AVS Forum banner

Control of 3-4 zones with only AVR and in-wall pad

592 views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  Weazy 
#1 ·
Wondering if you know of any company (Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer, etc etc) that makes an in-wall keypad (tablet) that will control their AVR??

What I want to do, instead of buying a set up like a MCA-66, is to control 3 zones in my home with just the AVR and an add on tablet type interface, preferably in-wall so it stays put.

1st zone will be in the theater, game room, gathering area. This will be the main hang out (finished basement) and will have house all the main equipment, audio and video.
2nd zone would be an upstairs living space with a TV in the living room and in ceiling/wall speakers throughout the kitchen/dining/living room
3rd zone is strictly audio for outside deck/yard

3 zones are simple enough to control with most any good AVR, but I'd like something in a central location (the upstairs living room) for control of all three zones instead of having to run downstair to switch things. I figure a tablet type keyboard would be visually easier to use for some other family members.

Any ideas? Am I making this more difficult that it should be?
TIA
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Well, three zones could be easy with an AVR and some iPod / iPad / Android devices wall-mounted (there are some nice "permanent" mounts available).

iOS (and I believe Android has a similar function) has a Single App / Kiosk mode (iOS has this under the Accessibility settings as 'Guided Access'), which locks the device into one app for simplicity. So you could just use the native AVR app locked-in.

Same could be done with Sonos / NuVo streaming units - mount the tablet and lock the app.

Jeff
 
#3 ·
That's exactly what I wanted to do. I didn't want to have to purchase a whole new set up. I didn't know if Pioneer/Denon/Yamaha/Marantz or any of the others had a type of application that could do something like that. I only will need a few zones so I didn't feel like I needed something elaborate. Most AVRs handle that just fine. If it's that simple, that's exactly what I'd like to do. I'll look more into iPad apps etc etc
Thank you
 
#5 ·
I have a Yammy now and love it. I'll check out their new stuff.

I'm a tad worried after thinking about this, that it may not be as easy as I'm making it out to be. Reason being, my second zone now can control two speakers whereas what I want to do with my second zone in the future is control maybe a total of 5-7 in ceiling/wall speakers in the living space. First main zone would be the home theater/Entertainment space. The Third zone controlling 2 speakers is fine.

It's a while down the road before I do this, but I'm trying to do all the research and iron everything out before I make the move.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top