[danhawk911]

Hello all I am looking for a solution to get music to 10 different zones in the house i am building. The crestron music amp seems very overpriced I would like to stay below 5k to get everything I need to system up and running.

 

[Neurorad]

There are many 'stand-alone' music systems that are more affordable than what Crestron offers, but I don't think many are below $5K for 10 zones.


Your Crestron salesman should be familiar with some of the more budget-friendly options.


Each of these systems - few from Nuvo, couple from Russound, Niles, many others - can accomodate 6-8 zones. For another few thousand dollars, you can purchase an expansion amp to bring you to 10. And the music server would cost another few thousand. Look for systems with 232 and/or IP control - your Crestron dealer may be able to get a list of systems that would integrate well with the system.


Don't forget the music server source component, I think I've seen Squeezebox mentioned often with Crestron systems.


There are lots of options with Crestron. Again, the dealer would be the best resource.


I've been pleased with a Nuvo Grand Concerto system, with the amp expander, and MPS4 music server. It can do 6 zones without the expander, 8 zones with 2 small additional amps, 12 zones with the multichannel amp expander, and 16 zones total.


The Russound C-Series, I think, can do 8 zones without an expansion multichannel amp.


I really like a keypad in each zone - these stand-alone systems often ship with keypads (Nuvo for one). My Nuvo keypads provide metadata (artist, song, album info), as well as control.


Programming costs money, but the more popular stand-alone systems are not super expensive to program for Crestron.

 

[canuck_fr]

For 3799$ you can buy a 12 zone system from HTD (Home Theater direct).


All the options Neurorad talked about are also very good.


Good luck with a fun project!

 

[DaveChester]

I would definitely go back to the Crestron dealer for this - they should have products they are used to integrating. The integration is such a big part of the installation that I would definitely allow them to present a couple of options.


A couple of Crestron AAE's can't be too much more than the original budget though? Then it just depends on the sources you want to distribute.

 

[Audiophiliac]

Have you looked at SONOS? Depending on what source material you want available through the system, this might be worth looking at.

 

[mmcxiiad]

what I did was buy the crestron adagio AAE. It is a 6 zone audio distributer. MSRP is slightly less the half your budget. If you got 2, you should be a couple hundred under (assuming your dealer charges strait MSRP).


You can hook up any source to it and it will send the audio to any combination of zones. The only minor downside to it, the different types of sources are based on what you hook up to it. If you want to do an iPod you should look at the iServer which allows you to plug in an iPod and get full crestron control. That will push you over your budget, but you don't have to use an iPod.


hope that this helps.