OSD Audio 7-Zone Automatic Speaker Selector – Dual Source and Remote Control – ATM7

I am using this OSD ATM-7 speaker switcher to distribute audio to various zones around my house (backyard, upstairs, office, garage, etc). This was the only reasonably priced (at least in my budget) 7 zone speaker switcher in this price range that also had control via an IR remote. This was especially ideal in my case as I also wired my house with a Xantech whole house IR distribution/receiver system so by using some IR learning remotes to learn the outputs from the speaker switcher’s remote, I am able to control the zones from virtually any room in the house. The provided remote control itself has a very dated look and looks kind of cheaply made, although the switcher unit itself has a nice brushed black anodized aluminum finish which looks good (if not a bit utilitarian) sitting in my 19” rack system behind a custom made face place so it looks built into the wall of the multimedia center. The provided remote’s “cheap” appearance is not a big deal as I only used it to program a programmable remote which I use to control my media stack. A nice feature that I found out about after some experimentation is that rather than keeping the ATM-7 powered all the time, even when you remove power from it completely, when you restore power to it, it retains and goes back right away to all of its most recently used settings. Because of this, I am able to turn it on and off via voice control by plugging it into a smart plug hooked up to Alexa. This also allows me to automatically turn it on in conjunction with the particular source input I want to use it with (it has two different inputs you can switch between) and by using the macros on my learning remote, all the appropriate settings can be made for the selected input source with the press of one macro button. For those wishing even more zones, the ATM-7 can be “stacked” or chained to an additional unit. Of course the most important aspect of any audio distribution system is the sound quality. I detected no discernible loss of sound quality and there was no introduction of artifacts nor distortion introduced (I have to admit, I am using this to distribute to ceiling speakers and to a pair of outdoor speakers so they are not “audiophile” quality but when I tested a direct connection to the source vs going through the ATM-7, I could not tell a difference). The only feature that is missing from this switcher is load balancing and zone volume control. Because it lacks these features, you will need to have load balancing volume controllers for each pair of speakers (wired between the switcher output and the speakers) for complete control. Also, depending upon how many zones you are using at the same time, you need to be careful not to overtax your amplifier(s). So far this has been working perfectly and I am very pleased with the build quality and functionality, ease of use and ease of setup. Definitely 5 stars.

Picked up the unit to enable me to use the same set of vintage front speakers in the home theater and as a 2 channel setup on a two different amps: Denon avr for with a vintage solid state amp on preouts for ht and vintage tube amp for 2 channel listening, both setups on oneset of speakers. i looked at all of the products and settled on this one. Sure glad I did!I did a lot of research. My goal? Run the same set of speakers on two different vintage amps: one solid state vintage amp connected to my avr preout in the HT and one vintage tube amp for a two channel setup on the same speakers in the same room, running 14awg wire.Simply a great setup . . . With a remote control! Built-in electronic protection. Uses banana plugs (as I desired). Rated to handle enough amps I never have to worry about overload, up to 400 watts.Quality build. Better than a Niles switcher which is manual A/B with only straight wire connections and less handling power.If you have 1 to 7 sets of speakers to audition on two different amps, this is your product. The user manual says you can reverse it and use up to 7 amps on 2 sets of speakers.Unit remains at a cool temp, so I leave it on all of the time. Plus, I get a remote "mute" for when the phone rings and I need to turn down the two channel vintage tube amp.Did I mention, it is also multi-zone capable with the remote? It is for someone running speaker wire for different zones.No volume control, but that is what avrs/amps/preamps are for.Looks nice and fits well on one of the shelves in the equipment rack with the other HT components . . . Well built and attractive with nice rubber feet and black painted metal box . . . without the led lights being annoying while watching a movie.Plenty of space between the speaker and amp banana plugs so the banana plugs will never accidentally touch. (Straight wire can be used if desired.)Instructions were crystal clear.Maybe the highest rated handling watts for any reasonably priced switcher I found in my research.If you buy and audition multiple amps or speakers, this would serve as an outstanding convenience tool for side by side comparisons. Nearly instantaneous switching between amps and speakers, with built-in protection.No reservations about getting a second one if I ever needed it in a second setup.

Works well, but why no power button on the remote??

Using this for my “speaker wall” where I have 5 pairs of speakers and only 1 av receiver. Ran front speakers out to this and have all 5 pairs connected which allows me to easily switch between them. Still have 2 more pairs I can add so now time to shop for some additional speakers to connect. Remote looks outdated but works just fine.

Great product. Does everthing I expect it to do and the remote makes it nice to change speaker patterns without getting up and pushing buttons. However, a couple of improvements would make this the an even better product with no equal:1) Have digital LED numbers and letters over the individual zones so it easier to see which speaker zone your on from a distance as well as the amplifier input. For instance from my couch I cannot tell whether I am on zone 1 or 2 without pressing the remote.2) Put an on/off switch on the remote. What's up with that? Is the unit meant to be on all the time.3) Put a trigger connection on the back of the unit so my amp and the speaker selector can be turned on when I turn on my pre/pro as well as shut off at the same time when shutting down the pre/pro.Since this speaker selector is the best and most sophisticated I could find at this price and I was surprised to find it with a remote control I thought maybe the designers of this product might want to take this speaker to selector to the next level with my suggestions for improvement..