Can I Drive More Speakers With My 2ch Integrated?


I recently bought a Krell S-300i integrated amp. The plan was to use it to drive my main speakers, but I also have two additional pairs. My initial thought was to connect the other 2 pairs to a second amp/receiver which would be connected to the Krell. Problem? The Krell only has a preout, no tape out, so if I did it that way, I wouldn't have independent vol. control, as all speakers would only respond to the Krell's volume control. Any suggestions?
Thanks
thaluc

Showing 3 responses by almarg

The two additional pairs of speakers would not "only respond to the Krell's volume control," they would respond to both volume controls. If I understand your question correctly, I would think you would set the volume control on the Krell to where you normally set it for the main speakers, and then set the other volume control to provide the volume you want on the other speakers. If you subsequently were to change the volume setting on the Krell, it would affect all speakers similarly.

Regards,
-- Al
Thaluc -- Yes, that's correct. You wouldn't be able to fully mute the speakers being driven by the Krell while listening to the other speakers. It wasn't clear to me that you wanted to accomplish that. If it's any help, though, you should be able to set the main speakers to a significantly lower volume than the others, by setting the Krell's volume control in the lower part of its range and the other amp's volume control in the upper part of its range. The signal path from the common preamp out point forward would have the gain of a line stage in the path to the secondary speakers, but not in the path from that point forward to the main speakers.

Regards,
-- Al
Good! And I should have added that you will, of course, be able to fully mute the secondary speakers while listening to the main speakers at normal volume, simply by turning the volume control on the secondary amp/receiver all the way down.

Regards,
-- Al