help design this simple A/V setup

[deckeda]

A friend asked me and I'm struggling to tell him his options, based on usage.

1. Main room (new basement construction, drywalls not yet installed) will have home theater of some kind.

2. Secondary, adjacent room is a workout/gym room also with a TV.

The TVs would need to be fed independently, which also implies whatever sound those rooms hear. I mention the sound in the workout/gym because he's also interested in something better that TV speakers there ... with possible syncing so that both rooms play the same music (with TVs turned off I suppose, but if they could be fed by the same video that opens up possibilities.)

- I'm aware that surround sound receivers often have a 2nd zone for audio (pre-amp outputs?) or maybe that's handled at the speaker-level instead, kinda like the old days with a traditional A/B speaker switch built in.

- but that doesn't address how to switch from the gym's TV sound to the main stereo's sound (and volume settings, too)

You can see that I'm wondering if these should be two completely separate audio/video system, with potentially the gym room getting an aux feed of some kind from the other room.

[deckeda]

You're tempted to ask about budgets and A/V sources and I don't know them at this time. I just want to know what's possible.

[Fritz]

if it were me, and I was looking to do the same, I'd use 2 systems.

but for us here, I have one Emby server that hits the 2 TVs and one remote location.

the main has the receiver, better newer TV, mid range pro small speakers (4" woof, 2 way)
the 2nd TV (bedroom) just uses "computer speakers w/"sub".

[N-OS X-tasy!]

Take a look at matrix switches from the likes of Crestron or Extron. Hopefully they offer something for non-professional use that isn’t too expensive.

[Carm]

Two systems. second that idea
My SIL has one system for indoor and outdoor speakers. It’s an all same sound or none. They can chose to turn on outside or not, but I wouldn’t do it like that. Get a cheap receiver for workout room

[deckeda]

Fritz wrote:

...the 2nd TV (bedroom) just uses "computer speakers w/"sub".

OK so depending on source(s) the TV needs RCA output or the source does, if say it’s just a cable box.

[Will Collier]

This really depends on what feeds the TVs: cable box, streaming boxes, something else? Without knowing that it's hard to know where to start.

The multi-zone receiver is definitely an option for audio. Buddy of mine has a lake house with that kind of a setup and it works pretty well.

[Fritz]

deckeda wrote:
[OK so depending on source(s) the TV needs RCA output or the source does, if say it’s just a cable box.

I run audio only thru the TV upstairs. I'm lazy. I've sought other solutions but because the speakers are older and have no dig input, there are too many hoops to make that happen.
Downstairs, same, coz the rcvr is pre wifi/BT enabled.

[Ombligo]

If he just wants to feed music, I'd leave the TV's out of the mix completely and just use a couple smart speakers running off an echo or similar. There are numerous Bluetooth speakers of all sizes out there. Alternatively, he could put a Bluetooth receiver on his amp and feed the speakers from his phone, etc.

[John B.]

Depends on what the music audio source is going to be. Sonos and Roku and others make soundbars that could either be the local TV audio or play music from another source.