Nutone Intercom replacement options

I searched and searched high and low for a replacement for my Nutone. after all it served me well for 8 years or so. I tried different intercom companies and fell short for what i wanted. finally i scraped it and went with the Niles zr6 and am glad i did. i get ipod,am/fm,internet radio with 1,000+choices all at a touch of my finger tips.

Russound Collage - www.russound.com/collage, power line intercom and music system

Seems all intercoms look dated after a while, one of the reasons my wife doesn't want to replace the M&S eyesores in our house. We've removed a few stations already, and we're installing a dedicated distributed audio system (Nuvo GC). The stations will be removed piecemeal, when we repaint each room.

Russound and Nuvo each make distributed audio systems that work over powerlines (PLC technology), but they're really new and I'm hesitant to rec them.

Do you have an attic above or basement/crawl below, that would make running new wires, and adding in-ceiling/in-wall speakers, easy?

Contact Nutone (check their website) to find out what replacement systems they offer that would fit into the same holes, if you don't want to paint and drywall.

If you want to pay a lot of money, and get a good distributed audio system with an intercom function I'd look into the Russound Compoint intercom system, paired with a Russound distributed audio system.

Lots of choices, depends on how much you want to pay, and if you'll have a big need for the intercom system.

Does anyone have an update on this? I am looking to replace a nutone with 14 rooms connected. Most important is the intercom system. Background music is the added option.

If only for intercom, the OnQ devices look pretty nice, though I've never tried them.

Video of the OnQ system, scroll down after jump.

This is exactly the type of unit I would like, however, it doesn't seem to be able to play background music or link to other speaker you may have in the rooms. Is that true? Any thoughts?

Anyone used OnQ for intercom, door chime and background music?

Try searching the remotecentral.com Custom Installers Louge forum, for reviews of the OnQ system.

Any news on this front? I have found myself in the same boat as the OP.

Try PMing the OP.

Ask him to post here.

Some background:
Several years ago I installed a 50 inch channel vision structured panel and pulled new phone, data and video throughout the house Our home is 25 years old but it has tall ceilings and is one story which makes working in the attic less painful.
Our Nutone system started failing in 2007(front door and some zones).After reviewing the options available I decided to replace it and do an upgrade to whole house audio and telephone front door system.

The Project
Remove Nutonerepair sheetrock, paint act

Eight zones.stereo speakers and volume controls in each zone. Connected to a Russound Pro 8 speaker switch driven by my a/v receiver. Audio sources AM/FM radio, our mp3library, internet radio (Pandora, Last FM and many more).
Front door..Channel vision telephone entry and answering system installed in the structured panel.
Conclusion
My choice a couple years ago was to fix and repair the Nutone or bite the bullet and do a major DIY project. It appears that is the case today evidenced by the few post with suggestions. Our nutone served us well for many years as someone else also stated.
I plan on replacing the speaker selector with either the Russound C5 system or the new HTD advanced system which has built in intercom and a mp3 player.
A lot of rambling to say that moving away from Nutone is not easy or inexpensive.

I noticed a lot of Nutone stuff is sold at HD/Lowes.

AiPhone seems to be really popular with the mega-rich, if anyone wants to take a look.

I really dig the HoloVision front entry systems.

Siedle would be the Ferrari of access control, and intercoms.

You can buy a cheap PBX phone system to replace that intercom.

Isn't one then stuck with corded phones everywhere? PBX cordless phones seem prohibitively expensive.

Search SmartHome website for intercoms. I think I saw some in their catalog. They have quite a selection, IIRC.

I have found a few different replacement options for updating or replacing old or non-functioning intercom systems.

NuTone seems to be scaling back their intercom offering, but I think M&S is still offering replacements. It doesn't look like they really bring any new technology, but a newer version of what they've always had.

Intrasonic has a replacement for each type of wiring and it seems to be an easy swap out. They offer an iPod dock as a technology update. It looks like they have a great niche of replacing M&S and Nut1 systems.

AudioShare is not as flexible with using replacing wiring as Intrasonic, but AudioShare does function on existing wire if it is twisted pair or shielded in pairs. Most old 6-wire systems (and of course Cat5) can upgrade to AudioShare, but not the 3-wire systems. AudioShare allows any type of audio input, then available globally to all stations. You can send music to in-ceiling speakers also. They just developed music control so that you can scroll through music options from any wall station and select specific music from any room. Now they're saying they have wireless music transmission from iPad into AudioShare. They do have clear digital intercom and monitoring functions.

There are other music-only options at several companies, but I think the idea of this thread was intercom, so I'll end there.

@BigSkyDave,

Thanks for the reply. This is some useful info. It does look like Intrasonic is sitting pretty to take in quite a bit of business for people looking to upgrade their old systems.

Do you know if one of their retrofit masters will work with the old Nutone intercoms, or will all of the units have to be replaced?

Hello!

I realize this thread is a bit old, but I'm running into a similar issue where I'm purchasing a 25 year old house that was "high end" in its day. As such, it's quite dated and reminds be of the Brady Bunch intercom system.

Anyway, I'm really interested in this replacement option and would love to add wireless/ipod support in the process. I'm handy, but not an expert in these systems at all.

Any product guidance/recommendations or other newer threads on this topic would be appreciated.

Thanks!

I'm still staring at these eyesores in several of my rooms, and in brick at the front door and back deck.

Take a look at Aiphone. I think some of their lines use 2, 3, or 4 conductors, and I think there is an option for iOS support (JK series, maybe, with a 'Network Adapter' http://www.aiphone.com/data/pdf/products/brochures/JKW-IP%20Brochure.pdf)

Don't know if they provide any audio support.

I'm now in the same situation. Just bought a house with a Nutone 3303 today and it only play AM/FM music. I'm shocked they haven't come up with an wireless option or a dock that's more than just a headphone jack (which isn't even an option on my model!)

Search the CEDIA website for pro installers. Schedule a free consultation. Rip that ancient crap out.
Edited by Neurorad - 12/11/12 at 7:33am

I've never used one personally, but the OnQ Select and Russound intercoms are recommended by a reliable source, if drywall repair isn't an issue.

There are several intercom companies in the market that deals with such stuffs. Thanks for sharing the details.

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video intercom system