUTPUT-/350675888847?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Speaker_Parts&hash=item51a5e96acf

thanks, but as I said above....

There are (or were) devices around that allow for the connecting of more than one speaker pair to just one speaker output, but that also impacts on sound quality (as well as volumes). I'd far rather have an amp which is built to support 3 speaker pairs.

[Guest]

thanks, but as I said above....

[5co77ie]

my sister has this - which does 4 pairs of speakers - can't find link - look a bit like this: http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/trio_kenwo_ka_1100sd.html

My old man also had an old 70s Kenwood amp which also had four outputs - so I'm wondering if perhaps a lot of them do

This is my dad's:

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/trio_kenwo_ka_405.html

I'm dim - they're only four speakers - 8 wires.

There's the Peavey PV 2600 Power Amp but it's expensive

Edited February 6, 2013 by 5co77ie

[eFestivals]

Does the amp you're hoping for have separate volume controls for the different sets of speakers?

nah - tho if it did I wouldn't complain.

I would want it to be able to switch on & off each set of speakers tho. My current Yamaha amp is able to do it with two sets.

[Guest]

my sister has this - which does 4 pairs of speakers - can't find link - look a bit like this: http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/trio_kenwo_ka_1100sd.html

My old man also had an old 70s Kenwood amp which also had four outputs - so I'm wondering if perhaps a lot of them do

This is my dad's:

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/trio_kenwo_ka_405.html

[5co77ie]

or this?

http://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-ISM-8-Impedance-Matching-8-Speaker-Selector/dp/B00009W3M9/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1219181583&sr=1-5