New Home purchased With Ceiling Speakers Throughout - Advice Needed To Finish Set Up

Campaigner8

Campaigner8

Audiophyte
Speakers - One.jpg
Speakers - two.jpg
Speakers - three.jpg
Speakers - four.jpg

I purchased a brand new home a little over a year ago. There are four floors with speakers throughout, including the built in basement and outdoor deck area. Each floor is approximately 900 feet squared. I need advice on what component(s) are needed to make the ceiling speakers fully functional. I bought a new 76" television with a soundbar. I am not specifically interested in setting up a home theater system. I'm a music fanatic, and not so much a movie buff. The new television with the soundbar is adequate for my needs.

Current Audio Equipment:
- Arcam FMJ - 27 CD player (New - Built-in DAC and SACD compatible)
- Rotel RA - 1572 integrated amplifier (New - Built-in DAC)
- Monitor Audio three way floorstander speakers
- Polk Audio XM/Sirius radio receiver
- Speaker Wire - Transparent Musicwave Plus Biwire
- Interconnects - Transparent Musicwave Plus
- Power conditioner - Van Evers Cleanline
- Pono high definition media player (portable with DAC onboard)
- Dell Computer with a JRiver high definition media player - I have almost 1600 CD's on my Dell laptop (ALAC Format)
- 76" Samsung television (new - model -?)
- Soundbar - LG (new)
- Motorola DCX-3400M PVR (to be updated)
- Toshiba DVD/Bluray player - (Model - SD-6100)


Note - Pictures included above - 1 - Downstairs stereo system with flatscreen television 2 - Picture of main floor (approx. 900 sq. feet per floor) 3. Picture of control for ceiling speakers
4 - Picture of speaker in ceiling (brand name unknown)

My questions and concerns - The goal is to get my ceiling and deck speakers working. What component(s) do I require to get it all working? Is this something I can purchase and set up myself? Or, am I best served to have a professional come in, set up the needed equipment, and instruct me on how to work it? Picture 3 of the controls that came with the speakers I assume is for controlling which speakers are on? Is my assumption correct? Your knowledge and opinions regarding my setup are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Scott K (Campaigner8)
 
everettT

everettT

Audioholic Spartan
How many speakers in each zone total? What's your total budget? What sources are you wanting play? Do all the terminations head in at your stereo system?
 
Campaigner8

Campaigner8

Audiophyte
Briefly as possible, let me tell you the history of this beautiful home we purchased. The builder started to build the house when everybody in Calgary was making a good living. Calgary sinks or swims based on the price of oil. In 2014, oil prices plummeted and real estate prices also fell drastically. The builder started building this house before the mass exodus of unemployed people were unexpectedly let go.
To preface how we got to where we are today, it had its own set of challenges. Overall though, we really love the new home.

The builder started this project when Calgary was economically very healthy as oil prices were high. The economy could not have been better, until oil prices dropped severely and stayed low. So, the builder was losing a lot of money, and eventually sold the house to us at $270,000 less than his original price. Good deal, but because he was losing so much money in the price drop and carrying costs, he was beyond frugal when finishing a few final things in the house. For example, he bought very inexpensive paint that marked up with the mere touch of anything. It was made much worse and made a worse mess when you tried to clean the mark with any sort of cleaner. So we gained in the price, but re-painted and now the house is really a great place to live.

You asked about the wires as to whether they were brought down to the stereo. They are neatly bundled in the furnace room, and are maybe 15 feet from the stereo. We clearly need an electrician to extend the wires as required.

You also asked about budget. I want to stay in the range of my current components. So, not the best and most expensive, but something hopefully in the $1000 to $3000 range. If we have an electrician in, and purchase the needed component(s), is this something I can easily hook up myself. Or, should we have an installer in to hook everything up and show us how everything works. I am open to having somebody come in and finish the needed job as required. Also, show us how to use the different sources, operate the remote etc..

Am I missing anything..., if so, please let me know.

Thanks for your assistance. I really appreciate it.

Scott K (Campaigner8)
 
everettT

everettT

Audioholic Spartan
Ok how many speakers in each zone? Do you want different sources available in different zones?

Niles Audio, Russound, and SpeakerCraft all make multizone amps and receivers.

Since you're only using VCs in each zone, probably no need for professional installation since no system programming is really needed.
 
Campaigner8

Campaigner8

Audiophyte
Four speakers in two zones. Five speakers in two other zones. Outside deck speaker would have to be a separate zone. So, five zones total - all separate. No different sources for different zones. What do you mean by "vc's?"
 
everettT

everettT

Audioholic Spartan
VC is volume controls, your first post showed them in each zone.
You need an amp like this
http://www.nilesaudio.com/product/series-ii-12-chan-fully-configurable-power-amp-12-x-30w-rack-ears-incl-110240v-FG01704
You can use the preouts from your integrated to feed it, so what ever is playing from there would be the source for whole house. Next option is to buy an inexpensive preamp like this
http://www.parasound.com/zpre2.php
And split your analog outputs from your sources to feed the amp.

There are more options that you can do, this being one of the simpler setups.
 
Campaigner8

Campaigner8

Audiophyte
Thanks for your help Everett,
Those two components look really nice. They fit into the budget which is a major plus.
Here are all of my questions.

My questions at this point are the following:

1.The vc 'volume control' I showed a picture of is just on the main floor (one zone). The builder told me that the one 'vc' controls the zones and the volume. I think it might be a good idea to get a new 'smart' remote control that takes care of everything. Does that all make sense?

2. I found a dealer I know who carries Niles but not Parasound. I don't have a problem mixing components, but doesn't Niles have a suitable pre amp?

I think I should be ready to move ahead. I may get a quote from the audio store on how much hey would charge to move my speaker wires forward from the furnace room. Also to hook up the new smart remote control. I would need an electrician anyways. I want to see if I can do all of the work with this particular audio store, as I've dealt with them before and they were excellent.

Thanks agan for your help,

Scott K
Campaigner8
 
everettT

everettT

Audioholic Spartan
Thanks for your help Everett,
Those two components look really nice. They fit into the budget which is a major plus.
Here are all of my questions.

My questions at this point are the following:

1.The vc 'volume control' I showed a picture of is just on the main floor (one zone). The builder told me that the one 'vc' controls the zones and the volume. I think it might be a good idea to get a new 'smart' remote control that takes care of everything. Does that all make sense?

2. I found a dealer I know who carries Niles but not Parasound. I don't have a problem mixing components, but doesn't Niles have a suitable pre amp?

I think I should be ready to move ahead. I may get a quote from the audio store on how much hey would charge to move my speaker wires forward from the furnace room. Also to hook up the new smart remote control. I would need an electrician anyways. I want to see if I can do all of the work with this particular audio store, as I've dealt with them before and they were excellent.

Thanks agan for your help,

Scott K
Campaigner8
Yes niles makes preamps and combos. They have the remote control your looking for, the dealer would have to do the setup as the software usually isnt distributed freely.
 
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