12 zone Audio System - volume control and speakers?

[Tiffany123]

Hello All! (Thanks in advance for any help!)

Currently I am adding 7 zones to a wired 5 zone system (I didn't not install the 5 zone system.)

Of the original 5 zones - each zone has 2 speakers that are ran to a central location and they all have a volume control knob. So there are a total of 10 existing speakers.

What I did was run 7 more wires to 7 new zones
zone 1 of 7: 2 speakers
zone 2 of 7: 5 speakers
zone 3 of 7: 2 speakers
zone 4 of 7: 4 speakers
zone 5 of 7: 1 speaker
zone 6 of 7: 3 speakers
zone 7 of 7: 2 speakers

I currently do not have any "equipment" and would like to buy the "volume controls" as well as the 6" round ceiling speakers and any amp or receiver needed

My concerns are: what size volume control do I need? 60w 100w 150w 300w? What size speakers do I need as far as watts and what amp or receiver.

These were the items I was planning to purchase, and the volume control switch says up to 8 pairs (which would work great since the max speakers I have on one volume control is 5) but I wasn't sure if the 20w-100w speakers would be too much for that?

Volume control: 100W In Wall Stereo Speaker Volume Control with Impedance Matching (White-Ivory-Almond) by AVX Audio https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004TLAGQY?psc=1

Speakers: Polk Audio RC60i 2-Way In-Ceiling Speakers (Pair, White) https://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-RC60i-Ceiling-Speakers/dp/B00005T3BD/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1508477023&sr=1-1&keywords=polk+audio+RC60i+2-Way+In-Ceiling+speakers+(Pair,+White)
Thank you so much for any help - I have the wires run and am getting really worried about what equipment to buy!

 

[BMXTRIX]

What is the reason for the oddball number of speakers in certain locations? 3 and 5 speakers is very weird as most audio is not mono, but stereo. It's kind of an odd load to present to a volume control.

Then you still have all the different volume controls out there which need adequate power to drive the speakers that are sitting at the end of them. Even if a single volume control can handle 100 watts or 200 watts, it still gets broken up to all the speakers, and then you have speaker on top of speakers on top of speakers. A single 300 watt amplifier driving 10 speakers would be 30 watts per speaker. You are almost tripling that load with 19 additional speakers, dropping power to about 10 watts per speaker. Which is enough to sound decent, but will give many amps cardiac arrest.

I would much prefer to see two 12-channel amplifiers in there driving the speakers independently so that you are getting good power out to the speaker areas, and I would keep areas as a stereo zone in each location with no more than 4 speakers on a volume control if possible.

With 12 zones of audio that could be handled nicely by 2 12-channel amplifiers providing 12 stereo zones of audio output.

A couple similar to this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Speakercraft-BB1235-Amplifier-Whole-House-Home-Theater-12-Bridgeable-Channels-/172924962649?epid=66779031&hash=item2843218759:g:glYAAOSwBv9Z4Ok5

Better...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/SpeakerCraft-BB1265-12-Channel-Amplifier-Will-Ship-if-you-pay-freight-75lb-ea-/202070700759?epid=66787098&hash=item2f0c5a32d7:g:q0AAAOSwXztZ0Vu7

Those will give 35 or 65 watts to each channel of amplification and they are 4ohm stable which should work out much better overall for your desires.

I would look to monoprice if you want some decent in-ceiling speakers. They have 6" speakers which are well regarded/reviewed for $48, and you can get 20% off if you spend more than two or three hundred bucks there.

https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=109&cp_id=10837&cs_id=1083702&p_id=4104&seq=1&format=2

Which I would do.