RCA to Speaker?

[standon]

So I've been debating between adding another controller (Russound MCA-C5) or figuring a way to do subzones with the amp. I bought a cheap ($15) rotary knob speaker volume controller that amplifies 75W and touching the speaker wire to the line level outputs of the amp, I got sound and was able to control it using the knob.

Wondering if anyone is aware of any dangers in connecting speaker wire directly to the RCA Line Level outputs on my amp? I see lots of speaker to RCA converters for car audio, apparently there are resistors and such involved. I haven't located any that go in reverse - from RCA to speaker. Thanks!

 

[tmbrown97]

If I'm following you correctly, the RCA out from your amp would be non-amplified, so you can't really just plug a speaker into that - it wouldn't have the power to drive a speaker.

If the volume controller is also an amplifier and accepts line level audio, and you're just using the speaker wire as the interconnection, then I don't see a problem - just go to radio shack and get some RCA ends you can solder on...

The devices that go from speaker wire to RCA are also converting amplified to line-level, so that's a whole different story.

 

[InspiredTim]

RCA to speaker low to high which needs and amp.
Speaker to RCA high to low which just uses a high to low converter.

From I can read you will need another amplifier to power the second zone.

 

[gatchel]

Using speaker wire as a line level signal conductor may allow noise to be introduced.

 

[ecborgoyn]

I haven't located any that go in reverse - from RCA to speaker. Thanks!

'RCA to speaker converters' are typically called amplifiers. You might get a bit a sound from the speaker if you connect it to the line-level RCA connector, but no significant volume. This is the purpose of an amp. You probably won't damage either the speaker or line-level source by connecting the two, but it's not very useful.

 

[standon]

Thanks! Just wasn't sure if there was a better practice or not. The volume controller has a 75w amplifier in it, but accepts speaker wire as an input while my amplifier has RCA outputs.

I did buy some small circuit board amplifiers for the unamplified zones of the amplifier (zone 7 and 8) but one stopped working and another has some noise somewhere in the line. That and the fact that they cost me $60 each, I really wanted to go cheaper per subzone.

 

[ecborgoyn]

The volume controller has a 75w amplifier in it, but accepts speaker wire as an input

I don't understand this. A $15 75W amp that has speaker wire inputs??? Amps generally have a line-level (i.e. 'RCA') input. NON amplified speaker selectors would have 'speaker wire' inputs.....

 

[gatchel]

Do you have a part number for the 75W volume controller?

 

[tmbrown97]

I'm picturing something like this - not necessarily "speaker wire" inputs, but terminal inputs.

 

[ecborgoyn]

I'm picturing something like this

The ebay ad says it's an amp, but the manufacturer says it's a volume control only.... That's my point, does the OP only have a selector/volume control device without an amp.

 

[gatchel]

The ebay ad says it's an amp, but the manufacturer says it's a volume control only.... That's my point, does the OP only have a selector/volume control device without an amp.

That would be my guess.

 

[tmbrown97]

Only the OP can answer that... I did find some 50-watt in-wall amps out there - I guess one way to know, is it would need its own power source if it's an amp...

OP did say that he hooked it up and heard sound - but we don't know if it was good sound or barely audible from the 2.5-4V RCA line level audio.

 

[standon]

Yup, I'm an idiot. I really thought that since the volume controller was so heavy that it had a small amplifier. Anyway, without the an amp the volume is audible - but probably not enough to fill a room (about as loud as you would expect with no amplification). Argh.

I guess I'll be on the hunt for an 8+ channel amp.