I will begin the prewire on my house within the next month. I am looking for some advice on what everyone here would do. Here is what I envision. The house is 3118 square feet 4 bedroom and 3 bath. I have attached a floorplan for reference. There is a broom closet located at the end of the hallway y the laundry that I will be using for the distribution center. I plan on using a Leviton SMC280 28” recessed cabinet to house all the cables. In bedroom 2, 3, 4 I plan on dropping 3 RG6 and 3 CAT5e on both the exterior and interior walls but only terminating 2 CAT5e’s and 2 RG6’s for now and leaving the others as spares. The living room I have planned on the same cables 3 rg6’s and 3 CAT5e’s on the wall bordering the Master bedroom and also the wall by the kitchen. In the master bedroom I am going to drop the same cables 3 RG6’s and 3 CAT5e’s on the wall by the Living room and the exterior wall as well. The sitting room is where I plan on my fiancées and my laptops so I will drop 2 CAT5e’s on the wall bordering the porch and the opposite wall. I also have plan an RG6 drop and a CAT5e drop in each garage. The family room will be used as my theater room so I am dropping 3 RG6’s and 3 CAT5e’s in each shelf unit in the corners. When I figure out where my PJ will go I ill run a conduit from the shelves to the PJ locations. The shelves will house my equipment needed for the theater.

I will be using a Russound CAV 6.6 to distribute audio and maybe video throughout the home. This equipment will be in the broom closet (distribution center). I plane on 12 pairs of speakers total (Proficient Audio) 1 pair in each bedroom including Master., 1 pair in the Master bath, 1 pair in the Living Room, 1 pair in the Nook, and 1 in the Kitchen. Also, I will have 2 pair on the covered patio and 1 pair in each garage. The sources I will have will be the Russound ST2S Sirius Turner, CD Changer, an MP3 Server, FM, and maybe a DVD Changer. This will all be controlled with the UNO keypads from Russound. So I will be running all of the associated CAT5 and 16/4 cable to the keypads and speaker locations.

Sorry for such a long post but this is our first home and I am excited about what I can accomplish with it. I look forward to everyone’s suggestions.

Also I was thiniking of maybe adding a few external cameras. I am unsure what it will take to do that...CAT5 RG6...maybe someone can help with that too...

Check out the on-Q Legrand web site and order the free 2006 product catalog or view the pdf. They show really easy to read diagrams of equipment and wiring for whole house audio, video, telephone, router switch, security, cameras, etc. I have never bought anything from them, but I like pictures. It just takes a ton of Cat5e and a cabinet that can accommodate it all.

You may get to a point where you want your kitchen flat panel to go from displaying HDTV programming, to a computer monitor displaying a recipe, to a security camera monitor checking on the baby, to displaying your cover art on your music server.

The broom closet might not do it, and it may get hot. You might consider a APW or Winsted equipment rack. They would stack the Russound and AV components, and you can buy the pull-out drawer cabinets to house the other home control equipment and wiring.

Consider allowing for an external amp to drive your patio speakers, they require a lot of juice.

You may want more Cat5e in your kitchen, as appliances will eventually want to be IP enabled and will be networked.

Think about installing external source inputs where you might want to tap into the whole house system for distribution to speakers or other rooms. Think master bedroom tv sound can be heard on master bedroom speakers, as long as you route the TV audio outs into an in wall source input that is routed via Cat5e back to either the control panel or the main distribution component (I don't know how Russound works).

Thanks for the reply. I had planned on an A/C vent in the closet...that closet is pretty small. It's only 2.5' by 2.5' or so.

I am downloading the PDF now form the website you mentioned.

Maybe I could add a CAT5 jack behind the Fridge.....

a traditional rack has external dimensions of about 22"W x 25"D x 72"H. You will need air circulation. Good luck

I'd just put a single stereo speaker in the master bath. With all the echoes, you'd never know the difference and it is easier to find ceiling space for a single speaker than for two.

CJ

Im building a 3800 sqft home and I wired all speaker wire/cat5e to VCs in 6 zones and then from the VCs to in ceiling speakers. I ran 14 Gauge long runs, 16 Gauge short runs.


I let my security company that also does home AV run my component video to 5 rooms (extra $1800 for them to do it).

12 pairs of speakers total (Proficient Audio)

Nice big speakers, 10" Ones are great! I have 2 pairs of them and a mix mash of other in-ceiling speakers I found on ebay over the past 4 months. If I would have found the Proficient 10" ones in April I would have bought 10 pairs of them myself, oh well.




If you are running this stuff yourself make sure you run it HIGH!!! Dont run it low just over the trusses run it as high as possible. That way later on when people need to get in the attic they are not tripping over wire and you also avoid electrical wiring which runs very low attached to trusses.


I will be using a Russound CAV 6.6 to distribute audio and maybe video throughout the home

I dont think the Russound CAV does HD component video. Mine is complete DIY with Autopatch as my Audio/Video switching device, simple Receiver/amps for great power to all zones, CQC as the software that controls everything. IPaq handhelds as my remotes in all rooms.

All my structured wired/AV wire runs go into my closet in the front office. I cut 6x10 holes in the side of the closet and put nice wooden (eggcrate) vents for air to flow into the closet. Im also currently looking at this site http://www.activethermal.com/ to keep my closet cool.

I bought two of these wall racks to go side by side....Wall Mount Rack Swing - 20 RMS from cableorganizer.com

Good luck with your project!! I have had a blast.

You should also consider a Sub built into your ceiling or wall since it gives the best sound and you have a great opportunity when you are building a new house. IB subs rock http://ibsubwoofers.proboards51.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1156426842

You might want to pull one or two cables in the attic for future use..I'm thinking an access point for wireless in the future?

What type of TV service will you be using, out of curiosity?

Matt

You might want to pull one or two cables in the attic for future use..I'm thinking an access point for wireless in the future?

What type of TV service will you be using, out of curiosity?

Matt

I will be using D* TV. I plan on running 5 RG6's to my Sat. location

I will be using at least one WAP. I plan on putting it in the attic in the center on the home. My only concern with doing this it heat in the attic. Being in the desert we get 110 degree summer days....so I may put it on the interior of the home, maybe even in the same closet with all the equipment with a high gain antenna...

Looking over your cableing plans, you will definately need a bigger/another can to terminate the wires in. I've done a similar job in a bigger house but with less drops than you, and I used a 50" OnQ enclosure and it was packed. You will be putting your voice, network, and coax in there atlest and then there is cameras, audio, etc. I would go with a 42" Leviton enclosure. Like most things in life, it's better to have it and not need it than wish you had the space to add things later.

--Jamie

Looking over your cableing plans, you will definately need a bigger/another can to terminate the wires in. I've done a similar job in a bigger house but with less drops than you, and I used a 50" OnQ enclosure and it was packed. You will be putting your voice, network, and coax in there atlest and then there is cameras, audio, etc. I would go with a 42" Leviton enclosure. Like most things in life, it's better to have it and not need it than wish you had the space to add things later.

--Jamie

Thanks for the tip. I will change that to a 42" enclosure you can never have too much room.

Added a Visio drawing of all cabling here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=730850)

Looking over your cableing plans, you will definately need a bigger/another can to terminate the wires in. I've done a similar job in a bigger house but with less drops than you, and I used a 50" OnQ enclosure and it was packed. You will be putting your voice, network, and coax in there atlest and then there is cameras, audio, etc. I would go with a 42" Leviton enclosure. Like most things in life, it's better to have it and not need it than wish you had the space to add things later.

--Jamie

Id have to agree with the bigger can idea. You might think that theres enough room now but once you get everything pulled and in one place it gets very tight. And plus you can never have too much room for future additions. Also i don't know if this was mention but i would run a piece of pvc conduit to the attic along with extra cables just in case. That way if theres something you forgot you can always add later with ease.

-About the heat in attic and the WAP i dont believe it will be affected by the heat. I do low voltage and such for a living and have never had a problem with placing a WAP in the attic.