Seeking advice on getting started whole-home AV

[kgeil]

Hi, I’m in the midst of renovating a house (gutted at the moment), and am looking for advice or information resources on how to set up my home audio. If anyone can point me in the right direction to do what I want to do, I would greatly appreciate it. It seems like the more I surf the web looking for answers, the more confused I get. In addition, if someone could recommend a book to get me started, I would probably rush out and buy it.

I’ll explain what I want to do:
It is a 1400 square foot house with a den, an office/guest room, kitchen/living room, two bathrooms, and an entryway. I want speakers in 6-7 zones (bathrooms and deck included). Listening to different music in different rooms is not very important. The den will have a TV with surround sound. There is a closet in the entryway (35 feet away from the TV) which would be perfect for holding equipment such as stereo receivers a media pc. I want the ability to distribute the audio from the TV to all zones (for getting a glass of water from the kitchen during a movie), and I want surround sound in the den.

It would also be nice to control the multi-zone audio from either a remote control, or a laptop (I envision something similar to the Logitech squeezebox remote).

At this point, My questions are:

Is it possible to use one receiver for surround sound and for multi-zone audio? If so, is this recommended? Can someone provide a link to such a unit?

If one receiver can be used, is it recommended to be as close as possible to the TV, or can it be in a closet 35 feet away? Can I assume that the surround sound speakers will double for playing music as well, or not?

As far as running cables, I have 3 possible TV locations (only one needing surround sound). What cables should I run? I’m planning to run Cat6 for whatever network connections my future TVs will need, but if I want to distribute video from a central media PC, should I run HDMI over Cat6, or over RG6? My maximum run will be less than 100 feet, and I will buy shielded Cat6 if necessary.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Kevin

 

[MDS]

Is it possible to use one receiver for surround sound and for multi-zone audio? If so, is this recommended? Can someone provide a link to such a unit?

Yes, but it is not ideal for 6-7 zones. Many 7.1 receivers have the ability to power zone 2 and/or provide zone 2 line-outs to feed an external amplifier.

You can use powered zone 2 to power the other zones if you use a speaker selector or impedance matching volume controls. All zones will play the same source.

You can use the zone 2 line outs to feed a multi-channel amplifier to which you connect the speakers for all the other zones.

If one receiver can be used, is it recommended to be as close as possible to the TV, or can it be in a closet 35 feet away? Can I assume that the surround sound speakers will double for playing music as well, or not?

With one receiver as described above, you get 5.1 in the main zone and 2 channel stereo in the other zones. Distance from the TV is only a consideration for cabling and possibly remote control issues. Long runs for 'fragile' cables like HDMI may require amplification or at the least a higher quality cable than a typical shorter run. You'd need an RF remote control to be able to communicate with equipment far away. The downside though is you can't see the display on the equipment which is sometimes useful.

As far as running cables, I have 3 possible TV locations (only one needing surround sound). What cables should I run? I’m planning to run Cat6 for whatever network connections my future TVs will need, but if I want to distribute video from a central media PC, should I run HDMI over Cat6, or over RG6? My maximum run will be less than 100 feet, and I will buy shielded Cat6 if necessary.

Whatever you do just remember that too much is way better than not enough. Run at least 2 coax (RG6 is probably best) and 2 Cat5e/6 to each location that you think may ever possibly need it. It's a chore to run cabling after the walls are up.

For HDMI, I'd stick with HDMI. Run HDMI cables in addition to the coax and network cabling.

 

[kgeil]

Thanks for the great reply; quick followup?

Thanks for the great, informative reply. It seems as if I should put the receiver and media pc in the den, because that makes sense. Then, if I wanted to use a speaker selector in the closet, do I just run CL3 speaker wires between the two, or is there a better cable option?

For HDMI, can I run it for 80 feet? Can you suggest a good source for buying one? Is terminating such a cable in the field and retaining signal quality a possibility?

I suppose my remote control option will just work itself out, since almost all of my media will be routed through a PC, in which case, I can control it via a laptop, or mobile phone.

 

[InTheIndustry]

Hire a professional. Thats's the absolute best advice I can give you. Even if you want to do the work & purchase the equipment on your own, there are companies out there who are reputable, offer great long term service, & will design your system without being terribly expensive.

There is no book on this that could possibly be worth anything. The technology just changes way too fast and there are so so many ways to do so so many different things with 1000s of different pieces of equipment to choose from that no published book could cover it accurately. I've been doing this over 10 years professionally in everything from a simple ranch home to estate level projects with full on automation & can tell you that what you're trying to do looks simple.... Just a bunch of wire in the ceiling, right? But it's really not. Thinking that way will usually just end up costing you money & in return, give you a mess.

For whole house audio, though, I can give you one piece of advice.... SONOS. You'll never look back.

Good luck!