Whole House Stereo System

My daughter bought a house that has a Elan whole house stereo system with the
amplifier in the basement and wall switch controllers on each floor. The amp went bad and I don't really want to go back with Elan again. Starting on the main floor first,
which has 3 ceiling mount speakers and the controller on this floor has 4 speaker
wires going into the controller and four wires going out into the amplifier. I don't
really get 3 speakers and 4 wires (right plus and minus, and left plus and minus). So
I get they are run parallel but I thought that would give you two wires coming from
the three speakers. Can someone please help me with this. Thanks in advance.

 

There is a way to do that. It was called poor mans hifi..... I think.

Left speaker is on L+ and L-
Right speaker is on R+ and R-
Center speaker is on L+ and R+
The center speaker plays the difference between the right and left speakers.
You can test this theory by just giving the two + wires audio and see if just the center one works.

 

Ok I took out the wall plate controller and took the four speaker wires from the controller and connected all four wires to the new amplifier but get nothing out of the speakers. Connected
L- L+ R- and R+ to each other to the back of the amplifier. Made sure to connect them just the
way they were connected in the controller. Any ideas

 

Ok.... so when you connect them like that.... do all three speakers work ?

 

No I get nothing from any of the three speakers, when I connect all four wires

 

Ok......... so maybe the amp isn't bad ?

 

Thanks for your help. I went back today with a clear head and a small speaker to test all my connections. I ended up having two wires crossed on the amplifier. Got those switched around
and everything sounds beautiful with the new amp.

 

Good job. Enjoy the holiday music.