Marantz SR7012 11.1 + Zone 2 + Zone 3 setup

[superwave33]

Hi,

I recently posted a question on why a 9.1 setup wasn't working anymore and thanks to Tony V. and Todd A. I was able to correct it rapidly.
My end goal is to setup a 11.1 + Zone 2 and Zone 3 environment. Looking at Marantz' documentation, I see that the HEIGHT2 outputs are used to supply Zones 2 and 3 for 5.1, 7.1 and 9.1 setups but could not find anything for a 11.1 setup.
I have yet to purchase an external amplifier but wanted to know how I could achieve this beforehand. My desired setup is the following:

Main zone: 4 loudspeakers + 4 ceiling + 2 surround speakers + center + SW
Zone 2: 2 shelf speakers
Zone 3: 2 shelf speakers

Also, any suggestion for an affordable external amplifier and speaker selector (if required) to go with the SR7012 would be welcome!

Thanks in advance

 

[turboman]

I also own the SR-7012 and have it set up as 7.2.4 which is 11 powered speakers and 2 subs. Since the 7012 only has 9 amplifiers I power the left and right front channels with PS Audio monoblocks M700.

Although the 7012 has connectors for 11 speakers there are only 9 amplifiers. If you are using 11 speakers you will need an external amplifier for the other two. I do not believe you can add other zones as you are out of amplifiers.

I had the same problem with Onkyo when I had a 7.2 system. Although it has external zones the documentation stated that you could not do full 7 channels as you have used up all the power outputs.

As i recall on the 7012 the moment I connected left and right audio RCA outs the setup recognized it disabled the speaker terminals. I may not be 100% correct on that but if you check the Marantz pdf manual I think you will find some compromises when you want to do external zones.

 

[superwave33]

Thanks Turboman, much appreciated.

I've looked at Marantz's documentation and got even more confused..I'm really a newbie at this...

To start with, I sketched what I think I need.(file SR7012 - 11.1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Setup.jpg) I have assigned 9 outputs (as you pointed out) to the main zone and assigned the surround speakers to an external amplifiers and did the same for the pair of speakers in zone 2 and the other pair in zone 3.

Now, after reading the doc, I took a second look at the 7.1 channel playback setup (pictured in file SR7012 7.1 setup.jpg) and started wondering. Wouldn't that work? I mean, couldn't I simply connect all my main zone speakers in that way and simply assign my zone 2 and zone 3 speakers to an external amplifier?

Thanks again!

 

[turboman]

I guess my confusion was your original post which said that wanted a 11.1 plus the additional zones. Typically the 11 means 11 speakers used at the same time in the same listening environment and the 1 means 1 sub. If you are actually going to have a 7.1 then you will only be using 7 amplifiers (subs typically use the LFE out which does not use an amplifier) for your home theater leaving 2 open amplifiers and 2 open outputs for amplifiers. In that case you should be able to add 4 speakers for your zones with 2 connected to Marantz amplifiers and 2 connected to the external amplifier. Hope this helps.

 

[superwave33]

Hi Turboman,

Sorry for the confusion, here is the setup I would like to have:

Main zone: have all my home cinema speakers work together in an 11.1 setup (9.1 on the SR7012) and 2 other outputs from an external amplifier
Zone 2 (office): only 2 shelf speakers in a 2.0 setup
Zone 3 (living room): only 2 shelf speakers in a 2.0 setup.

Mind you, I don't need all the zones to be operating at the same time. I would either use the 11.1 setup or only Zone 2 or only Zone 3.
Therefore, I guess I would need an external amplifier to take care of my 2 surround speakers in my 11.1 setup in my main zone and it would also serve to handle my 2 shelf speakers in Zone 2 or Zone 3.

Would this be feasible with let's say your PS Audio monoblocks M700 for example?

Thanks very much again!

 

[turboman]

I am going to have to look at the Marantz documentation to give a more informed answer to your question. My guess right now is I do not think you can do what you want to do as you have used up all the channels with the home theater (9 amplifiers and 2 RCA to external amplifiers). You want to drive two more zones but there are no outputs left to do that. This receiver was designed to drive, for example, a 7.1 or 7.2 then the other 4 remaining outputs could drive external speakers (assuming you use 2 RCA for an external amplifier for the 7.1). Count your speakers; you can drive 9 directly from the Marantz and 2 more from an external amplifier. I believe that is the limit. In my case I just picked up a used Onkyo home theater AV receiver on Craigslist for around $150 and I power my other zones with that independently.

Regarding an external amplifier the M700 might be overkill. In my case I have Tekton Polycell 15's that are rated at 1,500 watts at 4 ohms and 103 db efficiency. The amplifier does not even breath so I have plenty of headroom for no distortion. Even if I made a mistake on volume I am not going to blow my speakers because they can handle the power. With all channels driven the Marantz is probably only putting out about 80 - 90 watts per speaker so having a higher power amp on your main left and right is a good idea but should be matched to your speakers capabilities. For example, PS Audio has an M300 that outputs 300 watts at 4 ohms and 150 at 8 ohms. You can also get amplifiers from many sources such as Emotiva, Outlaw, just to name a few. What type of main speaker are you using and what are its power ratings?

 

[superwave33]

Thanks for your time. My front and surround back speakers are Sony SS-CS3. They are 3-way with 4 speakers built-in, 6 ohms and a max input of 145W.
I'm guessing maybe I would need a simple speaker selector to feed the other 2 zones. Another, cheaper receiver sounds like an idea but I'd like to keep controlling all of my audio through one box.
Here's a pretty good review of the SS-CS3: https://hometheaterreview.com/sony-ss-cs3-floorstanding-speaker-reviewed/?page=2

 

[turboman]

The fundamental problem you have is with the 11.1 selection (7.1.4 for Atmos). Choosing that will leave no other output for your external speakers. When you go through the Audyssey setup on the Marantz you will be assigning all the outputs to the surround speakers (fronts, center, rears, side and ceiling/height). There is no way that I know of to do the external speakers other than one of three ways.

The first is to do a selector switch but unfortunately it has to be on the front speakers as all the other do not have true stereo as they are doing surround functions. This means you will have to put the switch on the external amplifier to get stereo in the other rooms. This means you will not be able to listen in the main theater room fronts and the other zone simultaneously. Also only one zone at a time. I don't think this a path you want to go down.

A better path would be to buy a Heos enabled speaker (Best Buy/Amazon/Ebay/etc.) for your external zones and stream from the Marantz using their Heos system. I have never done this so you might want to speak to Marantz tech support to make sure this will do what you want.

I don't know what else to tell you if your heart is set on having the 4 Dolby Atmos speakers. If you want the full immersive effect of the home theater experience you probably would want to also add a second sub. My system is 7.2.4 which means 7 speakers at listening level (fronts, center, side, rear), 2 subs and 4 ceiling speakers for Atmos. If you do not want to go the Heos route then maybe dial back to a 7.1 or 7.2 and use the remaining outputs for your other 2 zones.

Regarding an external amp for your front speakers take a look at the Outlaw 2200 monoblocks. They are are rated 200 watts 8 ohm and 300 watts 4 ohms so you would have plenty of headroom for your Sony speakers. They are very reasonable in price at $399 each.

 

[superwave33]

Hi Turboman,

Sorry for taking so long to answer back. Appreciate the ideas. I will follow your advice and call Marantz to see what they have to say and go from there.

Thanks again!

 

[superwave33]

Hi Turboman,

Sorry for the long delay, haven't had a chance to call Marantz's support until today. I explained my goal to the support engineer and he pretty much said that the best setup I could achieve would be a 9.2 main zone, a 2.0 zone 2 and a 2.0 zone 3 (all working independently) by using a speaker selector but the drawback would be that my warranty would be pretty much void.

Guess I'll go shop another amp.

Thanks again

 

[turboman]

I do not understand how putting a speaker switch outside of the Marantz would void the warranty. I originally did this when I had the PS Audio Sprout100 for two channel. I had an A/B switch for the main speakers and another for the sub woofers. In November I replaced the Sprout100 with a Parasound Halo 6 that has home theater bypass for both the speaker and subs so I no longer need the switches. I think Marantz is blowing smoke up your . If you want to avoid buying monoblocks for the front speakers maybe you want to consider another brand that has 15-16 channels so you can use the extra ones for your remotes.