First Time. Please help Audio noob

[joeblack6]

Hello all. Before I start I want to thank anyone who takes the time to help me accomplish what I'm trying to do.

I love listening to music. I recently purchased a home and would like to build a whole house audio system so I can enjoy my music throughout the home. I have a few questions on how to accomplish this.

It literally would only be for music, not TV or movies or anything. Budget of ~$3000, but would like to get quality for a reasonable price.

For what I would like to do:

I would like to have standing speakers in the living room, with a sub. Kitchen is very close/attached to the living room, so possibly just add a speaker or two?

The basement is separated into two rooms. I would like each room to have at least two speakers and a sub... if possible. For the basement, in-ceiling speakers are preferable, but can do anything really. It is a drop ceiling, so there are no real restrictions there. I also have a hard covered porch in the backyard that I would like to get a couple speakers, possibly a sub to.

Now the reason I explain all that, is that I would like to use the simplest, efficient means to accomplish this. I'm not too good with what peripherals I will need to accomplish this, but some of my research into this topic has led me to believe I will need the following:

A receiver (obviously) with a speaker b input/output
a speaker switcher- I'm assuming I'll need an 8 pair or so?
An Amplifier?
Speakers
Sub-woofers

I'm not sure if that is correct, or if I'm going to need additional things to add to the list, but that is what I believe to be correct. Please let me know if I'm missing the mark on this. I do want to mention that I don't really have any specific need for LOUD music, so huge wattage on an amp doesn't blow my hair back.

Lastly, I was planning on using an old computer to "drive" my music. I know most of you audiophiles are probably swearing at me right now, so that's why I saved this for last! I don't have a need right now, nor the budget to try to get the best sounding peripherals. I want something that can hold my huge collection of music, (2TB's and counting...) and easily and quickly access them. I know the receiver will need to have an input for a regular jack. Is there anything else I need to think about with that?

Lastly, I have a turntable that I would like to be able to use with this system. Would a receiver be able to accept the signal then push it out or would I have to plug it in to something else.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

 

[joeblack6]

Really? No one?

 

[Adam]

Hi, Joe.

Are you interested in playing music in more than one room at a time? If so, how many rooms? Do you want/like ceiling or in-wall speakers?

Some folks here run multiple zones off of one receiver, which fits my impression of your post. Others get fancier with whole house distribution systems, using wall plate speaker selectors and distribution amplifiers (I probably got some of the names wrong for those).

I don't do either, so I don't have much good information for you. Hopefully others here will chime in and help you out.

As for the turntable, some receivers have a phono input, but a lot of newer ones don't. You can buy a pretty inexpensive phono preamp (~$30), though, that would go in between the turntable and a receiver without a phono input.

 

[theJman]

That sounds like a difficult system to configure, and probably would require quite a bit of effort -- and perhaps more of a budget -- then it may seem.

A lot of modern receivers will have a second "zone", enabling you to hook up speakers in another area besides your main location. But it sounds like you want multiple zones, which I don't recall ever seeing a receiver have. A switching station might work, provided you want to listen to the same source at every location. Multiple subwoofers will be a big challenge too, depending upon how far you want to run the cables (the signal starts to diminish with distance).

To me, it seems like that would be a challenge to setup and configure. If you really want to proceed down that path it might not be a bad idea to contact a proffesional installer and see what he can offer as far as advice/suggestions.

 

[zieglj01]

One place to start looking and to get some insight - and you do not need
to buy their speakers.
HTD Whole House Multi-Room Audio Systems

 

[ACsGreens]

Sonos

I would think that you could use a Sonos system, driven by some type of large multi-channel amplifier could work for this, though the budget may be tight. I would look at Niles amplifieres, with Sonos tied in giving you control from iPhone, droid phone, ipad, etc. Use a sub out of connect amp for the room that you want.

2nd option, and most recommended option, find a good, local specialty AV dealer in your area and have them do the job for you. It will be seamless and you will have someone to turn to for any problems in the future.

 

[Hookedonc4]

We use Control4. Started with 2 rooms main living and deck. Now have 11 zones.
We have Rhapsody and over 240 Internet radio stations through our C4 system and love it... We can listen to 3 different selections of music if needed.

Control4 does a lot more. We went with it for future expansion.

 

[joeblack6]

I don't care for playing music in multiple zones. Just want the one song playing throughout the whole home.

I will look into all the information everyone has given me here. I really appreciate everyone's time.