Whole-house audio system?

amulford

I just ran a second zone with an amp. I could listen to something different from the main rig, yes, but that was in the receiver. My volume control was with the receiver in a seperate room than the speakers. Very simple set up.

If he runs control wiring (Cat5e) along with the speaker wiring, Like this stuff, to the controls; he wouldn't have to do a complete wiring changeout if he upgraded. He would have to change the gear but the wiring would be home runs and in place.


I ran speaker wire and put volume controls in, that's it. Like I said, nothing fancy.

I'm not exactly sure what he wants to do, now...

disneyjoe7

You know you keep talking about that 16/4 with cat5 cable and I keep looking at the spool of 1000' for a price of $453.10.... Hmmm $.45 per ft. This got me thinking well he doesn't need to run an expensive all in one cable, so I priced out what I did in my house. BlueJean cable 12g speaker CL3R for a price of $.57 a foot x 2 L/R plus what $.10 for the Cat5 so a grand total of $1.14 plus $.10 equals $1.24 :eek:



Crap I just made myself sick.... I hate thinking about this stuff.

Gaara

If I was going to do whole house audio, I would have a bunch of duets around the house. That way you could control all the houses music from one controller, plus have every song in your collection in any room of the house. Another cool feature is if you had a party you could sync them all to play the same music through out the house.

amulford

Crap I just made myself sick.... I hate thinking about this stuff.

Oh, come on now. You have to get off of the mattress once in a while;)

disneyjoe7

No I just float in my pool listen to Country with a CD changer player that is in my Family Room. This CD player RCA output goes to the wall jacks which goes to my new "House Audio" closet which goes to my Adcom pre amp, then to my HK PA2000 amp, then wired to my Niles volume / IR / Auto off, then to my Atrium 55 speakers.

Life is good, but I can't think about well all at once... Anyway.

disneyjoe7

Lasareath wrote: »

At this url it's around $.40 per ft if you buy two 500 ft spools

http://firefold.com/Products/500-Foot-16AWG-4-Wire-In-Wall-Speaker-Wire-with-CAT5E-Combo__16G-CAT5E-4-500.aspx

But to be fair I used 12g wire vs. the 16g wire. Belden wire at that sounds pretty nice.

Serendipity

disneyjoe7 wrote: »

This CD player RCA output goes to the wall jacks which goes to my new "House Audio" closet which goes to my Adcom pre amp, then to my HK PA2000 amp, then wired to my Niles volume / IR / Auto off, then to my Atrium 55 speakers.

This is very similar to what I am trying to achieve. I'm basically going to feed a CDP's RCA out into the "whole-house audio" stack, which could be placed in a closet or other out of way room.

Then, I'm going to try to find a used HK PA2000 (or PA4000) amp which outputs to the volume controls/speakers.

I've also considered the Atrium 55's for outdoor speakers, problem is that I live on a very small property and I don't want to disturb the neighbors. Are the Atrium 55's directional enough so that if I point them towards the house, the sound won't be heard too loud from a neighbor's property?

Also, how do the Atrium 55's sound? Those were basically my preferred patio speaker for a while...

bikezappa

appadv

I think I have done what you want for very little money and very little rewiring.

This what I did and it works great.

I have a Revox amp and tuner and 3 Sony jukeboxes located in my main room. The nice thing about the Revox is that I can control the tuner and amp with a single Revox remote. I control the CD players with the Sony remote that is Velcoed to the Revox remote. The Revox remote also can switch on speaker A and/or speaker B. The Revox also has a pre amp out that is also remote controlled. I use the Radio Shack IR to RF to IR repeaters. I can control two sets of speakers in the house with the main amp and also control a set of outdoor speakers with this set up. The out door speaker are feed throught the pre out on the Revox. The Revox remotes, I have 5, allow you to adjust the volume, balance, treble, bass and amp input in any room with the RS repeaters. The repeaters cost about $20 on ebay. I have them located in 5 different locations in my house and out side. By the way I have used a repeater out side all year round in New England and it works. Just don't get them wet. I can control the audio from my hot tube. Ask me anything I have missed.

Down side is the Revox equipment and remotes aren't cheap, but you can program them with RS remote.

Serendipity

bikezappa wrote: »

appadv

I think I have done what you want for very little money and very little rewiring.

This what I did and it works great.

I have a Revox amp and tuner and 3 Sony jukeboxes located in my main room. The nice thing about the Revox is that I can control the tuner and amp with a single Revox remote. I control the CD players with the Sony remote that is Velcoed to the Revox remote. The Revox remote also can switch on speaker A and/or speaker B. The Revox also has a pre amp out that is also remote controlled. I use the Radio Shack IR to RF to IR repeaters. I can control two sets of speakers in the house with the main amp and also control a set of outdoor speakers with this set up. The out door speaker are feed throught the pre out on the Revox. The Revox remotes, I have 5, allow you to adjust the volume, balance, treble, bass and amp input in any room with the RS repeaters. The repeaters cost about $20 on ebay. I have them located in 5 different locations in my house and out side. By the way I have used a repeater out side all year round in New England and it works. Just don't get them wet. I can control the audio from my hot tube. Ask me anything I have missed.

Down side is the Revox equipment and remotes aren't cheap, but you can program them with RS remote.

Thanks,

That's exactly like what I am trying to do. I just want a little bit of flexibility with the setup and the ability to control the system via remote(s). Now in-wall keypads would be nice, but remote control would be fine too.

Also, I always thought pro amps are better suited for driving low-ohm loads for long periods of time...that's what I thought. So if I'm wrong and I should use a home amp, I'll definitely go with something like the HK.

bikezappa

appadv wrote: »

Thanks,Also, I always thought pro amps are better suited for driving low-ohm loads for long periods of time...that's what I thought. So if I'm wrong and I should use a home amp, I'll definitely go with something like the HK.

The Revox amp has no problem driving my two sets of SDA SRS speakers.

Serendipity

bikezappa wrote: »

The Revox amp has no problem driving my two sets of SDA SRS speakers.

Cool.

How about something like a used Adcom, Onkyo, Parasound or B&K amp? Would that work as good as the Harman/Kardon?

Reason being I'm basically trying to find the cheapest amp that can get the job done, it's not that I don't like the H/K or anything like that.

Anyways, thanks for all your help so far everyone!

disneyjoe7

appadv wrote: »

This is very similar to what I am trying to achieve. I'm basically going to feed a CDP's RCA out into the "whole-house audio" stack, which could be placed in a closet or other out of way room.

Then, I'm going to try to find a used HK PA2000 (or PA4000) amp which outputs to the volume controls/speakers.

I've also considered the Atrium 55's for outdoor speakers, problem is that I live on a very small property and I don't want to disturb the neighbors. Are the Atrium 55's directional enough so that if I point them towards the house, the sound won't be heard too loud from a neighbor's property?

Also, how do the Atrium 55's sound? Those were basically my preferred patio speaker for a while...

I'm not sure how to answer your question. I have my speakers on the patio under roof so they point towards each other about 20' apart. They are not pointed directly to anyone so they are not overly loud to my neighbors, but I'm considerate of them all the time. So maybe louder during the day, but late night or Sunday mornings may be player low.

As far as the sound I'm in Love with them, for their size they are amassing on their bass and imaging. A truly enjoyable speaker to listen too.

Serendipity

I'm quite considerate of my neighbors but since I live in a more "urban" area, I'd think the sound would be drowned out by traffic, buses, and other noises. But I definitely want something that can't be heard from far away, but sounds great from near.

disneyjoe7

No I feel the smallness size of them they are more localized in sounding. Also long as they are not pointed directly at them.

Serendipity

disneyjoe7 wrote: »

No I feel the smallness size of them they are more localized in sounding. Also long as they are not pointed directly at them.

Great. That's exactly what I am looking for!

I'm also interested in the Atrim 65SDI, supposedly it combines two channels (left+right) into one single speaker. Since the property is very small I'd think one speaker would be enough. Or would a pair of Atrium 55's be a better choice?

Sami, what kind of "output" should I be looking for? A daisy-chain output? Or something like a Tape Out/monitor out?

disneyjoe7

Well I'm not a single speaker guy, two are always better then one

I think Sami was asking was if the HK PA2000 outputs could work for inputs to the next HK PA2000. I didn't answer as I didn't know for sure, but my feeling was yes.

Sami

That's why I'm recommending the PA2000, because if you link two or three of those together, you're getting 2 pairs of speakers driven on each amp (it's a 4*45W amplifier). 3 amps, and you're set for 6 rooms. I think they go for around $150 so not terribly expensive either.

Serendipity

Sami wrote: »

That's why I'm recommending the PA2000, because if you link two or three of those together, you're getting 2 pairs of speakers driven on each amp (it's a 4*45W amplifier). 3 amps, and you're set for 6 rooms. I think they go for around $150 so not terribly expensive either.

Cool. This would be well-suited to what I am looking for.

The only reason that I liked the pro amp on Parts Express was that it had individual channel level controls and speaker A/B selection. So if I wanted the music to only play indoors and not through the patio speakers, I could just deselect the "B speakers" and then fire the system up.

bikezappa

appadv wrote: »

The only reason that I liked the pro amp on Parts Express was that it had individual channel level controls and speaker A/B selection. So if I wanted the music to only play indoors and not through the patio speakers, I could just deselect the "B speakers" and then fire the system up.

That feature is important and I use it on mine home system. The best is if you can control room speaker selection via the remote. The best best is if you can control the volume of each speaker in the various rooms. I can't do this. The volume on all the speakers must be done manualy.

Also I remember really getting into playing the main room system really loud and my wife telling me that the out door speakers are also on. Even with the remote capability you forget what speaker is on. The people next door are cool however to the speakers so far.

okiepolkie

I've watched this thread for a few days, you are on the right track, but I would suggest simplifying things, even if it means a little more money.

From what I can tell, you are looking for 4-6 zones of audio throughout the house.

I don't know your budget out, but one of the simplest and most reliable systems for a low budget would be an Abus system from someone like Russound or Cambridge Audio. I've installed several of these systems since becoming a Cambridge dealer, and I've been very impressed with the quality, sound, and ease of use.

Here is an example of what I'm talking about:
http://www.wildwestelectronics.net/inmuau.html

In your case, for a 4 room system, you would need the following:

(1) AH10 - multi source hub
(1) PS10 - power suppply for the hub
(4) KP10 - powered keypad
(1-4) LM10 - local input modules

You would run cat5e to each of the keypads, then speaker wire from the keypads to each speaker.

For additional zones, you would add another power supply, and a keypad for each additional zone.

Russound makes a similar product, but I don't know pricing for it compared to C.A.

If you have questions, let me know.

bigaudiofanatic

This is what my neighbor got for christmas. http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?g=10420&i=580TXN905B&tp=179 He can now listen to 5.1 in the main room music on the patio and music in the garage all at the same time and have different sources playing in different rooms and different volumes. He loves it. Hee uses the apple tv most of the time for music in the garage and the patio. and also has sirius and dvd changer. Hope this helps. What he uses is a logitech 550 remote with a battery that actualy has a rf transmitter in itself and work GREAT or you can buy on that alrady has it built in to the remote.

bikezappa

okiepolkie wrote: »

:
http://www.wildwestelectronics.net/inmuau.html

(1) AH10 - multi source hub
(1) PS10 - power suppply for the hub
(4) KP10 - powered keypad
(1-4) LM10 - local input modules

Okiepolkie

I wish the site had a better discription of the options listed.

What I would like to buy is a 3 or 4 IR recievers that can send a wired signal to a central box that has 3 or 4 IR output emitters that I can attach to each of the componets, amp, tuner CD ...

Does that site make such a system?

The Radio shack units that I use don't work well or consistently with the Revox remotes, yet they always work with the sony remotes. I wonder if the transmitting frequency of the Revox remotes is on the edge of the radio shake repeaters?


Thanks for your help.

Peter

Sami

appadv wrote: »

Cool. This would be well-suited to what I am looking for.

The only reason that I liked the pro amp on Parts Express was that it had individual channel level controls and speaker A/B selection. So if I wanted the music to only play indoors and not through the patio speakers, I could just deselect the "B speakers" and then fire the system up.

You really want to be able to control volume at the location rather than your "server" room so volume controls on each room are a must (and cheapest are only $25 piece). PA2000 does have gain controls so you can always turn them down if you want to silence a zone from your server room.

Serendipity

Sami wrote: »

You really want to be able to control volume at the location rather than your "server" room so volume controls on each room are a must (and cheapest are only $25 piece). PA2000 does have gain controls so you can always turn them down if you want to silence a zone from your server room.

I can see that. All the equipment will be installed in a closet or crawl space, so it's a good idea to have volume controls in every room + at the source.

Serendipity

I've been considering the following cable to connect my sources to the "whole-house audio" room:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=184-210

Would this work well over long distances? If so, I think I'm going to order this from PE along with some basic in-wall speaker wire and Cat5 network cable.

BTW, since I just installed a 50' HDMI cable, I don't think I'll have any problem routing the other stuff. It's just a matter of patience

disneyjoe7

You could run RCA cables needed as RG6 cable then convert back to RCA at the end, cheaper and better in wall.

Serendipity

disneyjoe7 wrote: »

You could run RCA cables needed as RG6 cable then convert back to RCA at the end, cheaper and better in wall.

Do you mean terminate the RG6 with RCA ends?

disneyjoe7

Yes, look at these

http://www.hedtechcoax.com/servlet/the-30/rg6-compression-adapters-coaxial/Detail

I haven't used those so I can't say anything about the quality of them.

disneyjoe7

You know looking at them again I wonder if they are best if used with their quad shield RG6 Cable? But a 500' roll was $85 not sure what your need was.

Serendipity

But how is the sound quality of the RG6? Is it as good as a decent cable?