House Music System

[ebop]

Hi everyone. Thanks everyone for the great advice, I have been reading quite a lot because we are finishing construction on our new house and we left a dedicated home theater and audio system. However, even though the home theater will take some time, I need to start thinking about the audio system. I hope that someone can help me.

The audio system is completely 100% for music (not even a TV in the room). The music will be distributed to 3 rooms:

- 2 living rooms (one large and one small, 2 speakers each): These rooms absolutely need to have in-wall or in-ceiling speakers. The amp will be placed in the small living room.

- 1 outdoors living room (2 speakers): This have to be on-wall, I did not leave installation for in-wall speakers.

I am trying to put together a nice system. I have been reading about the best brands, but I want the speakers to match the amp nicely.
- For in-wall speakers, I have been looking at Triad, Niles, and Speakercraft.
- For power amps (6-channel) I have been looking at Marantz, Rotel, and Nad.
- I have not reasearched much about outdoor good speakers, so any help would be great.


Question 1: Which speaker / amp brands are more known for their music performance? Which other brands could I consider?

Question 2: I am thinking of getting a power amp to power the 6 speakers, with a pre-amp. Would this be the best arrangement? What pre-amp would be good for my purposes?

Question 3: Some speakers (Triad) are 4 ohms, while most amps are 6 or 8 ohms. Will I have any problems if I do that?


Thank you for your help.
Ed

 

[BMXTRIX]

www.sonance.com

If your distributed audio search has not included both speakers and amplifiers from Sonance then you are missing out. They have the best sounding, most reliable products for distributed audio (as well as general in-wall) that I have ever heard.

The sonance 1230 amp (12 channels bridgeable to 6) is awesome and I believe is rated to 2ohm loads.

Marantz is far from my favorite company. Just wanted to say that. I have Rotel and am happy with them, but prefer Sonance by a long shot.

How are you going to adjust volume and source selection in these rooms? Is it just a zone 2 output off a receiver? A dedicated distribution system? Is volume through volume control knobs on the walls? It should be noted that wall mounted volume control knobs really screw with audio quality. There are a few integrated IR controllable preamp/amps that will allow multiple stereo zones which should offer better quality than a system with volume controls.

For example - look at the DAB1 here:
http://www.sonance.com/subs/products.php?category_id=33&option=get_category&thread_one_cat_id=29&thread_one_cat_name=Electronics&thread_two_cat_id=&thread_two_cat_name=

As I said, Sonance doesn't just half *** distributed audio, they know it well and have a reputation for quality in this field. As well as some killer outdoor speakers in various forms that suit your specific needs.

 

[ebop]

Hi, thank you so much for your answer. I did take a look and have read about the sonance, and I think I am going to go for their speakers. I am thinking about getting the Virtuoso, 100 watts for the in-walls.

About the volume control, I am kind of undecided. I had thought about putting volume controls in each room, but hadn't really thought about the sound quality. I took a look at Sonance, Russound, and Niles mutli/source amps, and I think I am going to go for one of these pre/amps. (Any suggestions?)

I had one question though. The speakers are 100 watts, while these distribution systems only give 20, 30, or 40 watts per channel. I don't think that you can bridge the outputs to give the speakers more power, can you?If not, then do you think that this will be enough power? I am just wondering, since the speakers can handle a lot more power.

Thank you so much for your help.
Ed

 

[BMXTRIX]

30 watts is a lot of honest power. Something to think about: The Sonance 1230 amplifier is rated at 30 watts per channel driving ALL 12 CHANNELS AT ONCE. This is something stated directly from them and I am very bummed to be working for a company now that does not carry their products. 30 watts really is a fair amount of power when it comes to distributed audio... Dining room, study, kitchen, bathroom, a couple of bedrooms... It is plenty of power - the ONLY exception is when you take it to outdoor speakers where you likely need more than 2 speakers for even coverage and you need a little more power to deal with the sound dispertion.

Anyway, if you are building a home, you really just want to run a piece of CAT-5 to each room where you would likely place a volume control, and run your speaker wire to that same location. Then, you can start of with volume controls (check eBay for some bargains on GOOD stuff) and later on upgrade to a more serious multi-zone preamp.

If you really want to toss some coin, then check www.crestron.com for multi-zone fully programmable preamp systems. That is what I am using to drive about 10 separate zones throughout my home with individual room control in each zone with touchpanels and keypads... the works. Fun stuff, and very elegant, but a little pricey for most.

 

[ebop]

Thanks for all your help. I decided to go with the sonance speakers, along with the sonance distributed audio pre/amp

I have one final question concerning installation:

For the exterior living room, I will use the Symphony Extreme XT, because I need them to be in-wall. However, they will be used in a strong, block wall. Therefore, unlike dry-wall, there is no resonance whatsovever. However, should I still need an enclosure for improved sound performance and bass response? Is the 1 cubic feet absolutely necessary?

Thanks for all your help.
Eduardo

 

[RLA]

Hello
If you are going to DIY and want to save yourself a lot of time,aggravation and money in a retro
installation you should seriosly consider the Yamaha Musci Cast system
wired systems in a retro installation are not fun or easy even for the pro's
http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/MusicCast/index.htm

 

[BMXTRIX]

An enclosure is designed by the manufacturer to be a perfect match for the speakers you are using. But it is never required and in a block wall, you will likely get very good performance without it. You really should not need one in a block wall, but you may have a very small amount of improved performance by using the enclosure anyway.

Ah, yes, the non-answer... always helpful.

It all depends on how you are able to build the block wall around the speaker and if you can give it adequate room and a tight seal. If you can't do those things, or worry about those things, then go with the enclosure. If you feel you can do those things, then don't use the enclosure.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Hello
If you are going to DIY and want to save yourself a lot of time,aggravation and money in a retro
installation you should seriosly consider the Yamaha Musci Cast system
wired systems in a retro installation are not fun or easy even for the pro's
http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/MusicCast/index.htm

Two things:

1. The pros are pros because they know how to retro wires into homes specifically for superior sound than this system offers.

2. With that system... where do the speakers go? ANSWER: They are hung on a wall plugged into the amplifier that is required to run it. Or, you don't lose the wires and have to have ugly nasty power cords and outlets available to use speakers with this. It is far from a wireless solution when someone cares at all about aesthetics.

Speakers require power, they always have, always will. Batteries don't run speakers, amplifiers do. The only way to get power to speakers is to run a wire to that speaker with power on it and if you are already going to do that, and pay for the wires to be hidden, then there are only a few times when it is really practical to use 'wireless' instead of an in-wall system. Especially when it all runs through drywall.

This isn't the case here though as ebop indicated that this was new construction.

 

[RLA]

My mistake
thought it was a retro
That being said there are many very nice multi zone products available
if he is going top dollar on the electronics and control Triad comes to mind for speakes The Music Cast does not need to be used with their on wall
speakers. And the keypads wire is easly hidded as you can generally mount it above an outlet I have installed several of these with no complaints
I beileve A/H has a review of this system.There were many new Wi-Fi
systems at CES that look very promising and none of them run on batteries