extra speakers on stereo

1jim

Hi everyone.
I have a stereo in the lounge (not seperates) a technics se-hd350
This has one set of speakers with one left and right channel, currently runs a standard set of supplied speakers in the lounge with balamce set to middle.
I would like to run another set of small speakers into the kitchen from same stereo, I wondered if I could put one set through the left connection and one set through right connection and then just use the balance function to control which speakers play (full left or right or middle for both). Is this a really bad idea, will I damage speakers or will I end up spending £100 on speakers and have rubbish sound?
I know ideally I would have seperates but not an option at this time
thanks for your thoughts

Fifer

1jim wrote: »

Hi everyone.
I have a stereo in the lounge (not seperates) a technics se-hd350
This has one set of speakers with one left and right channel, currently runs a standard set of supplied speakers in the lounge with balamce set to middle.
I would like to run another set of small speakers into the kitchen from same stereo, I wondered if I could put one set through the left connection and one set through right connection and then just use the balance function to control which speakers play (full left or right or middle for both). Is this a really bad idea, will I damage speakers or will I end up spending £100 on speakers and have rubbish sound?
I know ideally I would have seperates but not an option at this time
thanks for your thoughts

Using the balance control as described is a bad idea unless you are listening in mono as with the balance set to the right (for example) you will only hear what is recorded on the right channel of a stereo recording.

As for running two sets of speakers, you need to ensure that the amp is capable of driving the resulting load from an impedance perspective. Two 8 ohm speakers in parallel presents a 4 ohm load to the amp and 16 ohms if in series.

EDIT: You can get speaker switching boxes which will allow you to switch between two sets of speakers manually.

fwor

As Fifer says, listening to just one channel in each room will sound really strange for most stereo recordings.

A speaker switching box may do what you need, though they will typically give you a choice of either - not both.

Possibly a better solution if the hi-fi has a "Line Out" or "Tape Out" is to get a pair of active speakers (i.e. with an amp and volume control built in, such as those used with PCs) and run a pair of wires from the hi-fi output to those. That should give full control over volume in both rooms.

1jim

thanks guys, will look into this some more....Id just thought about the stereo issue before checking messages here,,it would sound odd wouldnt it

speaker switch boxes- would this be the kind of thing? http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=97927 or http://www.amazon.co.uk/Electrovision-A098L-Black-Speaker-Selector/dp/B000KGVXF0/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top with these would I need to take into account amp and impedance or can I just run speaker wire and forget about it?

No line out on stereo that I can see so switch box looks way to go

fwor

As long as you're never going to want to drive more than 2 pairs, the Maplin looks to be better, as it is designed so that the minimum impedance does not go below 4 ohms with both sets in circuit.

It would be worth checking the manual to see what impedance the existing speakers are (probably 8, possibly 4 ohms) and what minimum it can deal with (usually 4 ohms, but not always). As long as you get speakers the same impedance as the existing ones, and as long as you don't drive it hard with both connected, you should be Ok.

1jim

thanks for this, nothing on the speaker but have dug out the instructions (not bad since this was bought in 2002) and it gives the following

Speaker system
type. 2way, 2speaker, base reflex system
Speakers,
woofer 12m cone type
tweeter, 6cm cone type
Impedance, 6Ω
input power, 60 W (music), 30 W (din)
output sound pressure level 86dB/W (1.0m)
cross over frequency 7kHz
Frequency range, 48Hz-25Khz (-16 dB)
55hz -22kHz (-10dB)

cant see anything about minimum Ω ,

any tips on speaker selection, looking for small speakers to go in kitchen- probably wall mounted or maybe on top of tall fridge freezer and kitchen cupboard,

prowla

Alternatively, you could run a second (small) amp from the main system's tape output sockets (if it has them).

1jim

I dont think it has any output sockets so dont think I can do this

scotsbob

If you don't want the sound in both rooms at the same time, then just use a lead from the headphone output to connect a small pair of speakers.

1jim

thats not a bad idea, hadnt thought about that.....but now I know its possible to have sound in both rooms....well I kind of want that now (cant find a smiley for hanging head in shame)