+1. Do exactly what Neurorad suggests. That will set you up for any of the options, and is what is recommended by the CEA standards for whole house audio... Running a cat5e to the potential keypad location is key to the future potential.
Why would running long lengths of speaker wire be better than long lengths of cat5/6. Will the analog sound in the speaker cable not be affected by the long run?
Quote:
Originally Posted by capaill /t/1427001/which-is-better-for-multi-zone-running-speaker-wire-or-ca5-6-cable#post_22403149
Thanks guys,
Why would running long lengths of speaker wire be better than long lengths of cat5/6. Will the analog sound in the speaker cable not be affected by the long run?
Speaker wire is a much heavier gauge than category cable - it's sized for the home run distances... The difference is that a central amp (generally much larger per channel) can drive a lot of power into speaker wire, whereas a category-based setup is just providing DC power to a small amp located in each keypad...
thanks, makes sense, however if I was not using keypads, and just using a phone or table app for music selection, then would it be about the same quality for either run types?
Quote:
Originally Posted by capaill /t/1427001/which-is-better-for-multi-zone-running-speaker-wire-or-ca5-6-cable#post_22409555
thanks, makes sense, however if I was not using keypads, and just using a phone or table app for music selection, then would it be about the same quality for either run types?
No. Speaker cable is much larger than a cat5e wire (even if you tied 4 conductors together). The power that can be delivered to the speakers over typical house-sized distances will be extremely limited over cat5e vs. a cheap 16AWG speaker wire.
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