Building a new house...

[JohnnyFever]

Hi all,

Not too sure if this is the right place to post this so if not please move but here goes anyway. I am just in the process of having a new house built and thought this is the perfect time to install a whole house a/v system. I was really hoping I could get some help from everyone as to what I should do. I want to use some of the stereo components I already have like my Denon receiver and Panasonic DVD player/burner. I also want to put a plasma in the main family room where all the components will be with in-ceiling speakers throughout (my wife hates wires so the cleaner it is the better for me!! ). I would like to have surround sound in the main family room, also I will be putting a plasma in the master bedroom with possible surround sound in there as well. I want to have speakers in the kitchen, master bathroom, formal livingroom, and possibly the garage but not too sure what kind of speakers I should use for these areas. I would really like to know what kind of wire I should use , wall plates, any components for different zones etc... I would even like to know what my best way would be to wire it all if someone reading this is a custom installer.
I can send anyone my plans if they want to have a look at the floor plan. If you need more info please feel free to ask me here.

Any help would be great!
John

 

[MDS]

There are potentially hundreds of choices for components and speakers so it's tough to offer suggestions on which brands (although others will have their opinions for sure).

The wiring however is simple. Keep in mind that 'too much is better than not enough'; ie make sure you run enough of every type of wire to ensure that you are covered for now and any possible future updates. Retrofitting wires into the wall after drywall goes up is more difficult and expensive than running more wires than you need now and letting them sit idle in the wall.

- Run everything to a central wiring closet location. Mine happens to be in the master bathroom closet (that's where the builder put it).

- Run all of the speaker wires you need to every room that may ever have speakers in it.

- You could even run an additional set of 16/4 wire to every room to accomodate future needs. It's just wire and could be used for additional speakers, volume controls, security systems, etc.

- Run at least 2 Cat5 to every single room. One can be used for phone and the other for network (or both phone or both network) - they can be changed simply by moving the wire in the wiring closet from the phone patch panel to the network switch.

Also Do NOT terminate the cat5 with RJ11 (phone) jacks. Terminate them all with RJ45 (network) jacks and have the installer use the TIA-568B wiring convention. That puts the blue and blue/white wires on the same pins that the phone expects to find them and allows you to change from phone to network simply by moving the wiring from one patch panel to another in the wiring closet.

- Run at least 1 but preferably 2 RG6 coax cables to every room. These will be used for cable TV but could also be used for components by terminating them with RCA connectors instead of the F-pin coax connector.

Believe me too much is better than not enough. My house has 1 cat5 to every room EXCEPT the master bedroom and that means no land line phone or network connection in there. Retrofitting that room by adding a cat5 or two costs $150 per hour (2 installers) and who knows how much damage to the drywall will occur and need to be repaired.

 

[JohnnyFever]

Thanks for the reply MDS. Is there anything I should know about running the wire along the studs so as to no get hit with screws or nails but also allow the builder to insulate the exterior walls? What about a component to separate it all into zones, i'm not too sure what they are called.

 

[MDS]

The installers should be smart enough to run the wire along side the studs and not staple them to the face of the stud where you could hit it if you nail into the wall to hang a picture or something.

Dealing with zones is accomplished with the electronics you have, although you would have some choices to make as to where the speaker wiring goes.

For example, all of my speaker wires come out of the wall in the living room and they are not run to the wiring closet. This house is kinda weird in that the original owner had wires run to the master bathroom and inside the living room but to no other rooms. Because all of those wires emerge from the wall in the living room if I wanted Zone 1 to be the living room and Zone 2 to be the bathroom I would just hook up the wires coming from the bathroom to the Zone 2 speaker jacks on the receiver and the other wires from the speakers in the living room to the main speaker terminals of the receiver.

If you want to have speakers in the bedroom and have the receiver and dvd player or whatever else also in that room, then those speaker wires would just be entirely in the bedroom. But if you want all the electronics in a central location (as in my living room) then you would want all of the speaker wires from every room to be run to the living room. You would then use your receiver's zone capabilities or speaker selectors to control the different rooms. Each room should have a volume control though.

Force the installer to label every wire too. None of mine were labeled and I had to use a tone and probe generator to figure out which was which.

 

[JohnnyFever]

Thanks again,

I am actually thinking of wiring it myself (hopefully I can LOL). I have been talking to an installer but they are in another city about 8hrs away. They haven't gotten back to me on the price but they will be lower than anyone in this area. I am just trying to see if I would be getting in over my head if I was to do it myself. I prewired the last house we built but it was just running a few wires for the rear speakers. I do have 2 receivers so I could put one in the master bedroom and run the wires from that one to the master bedroom and master bathroom and have the second receiver in the main family room to run the speakers there and in the kitchen.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Thanks again,

I am actually thinking of wiring it myself (hopefully I can LOL). I have been talking to an installer but they are in another city about 8hrs away. They haven't gotten back to me on the price but they will be lower than anyone in this area. I am just trying to see if I would be getting in over my head if I was to do it myself. I prewired the last house we built but it was just running a few wires for the rear speakers. I do have 2 receivers so I could put one in the master bedroom and run the wires from that one to the master bedroom and master bathroom and have the second receiver in the main family room to run the speakers there and in the kitchen.

If you will do that work yourself, make sure the contractor knows or might get hassled about it. Do it after the 120V is wired so you can wire the other side of a bay or further away, not on the other side of the stud with the 120V.

If you are setting up a Home Theater and considering a sub-woofer, they are powered mostly and you will need a 120V outlet where you will set it up. Ceiling speakers will not do you justice for Home Theater. It is OK for background music at dinner, etc.
You would also need signal cable to that sub and an RG type cable can handle that task. Depending on where the TV's are and where the DVD players will be, you need video cables, etc.
You do have a big task ahead of you designing this properly. Wiring is the least of your problems.
Also, as was stated, wire is cheap when you rough it in. Remodeling when the house is complete gets expensive.
You might consider some design help?

 

[MDS]

Ceiling speakers will not do you justice for Home Theater. It is OK for background music at dinner, etc.

I would tend to agree even though I have never had in-celing speakers. My house has two tiny little polk speakers mounted on the ceiling (with brackets so they hang down) and that is one reason I just called a wiring installer to see how much trouble it would be to pull new wire to the sides of the room so I can mount real surround speakers on the side walls where they should be located.

The installer's first suggestion however was to replace those speakers with in-ceiling speakers and forget about running new wire to the sides because it will be tough to run the wire down the column between the kitchen and dining room. I don't think I'll follow his suggestion.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I would tend to agree even though I have never had in-celing speakers. My house has two tiny little polk speakers mounted on the ceiling (with brackets so they hang down) and that is one reason I just called a wiring installer to see how much trouble it would be to pull new wire to the sides of the room so I can mount real surround speakers on the side walls where they should be located.

The installer's first suggestion however was to replace those speakers with in-ceiling speakers and forget about running new wire to the sides because it will be tough to run the wire down the column between the kitchen and dining room. I don't think I'll follow his suggestion.

If ceiling speakers were so great for HT, it would be used by real installers and HT buffs.
They are good for other casual listening. I do that

 

[Kai]

Having built a custom stick built home two years ago I have some suggestions that tie in to the above posts and are also based on "damn why didn't I do that when the walls were expoxed".
Cable and network to every room is indeed required and cheap to do when there are only stud walls.
Make sure there is a phone jack where the night stands will be and where they may be if you will be able to re-arrange the room as whims desire. Do the same in the kitchen. I could use another phone jack because my initial placement is not as easy to access now that we are in the kitchen every day but seemed great during the construction phase.
Make sure you have cable connections and an electrical connection adjoining it in the bedroom for wall mounted flat panel tv's. Again make sure it is located for primary bed placement and re-arranging. You may not want one now but will in the future and it is a good investment for resale.

Regarding speaker wire connectors you can find them at Home Depot, Lowes, BB etc. There is a wide variety.
It is best if there will be a primary location for home theater related devices. Have the wires run to each connector and label them approprietly...master bedroom L/R etc., kitchen...etc.etc.etc.
In wall and in ceiling speakers seem to be considered as "casual" or secondary speakers by many. I have no opinion but would use them in the bedroom, kitchen, etc. without hesitation. Cost is as varied as standard speakers...I have seen them ranging from $60 each to $700 each depending on many things. It is better to do it now than after.

Do not forget outdoor speakers. Even if you do not plan to install them now it would be a good idea to run the wires to a box on the outside of the house while under construction than after. The patio, deck, porch and garage are some of the more common locations.

It is far easier and cheaper to run the wire and connectors now than it will be after the fact.
I wish I had this advice when building my house. While it is everything my wife and I could have hoped for and then some we still find a few..."wish I though of this while we were building it". No matter how good a job you do you will have moments like this too hehehe.

Oh yeah, If you are going to have a flat panel tv wall mounted make sure the studs are set so the studs you need are "centered" and having them doubled would be icing on the cake. Contractors run the studs 16" on center with no regard for the "center" of a wall so make sure you visualize where a wall mount tv will go and have extra studs placed.

Oh yeah again. Take many pictures. I have over 600 photos of the construction process especially the wiring runs and plumbing runs. Always nice to see a photo of what is behind the wall.

I also highly recommend radiant heating over any other system out there. It is amazing and very cost efficient...no cold or hot spots, no sounds of water or air moving through the house and no filters to replace ever.

Good luck and keep asking questions.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Oh yeah again. Take many pictures. I have over 600 photos of the construction process especially the wiring runs and plumbing runs. Always nice to see a photo of what is behind the wall.
.

Good idea, but, always a but develop the pictures if on film and label them where it is. A bit hard to figure out afterwards where is that shot when the wall is finished, etc. I have to scratch my head some at times.

 

[FunkIncubator]

I'm about to do the same thing...

Johnny Fever,

I am running speaker wire this weekend at my parent's new house they're bulding. We're doing 5.1 surround in the the living room and master bedroom and we have two stereo zones on the porch. Everytime I read a forum or browse parts websites, I think of something else that I need to do before the walls are finished, so keep at it and have a clear plan! I'd love to swap ideas with you. I highly recommend SlimDevices' Squeezebox http://www.slimdevices.com as a method of whole-home music distribution. These babies connect wirelessly or hard-wired to your home network and play music off your computer acting as a server. This frees me from speaker wire runs from a central "hub" to various listening zones. I just need a SqueezeBox in each zone attached to the local receiver/amp to play music in that room. I've been testing it out at my home and it is great. They have a high-end DAC and I can store my music in a lossless format so it sounds just as good as playing the CD (not that tin-can internet radio sound). Check out their website, I could go on forever.
I'm still debating whether to run component or HDMI thru my walls and whether to terminate them with wall plates or not. I'd be happy to hear any clever ideas you've come across.
Best of luck to you in building an A/V haven!