Audio Systems: hi fi system, amplifier manufacturer, channel amplifier

Question
hi rob, i have wired four rooms in my house for stereo speakers. i want to purchase a mid price amplifier that will run four sets of speakers( 8 wall mounted mid price mid power speakers in total)but i want to be able to turn on and off each set independently.can i get an amp that will do this for me directly, without having to buy separate routers or switchers etc? i hope to run a cd player a tuner and a turntable off the amp( not simultaneously ..obviously!!

Answer
Commercial audio is my forte. From my point of view what you are asking is actually the best way to accomplish a multi-zone system. A multi channel amplifier is what you want. They are plentiful in commercial audio and can be found in residential audio. Four rooms will require an 8 channel amplifier. You can surf the Internet and find various amplifiers. I would be more that happy to make a recommendation just send me the links that you found. If you want to stay in the unbalanced connector world of RCA plugs and jacks then residential audio is where to start. The only difference with using commercial audio is that you will need to adapt from RCA to either XLR or TRS (3 conductor 1/4"). There may be instances where you will need cables that go from balanced to unbalance. If you are not able to get signal into the amplifier that may be the case. If you're handy then the amplifier manufacturer will have directions that come with the amplifier. Any preamplifier can feed the amplifier inputs. Be careful in selecting the right multi-channel amplifier for you you will find one that will strap (via a switch) four channels together, which you will do in order to get a stereo pre-amp output to feed all 8 channels of the amplifier. The end result will be separate volume on the amplifier for each channel. Be careful not to buy an amplifier that has no volume controls.