Has anyone ever figured out how to kill the delay in the above scenario?

RXA1070
Niles SI2150 feeding 3 other pairs
Cable box
BD player
Turntable

All sources are hooked up HDMI and analog.

I may disconnect the Niles amp, run the 3 pairs through a speaker selector with VCs and then try Party Mode but I wanted to see if anyone has had luck with this initial configuration.

Thanks in advance

Yeah, I think Party Mode is your only solution.

And I take it you mean take the Niles amp out of the system and use the internal Zone 2 amp channels in the Yamaha. Won't this give you the same delay as with the Niles amp?

What if the AVR is in stereo and not surround?

I don't think we'll get the same delay. We haven't used Party Mode much as it doesn't give us the Z1/Z2 flexibility as using separate zones. However, when we tested it before, we didn't have a delay using the internal amplifier.

Thanks!

We were still getting the delay.

Yamaha didn't make these things to be one giant zone. They made them to process the audio and video as needed for surround. They also included a second zone that works the way it works.

Because of video processing and lip sync, the only way they could make a product that does what you -- what most of us -- want in a two zone unit is to do the main zone processing, then mix the 5.1 or 7.1 into two channels. If, that is, they could do that mixing without introducing any delays.

That's a hare-brained idea and it would cost money for each unit. It's not going to happen.

I know: someone should make a product that takes an HDMI input, converts the digital audio to analog audio, then mixes the channels together to come up with stereo. That stereo would go to an analog input for Zone 2 and would be in sync... I hope... with the main zone.

Yeah, yeah, I know, the levels will have to be adjustable, and this thing itself might add some delay, causing it to be necessary to adjust the time delay of the main zone... which, wait a minute, feeds this device.

Oh, hell, that won't work, either. Or, at least, it hasn't been well thought out.

This is a problem that can't be solved with current Yamaha receivers. Any source you put into it - analogue or digital - acquires a delay. The only thing that gets rid of it is setting the audio mode to "Direct". You will lose subwoofer channel and surrounds and bypasses bass filter on front left/right speakers. This could be dangerous if they play at high volumes. The delay is a problem when you have adjacent zones running on a multi-room amp. Sure you could add a delay device on every input of the multi-room amp but that escalates the cost of the system. Just dumb when seems to be such a simple thing.

Party mode works when you only have a second zone on the zone 2 amp of the Yamaha. It forces you to sync zone 2 with main zone and can complicate automation. It doesn't get rid of the delay in relation to the source's output timing.

Can’t you add delay to the 2nd zone to match up with the delay inherent in the main zone? I know that you could in recent previous models, I think, at the RX-A10*0 and higher.

This and something punter16 said hint that Party mode gives you no delay if you use the amp channels built into the Yamaha, but gives you a delay if you lose an external Zone 2 power amp. Is that right?