Patent ID: 6167140
Filing Date: 2000-12-26
Classification: H03F,H04R,H04S

Abstract:
An AV amplifier capable of selectively switching between a multichannel reproducing mode and a two-channel stereo reproducing mode, comprising:a decoder operable to decode input signals in which multichannel signals are encoded to output multichannel signals in the multichannel reproducing mode, and operable to output inputted two-channel stereo signals as they are in the two-channel stereo reproducing mode;a plurality of amplifiers operable to amplify output signals of said decoder;a plurality of output terminals to each of which speakers are connected, and which are operable to transfer output signals of said amplifiers to the connected speakers;a mode selector operable to select either the multichannel reproducing mode or the two-channel stereo reproducing mode; anda switching circuit operable to switch a connected relation among said decoder, said plurality of amplifiers and said plurality of output terminals in accordance with the mode selection by said mode selector, wherein:said plurality of amplifiers comprises at least first to fourth amplifiers operable to amplify the multichannel signals in the multichannel reproducing mode; andsaid switching circuit:when a plurality of speakers for multichannel reproduction are connected to said output terminals and the multichannel reproducing mode is selected, switches the connected relation so that the multichannel signals outputted from said decoder are amplified by said plurality of amplifiers for each channel and the signal outputted from each of the amplifiers is given to the speaker of a corresponding channel; andwhen a pair of speakers compatible with bi-wiring are connected to said output terminals and the two-channel stereo reproducing mode is selected, switches the connected relation so that among the two-channel stereo signals outputted from said decoder, signals for an L channel are amplified in parallel by said first and second amplifiers in said plurality of amplifiers and signals for an R channel are amplified in parallel by said third and fourth amplifiers in said plurality of amplifiers, and further output signals of said first and second amplifiers are given to one of said pair of speakers in a bi-wiring connection manner and output signals of said third and fourth amplifiers are given to the other one of said pair of speakers in the bi-wiring connection manner.