In-wall Home Theater System Setup

[ricky0721]

Hello,
I purchased a home that has in wall speakers in all the rooms. I am trying to figure out what kind of receiver / amplifier is required to connect these speakers. I have absolutely no knowledge about home theater systems and have never owned one. I am looking to get something basic but don't know what to look for. There are about 14 speakers wired throughout the house. What devices or equipment would I need to make this work? Any advice is much appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[Phil Taylor]

If you have volume controls in each room you will probably only need a speaker distribution box made for impedance matching volume controls (that should be what kind of controls they are). If you don't have volume controls you can either go simple with a speaker switchbox (crude and not the best solution by any means but it works and is cheap) or there are many more elaborate solutions including the best I've found for pre-wired homes that have only speaker wires going to the rooms from a centrally located wall panel - the DLA model line by ATON.

If your homebuilder was wise enough to run Cat5 cable to the rooms you can use an A-BUS system. A-BUS licenses their technology to a variety of manufacturers and uses Cat5 to the rooms' volume controls and speaker wire to the speakers from the volume control's built-in amp.

Basically what solution you need depends upon the type of wiring to your rooms. Also does your wiring distribute from a central wall panel, structured wiring location or are there wall panels in each room with speaker terminals? I've seen each variety in homes in which I've done retrofit whole-house audio installs recently.

Oh and you will most likely need an AVR with at least one additional zone capability for best results.

 

[mazersteven]

Contact a local audio specialty boutique store, or installer.

www.nilesaudio.com

http://www.nilesaudio.com/Multizone/index.php

 

[ricky0721]

Thanks, Phil.
I do have volume controls in each room. I have the speaker wires all coming out of a central location in the living room.
So, it looks like I need a speaker selector to make this work.
Appreciate your help.

 

[Phil Taylor]

If by chance four of those speakers are in your living room (I've seen that situation) you can use two of them for your rear surrounds for your TV or home theater system and add L R and Center speakers and a sub. Then you would only need a six channel distribution switch for the rest of the house as seven is a bit harder to find.

Are the speaker wires labeled as to which ones go to each room?

Do you currently have a receiver with an additional zone capability or at least a "B" side speaker option?

 

[jcPanny]

Whole house VCs

Check the VCs in each room to see if they are the impedance matching type. If so, they will have a jumper w/ labels like 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x, etc. and the speaker selector would be options. I would recommend a stereo pro-amp like the Behringer A500 to power these speakers. This will connect to a line level output from your receiver.

 

[ricky0721]

Phil,
Yes, the speaker wires are all labeled.
As for the living room, I have two speakers in the rear wall and one in the front wall.
I do not have a receiver or amplifier yet. I know very little about these things and was hoping to get some advice from this forum on which ones to buy. I need only a basic setup to play regular TV programming and maybe MP3 music files.
Thanks again for your feedback.

 

[Phil Taylor]

Are you wanting just a stereo receiver for audio playback or do you want surround sound for your TV as well? Do you have an iPod or where will your MP3 audio come from?

 

[ricky0721]

Phil - Surround sound would be the preferred option, 5.1 should suffice. The MP3 files are on iPod as well as PC. For that matter, my DVD player also supports MP3 CDs.

 

[Phil Taylor]

5.1 should work fine for you - a lot of 7.1 A/V receivers lose 2 channels and are 5.1 when used with their additional zone capability.

Is the single speaker on the front wall in a position in relation to your TV to be used as a center channel and/or can the rear speakers be used for rear surrounds or do you plan on adding all the speakers for your TV surround sound? You say you have a DVD player - does it have component or HDMI video outputs? How to you get your TV signal - cable - satellite? And do you have HD service?

I know this may seem like a lot of questions but in order to recommend a proper receiver I need to know how you will use it and with what components. Also what price range are you looking - what's your budget for your receiver?

 

[ricky0721]

Phil - The rear speakers can be used as rear surrounds and the front one can be used as the center as its directly above the TV. I have a satellite service, not currently HD but may upgrade to that as my TV is HD. DVD player is connected using component cables. I do not want to spend a lot of money on this - preferably under $200, maybe upto $300 if its justified.

 

[Phil Taylor]

Here's a couple of receivers that would fit your budget --
Onkyo 5.1 receiver w/ component switching and A/B speaker buttons $152.58 --
http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-TX-SR304S-Channel-Theater-Receiver/dp/B000FJKJHU
with it you would still need to buy front speakers, sub and an iPod dock.

This HTiB is a good one and includes speakers, powered sub and an iPod dock but it's just a bit over $300 at $318.55 - there is one open box unit for $261.32 from their Warehouse Deals division --
http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-HT-S4100-Channel-Entertainment-System/dp/B0015S9UWU/
You could either use the extra speakers elsewhere or sell them... but at that price you'd have what you need except this speaker switch for $38.67 --
http://www.amazon.com/SSW-6-Speaker-Selector-Impedance-Protection/dp/B00006JQ62/

Take a look and see what you think...

 

[ricky0721]

Thanks for all the helpful information and guidance. I will let you know how it goes.