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Nuvo in new home purchase, what do I need to know?

post #1 of 7
12/3/12 at 4:09pm
Thread Starter 
Hi there, I recently closed on a house and I am about to move in. The previous owners are renting from us for a couple weeks. The house is wired and currently all set up with a Nuvo system. I know he (me now) has 6 zones with keypads and I believe he has a model of Nuvo Essentia which is at least 6 years old.

The house stay with all of the wiring and the pads, but not the Essentia box. He is willing to sell me the box for $850, which looking around seems like a good deal Though as I mentioned Im not really sure on the model number of the box, but it is at least 6 years old.

My questions are...if he takes the box and I need to get a new one, is it difficult to put a new box in and get it up and running. At the moment Im not really too concerned with setting up all my components into the Nuvo, until I get in there . Ive just never worked with one of these before so Im not sure if there is any initial setup. While looking though the house I did see a different box in one of the closets with a bunch of cables going into it....like some sort of master control box. The house is pretty wired up, but I was not sure if that had anything to do with the Nuvo. For example is there any other equipment needed beside say the Essentia box and the keypads? Like is there anything that goes in between?

Thanks
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post #2 of 7
12/3/12 at 6:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by A-Pac View Post

Hi there, I recently closed on a house and I am about to move in. The previous owners are renting from us for a couple weeks. The house is wired and currently all set up with a Nuvo system. I know he (me now) has 6 zones with keypads and I believe he has a model of Nuvo Essentia which is at least 6 years old.

Find out for sure, or just take a picture of the keypads. The Essentia has a specific, very nice keypad compared to older / less-expensive products.
Quote:
The house stay with all of the wiring and the pads, but not the Essentia box. He is willing to sell me the box for $850, which looking around seems like a good deal Though as I mentioned Im not really sure on the model number of the box, but it is at least 6 years old.

Make him an offer - what is he going to do with it without the keypads? Buying them individually will set him back hundreds (Smarthome stocks them for $260, they don't show up often on eBay, but are probably $60-100 'used' there).
Quote:
My questions are...if he takes the box and I need to get a new one, is it difficult to put a new box in and get it up and running. At the moment Im not really too concerned with setting up all my components into the Nuvo, until I get in there . Ive just never worked with one of these before so Im not sure if there is any initial setup. While looking though the house I did see a different box in one of the closets with a bunch of cables going into it....like some sort of master control box.

Wiring and setup of the Nuvo systems is simple, you will need a PC and the software - which he should have or you can get from NuVo. You may be able to get away with no programming at all, at least to get started (stuff won't be named, but it'll produce sound).
Quote:
The house is pretty wired up, but I was not sure if that had anything to do with the Nuvo. For example is there any other equipment needed beside say the Essentia box and the keypads? Like is there anything that goes in between?

There's a connecting block / wallplate, but nothing big.

Take a look at the manual, which Smarthome has been kind enough to host:

http://www.smarthome.com/manuals/8271gm.pdf

You should start thinking about adding the MPS4 music server to that system - not cheap, but will provide you with a top-notch setup.

Congrats on the new home!

Jeff
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post #3 of 7
12/3/12 at 6:14pm
The newest version of the Essentia was released in 2007, the EG6.

If it's not the EG6, you won't be able to use the MPS4 music server with it.

New EG6 is $2100. MPS4 starts at $2600.

If it's not the EG6, read the manuals on the new Nuvo system, before agreeing to the sale. Talk to a local Nuvo dealer about an install estimate, too. Explore your options.

I wouldn't buy a whole house system without a music server, which provides Pandora, internet radio, and streamed digital music files from your PCs or NAS. Other options include SiriusXM, Slacker, Last.fm, Spotify, and Rhapsody.
Edited by Neurorad - 12/3/12 at 8:28pm
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post #4 of 7
12/3/12 at 6:21pm
Good catch - I completely forgot about the "old" Essentia... The keypads will tell for sure. If they look like this:



It's the "modern" version. If it's the older version, I wouldn't pay much for it. Agree 100% with my buddy Neurorad about the music server...

Jeff
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post #5 of 7
12/3/12 at 6:25pm
A quick search for some used price compare:

"Old" Essentia unit with a "make an offer" price of $599:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nuvo-Essentia-NV-E6DMS-6-Sources-6-Zones-Whole-House-Audio-Amplifier-NV-E6DM-/380525485606?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item5899161e26

EDIT: Even cheaper - asking $299:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USED-NUVO-ESSENTIA-MODEL-NV-E6DM-WHOLE-HOUSE-6-ZONE-AMPLIFIER-/230890339989?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item35c222fe95


Used complete EG6 with keypads with a buy-it-now price of $750:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nuvo-Essentia-NV-E6GM-Whole-House-Audio-Amplifier-/230891846955?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item35c239fd2b


Not recommending you buy a used system off eBay, but for price negotiations on either...

Jeff
Edited by jautor - 12/3/12 at 6:39pm
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post #6 of 7
12/4/12 at 10:43am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the replies. The house does not have those newer keypads, so Im assuming its the Essentia -NV-E6DMS.

The previous owner is about to disconnect all of his equipment. Though he is going to leave the Nuvo box for me. He is giving me warnings that once its all disconnected I wont be able to go in there and just connect my stuff. He says I should either just buy most of his equipment (receiver, dvd, etc) so its already set up, or that Im going to have to have a tech come out to hook all of my stuff up. Since they have the software.

I believe that might just be some scare tactics for me to buy his old stuff. He isnt too tech savvy and needs to call his AV guys for any little change. So Im not too sure on how drastic he is making it out to be.

Since he is leaving the Nuvo box, I'd like to just go in with all my equipment and hook it all up. Would that be possible without the software? Would I need the software to do any of that? Is the software available to get through Nuvo? He said only authorized dealers have it, so I'd need to call he AV guys to have everything hooked up.
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post #7 of 7
12/4/12 at 12:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by A-Pac View Post

Thanks for the replies. The house does not have those newer keypads, so Im assuming its the Essentia -NV-E6DMS.
The previous owner is about to disconnect all of his equipment. Though he is going to leave the Nuvo box for me. He is giving me warnings that once its all disconnected I wont be able to go in there and just connect my stuff. He says I should either just buy most of his equipment (receiver, dvd, etc) so its already set up, or that Im going to have to have a tech come out to hook all of my stuff up. Since they have the software.

The only gear you would even remotely care about are any sources used for the NuVo. A CD (DVD) player, AM/FM tuner (which could be a receiver used for this purpose), etc. that you would want to duplicate. The fair-market value of an old DVD, CD, or receiver would be worth paying him for those things assuming these are hooked to the NuVo as sources *AND* the NuVo system has been programmed to control those sources via the keypads. Replicating that will require the NuVo software, and the remote codes (learned or imported) - and is some work. If you intend to replicate those sources - much much easier to buy the stuff from him. Leverage for you is that if you know the make/models of the gear, the eBay prices is all they're worth. You can buy replacements (same brand, similar models as long as they share the same IR codes), and hook them up without changing a thing in the NuVo setup...
Quote:
Since he is leaving the Nuvo box, I'd like to just go in with all my equipment and hook it all up. Would that be possible without the software? Would I need the software to do any of that? Is the software available to get through Nuvo? He said only authorized dealers have it, so I'd need to call he AV guys to have everything hooked up.

You can get the software from NuVo tech support if you ask nice - explain the situation. But the system will absolutely work (produce sound) without any configuration work. I'm really not familiar with that older system's capabilities, but I would assume that the keypad buttons will control 3rd party devices (via the main unit's IR capabilities). But again, what sources do you plan to hook up? If you don't care about "play/pause/track forward" working, you shouldn't need to do anything... And for many sources, like a Sonos for example, there wouldn't be much to use there, anyway...

Jeff
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