What amplifier do I need?

[loydchase]

I want to hook up several pairs of In-ceiling speakers up to my computer. I'm going to put them in various places in my house so I can ear the music from my computer evenly throughout. I'm no expert on speakers and amplifier's. I am familiar with pro audio though(recording). I want to use my Tascam US1641 interface as a receiver. From there I want to send a stereo signal to an amp. From there I'm going to hook up about 4 to 6 pairs of Micca M-8S. They are 8 ohms, which I have no clue what that means. I've been looking up amps and I cant seem to find one that will fit my needs. I dont need to blast music loud as hell. I just need something that will drive these speakers and sound good. What am I looking for? Give me a model number or something. I'm looking at about 100 to 200 bucks.

[Mincer]

Re: What amplifier do I need?

Welcome to the forum!

While wiring a house for audio isn't really this forum's expertise, my guess is that you'd need some kind of amp that has multiple 'zones' that you can control remotely. This technology has existed for awhile, and I am sure someone here who has done exactly what you are asking can offer advice.

[Old Guy]

Re: What amplifier do I need?

I'm not exactly sure what your needs are.

If you have an amp, you don't really need to do anything through your computer, unless all you are doing is connecting your computer to the amp to relay the signal of the audio you want to listen to. In that case, you don't need any speakers on your computer at all.

People spend tens of thousands of dollars to do what you are thinking about doing. I'm not sure you will get a basic amp that can do all that for $100 - $200. And when you say "amp" you aren't talking about a guitar amp, I assume. Most home audio amps already have receivers in there already, so you won't need the TASCAM.

I'm having a hard time understanding what you are intending to wire up. Basically, all you really need to do is get a good home audio amplifier, and connect speakers to it. These days, you don;t even need wires. There are bluetooth options.

[NegativeEase]

Re: What amplifier do I need?

Just to cover all the bases -You have basically 4 realistic options.

A Stereo Multizone amplifier to preserve 8ohm at each passive Micca M-8S speaker (probably your best choice but you can't get a 6 channel Stereo Multizone amp for 100 -200 dollars -you cant even get a good one for 400.00 ) . I think a Dayton Audio MA1240a Multi-Zone 12 Channel Amplifier form Parts Express will do EXACTLY what you want for around 500.00 -but I have no idea HOW good these are -and they are entry level so I wouldn't expect greatness. -but it may be just fine.

Powered Active Speakers at each location (annoying getting power to each ceiling location -and not realistic if you already bought the Miccas) -Probably the highest quality if you do it right because the drivers are matched perfectly to the amp -but expensive.

A Wireless Speaker distribution System -UGGG I HATE these -but they are EASY and cheap. I hate the Phasing and compression weirdness. -if you dont have a great ear -probably fine and easy and not far off your budget.

70 Volt system (Constant Voltage) -best for scaling and distance but performance usually is not up to the 3 previous choices.

[ehdwuld]

Re: What amplifier do I need?

I would think one of those focusrite headphone amps would give you several channels and a stereo feed to each

There may be an in house system on Amazon or Ebay or something

I'm sorry but that's all I got

[AxlOz]

Re: What amplifier do I need?

I think I understand your concept here (my dentist had a system like this), but I don't know anything about the products to achieve it.. The key things that come to my mind are how difficult the wiring job could be, and how its purely just a 'casual listening hifi' setup at the end of the day.

If I were looking to do a similar thing I'd just buy a Sonos system and be done with it - wirelessly.

[DankStar]

Re: What amplifier do I need?

I’d peruse parts express and maybe even call them up - they seem to specialize in those types of systems

https://www.parts-express.com/cat/home-audio-amplifiers/106

[Jacew]

Re: What amplifier do I need?

You could buy a used run of the mill home stereo amp. Connect that to TASCAM and just wire the speakers together. That won't give you much control over it but it easy and cheap solution. Some of them do have choice for 2 sets for speakers (my Luxman has). So you can switch at least between some of them and not having all of them playing always.

Make sure to learn and understand what the ohm rating in speakers mean and how it should be handled. You will blow the amp if you wire them wrong! Defnitely get a multimeter to check the ohm rating of your setup before trying it out first time.

[formula73]

Re: What amplifier do I need?

Marshall 2203