Tahoe Gator
02-27-2005, 06:48 PM
Help on adding whole house audio/video to a new house!
I am buying a new house and want to add whole house audio and video. I am desparately seeking advice on what route to take: centralized switching/amplification with runs to the speakers (Niles, Elan, Russound, etc.) versus central router digital network with local (at touch pads) amplification (e.g., Zon Audio, http://www.zonaudio.com). There are other solutions, such as Sonos (http://www.sonos.com), but, though I could be wrong, I don't think a "streaming" solution is what I need.
My objectives:
Must Haves:
- Distribute audio content to about 6-8 locations, 1 or 2 of which will probably have their own local home theatre setups, the rest will have in-wall or -ceiling speakers. Most of the time the music source will be iTunes via an Airport Express. FM and CD play also I suppose. Very infrequently would I ever need to distribute different "audio only" to different rooms, though every system I've investigated does that anyway.
- Distribute video content to about 4 TVs. Ideally, a single Tivo would be accessible from any TV (though I hear you can network Tivos), as well as DVD source, satellite channel, etc. If I ever add HD, I suspect it will only be at the head-end location, so no reason to distribute it (at least not now).
- Ability to listen to the audio portion of an A/V signal over the same speakers, e.g., the in-ceiling speakers in the master bedroom double as speakers for watching TV.
Would like to have (order of importance):
- Monitor audio from another room, e.g., "baby monitor" a kid's room from one of the other rooms
- View a "baby camera" on any of the TVs
- Page someone in another room
When I came across the Zon Audio system, I thought it was the answer because I figured I could find another way to distribute the video (maybe have certain channels on the TV select the appropriate video source?)., but the Zon system is limited to 4 zones per router and while routers can be networked, paging and monitoring functions will not work across routers. It seems that the Zon system might be more expensive if I go past 4 zones (need 2nd router).
So it seems the central switching/amplification approach might make more sense and be more flexible, even though speaker runs might be long (2 story house and system probably will be in basement). I have reviewed the A/V Multi-Room Receivers from Elan, Niles, Russound and Crestron on their websites and, to be honest, find the information needed to decide between them or to setup a whole integrated system highly lacking. Clearly their audience is installers and I plan to do all or most myself. I cannot even find dealer locators on their websites (moving to Atlanta).
Any advice or comparisons on the systems I mentioned or ones I might be overlooking would be greatly appreciated. Basically, I am thankfurl for any and all advice, web references, or whatever.
The house is almost complete (walls up, etc.). So it is too late for pre-wiring. However, apparently the walls were accidentally put up before the telecom, so the low voltage contractor had to create some ducts to route the Cat-5 (phone/Ethernet) and coax lines after the fact. So, there may be an opportunity to more easily add wiring than would be otherwise. I am meeting with the low voltage contractor this week about adding wiring and need to figure out what wiring to add and where, which is of course dependent on what system I choose.
Thanks!
I am buying a new house and want to add whole house audio and video. I am desparately seeking advice on what route to take: centralized switching/amplification with runs to the speakers (Niles, Elan, Russound, etc.) versus central router digital network with local (at touch pads) amplification (e.g., Zon Audio, http://www.zonaudio.com). There are other solutions, such as Sonos (http://www.sonos.com), but, though I could be wrong, I don't think a "streaming" solution is what I need.
My objectives:
Must Haves:
- Distribute audio content to about 6-8 locations, 1 or 2 of which will probably have their own local home theatre setups, the rest will have in-wall or -ceiling speakers. Most of the time the music source will be iTunes via an Airport Express. FM and CD play also I suppose. Very infrequently would I ever need to distribute different "audio only" to different rooms, though every system I've investigated does that anyway.
- Distribute video content to about 4 TVs. Ideally, a single Tivo would be accessible from any TV (though I hear you can network Tivos), as well as DVD source, satellite channel, etc. If I ever add HD, I suspect it will only be at the head-end location, so no reason to distribute it (at least not now).
- Ability to listen to the audio portion of an A/V signal over the same speakers, e.g., the in-ceiling speakers in the master bedroom double as speakers for watching TV.
Would like to have (order of importance):
- Monitor audio from another room, e.g., "baby monitor" a kid's room from one of the other rooms
- View a "baby camera" on any of the TVs
- Page someone in another room
When I came across the Zon Audio system, I thought it was the answer because I figured I could find another way to distribute the video (maybe have certain channels on the TV select the appropriate video source?)., but the Zon system is limited to 4 zones per router and while routers can be networked, paging and monitoring functions will not work across routers. It seems that the Zon system might be more expensive if I go past 4 zones (need 2nd router).
So it seems the central switching/amplification approach might make more sense and be more flexible, even though speaker runs might be long (2 story house and system probably will be in basement). I have reviewed the A/V Multi-Room Receivers from Elan, Niles, Russound and Crestron on their websites and, to be honest, find the information needed to decide between them or to setup a whole integrated system highly lacking. Clearly their audience is installers and I plan to do all or most myself. I cannot even find dealer locators on their websites (moving to Atlanta).
Any advice or comparisons on the systems I mentioned or ones I might be overlooking would be greatly appreciated. Basically, I am thankfurl for any and all advice, web references, or whatever.
The house is almost complete (walls up, etc.). So it is too late for pre-wiring. However, apparently the walls were accidentally put up before the telecom, so the low voltage contractor had to create some ducts to route the Cat-5 (phone/Ethernet) and coax lines after the fact. So, there may be an opportunity to more easily add wiring than would be otherwise. I am meeting with the low voltage contractor this week about adding wiring and need to figure out what wiring to add and where, which is of course dependent on what system I choose.
Thanks!