Help...

[rl168]

Hello folks,

I am new to the forum and hope you guys can help with my question. I have 5 speaker drops in the house, four in the family room and one in the kitchen. My plan is to set up the speakers such that when I play a CD, I will have music coming out of all five speakers. Also, if I watch a DVD, I want to use the four speakers in the family room as my left, right and surround speakers (I will have separate center speaker and subwoofer). I am wondering if this is possible? If it is possible, how can I set it up and what components will I need? I have not bought anything yet, so if you have any recommendations on the speakers and components, please share.

Thanks!

 

[majorloser]

When you say "speaker drops", will this just be wires run through the walls or in the ceiling? Were you thinking of using in-wall or in-ceiling speakers? Or will they be terminated on the wall with plates?

Most any decent AV receiver has a "B" zone. This "B" zone can be used to run the speaker(s) in the kitchen. I would really think about running an extra wire to the kitchen so you can have stereo.

 

[captain_tinker]

rl168,
Some receivers have a multichannel stereo setting, which is basically the front R/L speakers, and the Back R/L speakers will have the same signal going to them. Some have Dolby or DTS matrixing which can take a stereo signal and interpret it, and then send it to all of the speakers in a way that mimics surround sound. At least that is how I understand it. I am sure you can get a much better explanation from some of the more experienced members of this forum.
Now, when you say you have 4 "drops" in the living room, and one in the kitchen, what do you consider a drop? And how is it set up? Do you have speaker wire in the walls, going to wall plates, or bare wire hanging out? Or is it attached to the floor or wall in some way? Pictures may help if you can, or even a drawing. See what you can do.
Of course there are probably myriad ways to accomplish what you want to do. It is going to depend on the equipment you have available, and where the wires can go etc.

-capT

 

[rl168]

Hey guys,

My family room is a square shape. So I had the builder punched a hole on the wall (close to the ceiling) at each corner. Then run speaker wire from each hole (I called them speaker drop) back to a central hole next to the fireplace (where I will place the a/v equipment). Same thing, there is a hole in the kitchen wall. My kitchen is next to the family room so I figured one drop in the kitchen should be sufficient.

I have not bought any thing yet, no speakers, no receiver or amplifier until I figured out how to do this right. I would like to get speakers that will mount on a plate on the wall.

Initially I was thinking of going with a BOSE system because that's the simplest way. They come in small speakers. Music from every speaker when you play CD. But I don't like the surround sound effect when it comes to watching DVD.

Then I read about using an amp to power all the speakers. But I am not sure how can I set it up such that I can use the same speakers when I want to watch a DVD. I also read about using speaker selector. So you can see I am pretty confused. And I really need advice from you guys. Thanks in advance!

 

[jcPanny]

Speaker configuration

Check out some of the AH articels on speaker locations as your current "wire drops" are probably not ideal:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2203

It sounds like you were not impressed with the Bose cubes. I would avoid these and other small staellite speakers in favor of bookshelf type speakers like the Onix X-LS from AV123.com for $219/pair.

There are many receiver options starting in the $4-500 range that will power a 5.1 HT system and 2 extra "Zone 2" speakers for your kitchen. You may also consider installing a Volume control in the kitchen for convenience.