How to centralize audio over different zones that are controlled by speaker wire?

[gchucky]

So I'm moving into a house that has a number of speakers embedded into the ceiling. In one corner of the house are six red/black speaker wires pairs, and every two of them corresponds to either a left or right in a different room (so 3 rooms with 2 speakers each).

I'd like to be able to orchestrate music playing in each room separately. Since the wires are all centralized in on spot, the question is: what equipment do I need to accomplish this? I guess one option is to buy 3 SONOS units and hook each pair up to a unit, but there's gotta be something more cost effective.

Any ideas?

 

[herbu]

I'd like to be able to orchestrate music playing in each room separately.

I'm not an expert on this, but have a bit of experience. I think your answer depends on what you mean by "orchestrate".
- Do you want different sources playing in different rooms at the same time?
- Do you want to independently control the volume from within the room?

It's pretty easy to set up w/ a 7-channel Receiver by simply connecting each wire/pair to the AVR and selecting All Channel Stereo. It will send the same thing to each room, in stereo, with a single master volume control.

Without additional equipment you will not have:
- Different music/sources in different rooms
- Volume control in the room itself
- Surround sound capability in any room

 

[gchucky]

I'm not an expert on this, but have a bit of experience. I think your answer depends on what you mean by "orchestrate".
- Do you want different sources playing in different rooms at the same time?
- Do you want to independently control the volume from within the room?

Yes to both, actually.

Without additional equipment you will not have:
- Different music/sources in different rooms
- Volume control in the room itself
- Surround sound capability in any room

Yeah, I knew I wouldn't be able to get away with just a single receiver. My question was what equipment I would need to get. Like, is there some 1RU box that I can buy that would allow for that sort of multiplexing? Do I need to buy a box for each different set of controls? Those sorts of things.

 

[herbu]

Yes to both, actually.



Yeah, I knew I wouldn't be able to get away with just a single receiver. My question was what equipment I would need to get. Like, is there some 1RU box that I can buy that would allow for that sort of multiplexing? Do I need to buy a box for each different set of controls? Those sorts of things.

First consider this. If you use a central AVR, you are limited in how much control you'll have from each room. It is why many people opt for a separate AVR in each room. You can do it on the cheap because you don't need much power or many channels.

Speakers in multiple rooms wired to the same source can be useful for something like background music in a open house. For family use and flexibility, not so much.

The only way I know to get more than one source at the same time from an AVR is by using Zone-2 and Zone-3. I think the newest high-end AVRs allow you to use HDMI inputs for the Zones. So you could run one pair of speakers to Left/Right, one pair to L/R Surround and configure them for Zone-2, and one pair to L/R Rear Surround and configure them for Zone-3. You could control source and volume for each room from the AVR.

But if you're in the Zone-2 room and want to turn the volume up, or change the source, you have to go in the other room to the AVR. Walk back and forth until the volume is the level you want. Or you could put a volume control in each room, but you'll have to find the speaker wires in the room and pull them to that location... (the same thing you'd have to do if you add an AVR in each room).

Think about what you want, and people here can give some equipment suggestions.

 

[gchucky]

First consider this. If you use a central AVR, you are limited in how much control you'll have from each room. It is why many people opt for a separate AVR in each room. You can do it on the cheap because you don't need much power or many channels.

Definitely noted. I'm trying to take advantage of having the wires all centrally located, but it seems like for what I'm thinking about, it may not make sense.

The only way I know to get more than one source at the same time from an AVR is by using Zone-2 and Zone-3. I think the newest high-end AVRs allow you to use HDMI inputs for the Zones. So you could run one pair of speakers to Left/Right, one pair to L/R Surround and configure them for Zone-2, and one pair to L/R Rear Surround and configure them for Zone-3. You could control source and volume for each room from the AVR.

Point taken. Seems a little cumbersome, but I guess that's how it would be.

I need to think about this a bit. Thanks for all the advice!