cordless speaker hookup to 10 yr. old amp.

[Ronnie1a]

My 10 year old Pioneer amp. has a hookup for rear speaker surround sound, two regular connections for speaker wire. The cordless speaker system I want to use has a transmitter and says to use dual RCA cable connections, output from the amp and imput to the transmitter. I do not have an RCA output plug for the surround speakers. The directions for the transmitter also state "do not connect the dual RCA cable to speaker terminals" as it may cause damage.

Why can't I use a cable with wire connections on one end to my amp and RCA plug connections to the transmitter? If I cannot do this is there something I can put in between the input and output connections that would allow the setup I have.

 

[audioguru]

The speaker output is at a high level. An amplifier with an RCA output to feed an amplified speaker has a fairly low line level output.

Use two resistors to attenuate the speaker output down to a line level.

 

[Ronnie1a]

Thanks. I suspected I might have to do something like this but do not know how. What size resistor and how do I make the connection? Two wires for each speaker but only one wire on the resistor????

 

[crutschow]

If the speaker outputs do not have a common connection then you can not use them to connect to an amp unless you use an isolation audio transformer on each output. (Use an ohmmeter to see if the negative speaker outputs are connected together to determine if they are common).

If they are common then for a typical amp power, a 10:1 attenuation or so should work. For example a 10kΩ in series with each amp speaker output and 1kΩ to ground (four resistors total) will give a 11:1 attenuation).

 

[smanches]

Is the wireless unit also an amp or does it require the speakers to have built in amps? You can only wirelessly transmit the signal, not the power from the amp to drive the speakers.