Whole home audio - new construction

[Josh Williams]

Hey guys,

Currently in the process of building a house and I am wanting to get everything done right the first time so I’m not trying to fish wire through walls. What I am wanting to do is have multi zone audio for different areas of the house but also have have surround sound in the living room with a sub. I will have 6 zones in the house with two speakers in each zone. In the living room I will have a sound bar and two rear speakers along with a sub. My question is what equipment do I need so that when I want to play music on the back porch it also plays on the surround sound in the living room? Thanks for your help.

 

[everettT]

Not that you cant get good advice here, why wouldn't you consider a true custom installation company. If you want it right pay for it. You can always check the bid here. Whole home + home theater is worth get a bid.

Your goal hasnt been clearly stated so whether you go with advice here or a CI, that needs to be defined.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

Home Theater Direct is a good vendor for reasonably-priced whole-house equipment. I'm sure they can evaluate your needs and set you up with the right gear.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[DigitalDawn]

What's your budget -- including amps?

 

[Josh Williams]

1,000-1,500

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

1,000-1,500

is this budget for wiring only?

 

[Josh Williams]

No just the equipment- amp, av receiver, etc

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

No just the equipment- amp, av receiver, etc

At this budget, a true multi-room solution is very unlikely. You probably better off using something like Chromecast audio and few active speakers.
For main HT, open box Denon from Amazon [like avr-x2xxx or 3xxx] you're looking at $450-500

 

[Ponzio]

Most modern day AVR's only have 3 zones (Main, Zone 2 & 3) so you're bumping against that invisible wall. I'd concentrate on the wiring (speaker wire, coax, CAT 6 cable for both networking, printer, land line, etc.) for now before the drywall is installed and your main unit and then add another AVR in the future for the other 3 locations when your budget permits. Good luck.

 

[TheWarrior]

A receiver won't handle this many zones, you need a distribution amplifier which will likely consumer your budget. You still need copper wiring and 12+ speakers, electrical, and sources - and of course to install it all.

If you're already under construction, you need move quick if you're serious about making this happen, affordably!

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

A receiver won't handle this many zones, you need a distribution amplifier which will likely consume your budget. You still need copper wiring and 12+ speakers, electrical, and sources - and of course to install it all.

If you're already under construction, you need move quick if you're serious about making this happen, affordably!

He also needs impedance matching volume wall plates. speaker wall plates, speaker wire rated for in-wall install (aka CL graded)
Luckily this kit has most of what you need, except handing the main HT:
https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-dax66-6-source-6-room-distributed-whole-house-audio-system-with-keypads-25-wpc--300-585. At 25wpc, I'd suggest selecting speakers with 8ohm impedance and 89 or higher sensitivity/ efficiency.

 

[2channel lover]

I just recently built a new home and missed a few things...so....if it were me.

A neighbor building at the same time as me did most of this and paid about $5k to a LV Installer...materials & labor, prewire & trim.

I would prewire every room that will have speakers...home run to a central access point. Run for a pair, but you may decide later to go mono in a few rooms regardless.

Run Ethernet to everywhere there will be a TV and your HT space. (I regret not doing this)...wifi is great, but in a 100% streaming household with 6-8+ devices running at the same time...Ethernet is king.

6 zones...if you want wall mounted volume control, etc. that's a different animal from my experience, but from a mid level AVR with a Z2 & Z3, you can probably accomplish what you want for a reasonable price.

To ensure the power to connect up to 8 speakers with Z2 & Z3...an amp like this will work.

https://emotiva.com/collections/amps/products/a-800

I'm running my Z2 (family-room and Sunroom...4 spkrs) and Z3 (Master bdrm...1 spkr)...I can easily add more speakers to Z3 if I wanted to expand.

I can have a source going to Z2 & and a different source to Z3, and control both with the Marantz app or remote. But that's the extent of it....to gain further control of Z2, I bought a speaker control unit to give me on/off and volume control of the family room and sunroom individually. Both rooms in Z2 must have the same source, but I effectively created a sub zone.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Channel-Multi-Zone-A-B-Speaker-Selector-w-Volume-Control-100-Watts-Channel/290816188150?hash=item43b5fedef6

In addition to the AVR, you've only added about $600 with the zone amp, and speaker controller.