[Raistlin_HT]

Hi all, I just purchased a house, and am planning on doing some distribution ... but could use some advice on where to start.



I have a ranch, and plan to place a closet in the basement for distribution (as well as a dedicated HT room). My main goal is to get audio distributed through the house, and maybe some video. For video, I plan to generally use Ethernet going to NMT's, so I probably don't really need dedicated direct video distribution (though if it is possible without a huge excess of cost, I'd be fine with it).


I'm looking for suggestions on the best way to wire things up, as well as some direction on good ways to manage things in terms of control. I'd like things to obviously run quite smoothly, be it from a remote or on-wall controls. I also would like internet access everywhere.



Based on the above, any recommendations for ... pretty much everything

? Wiring ... speakers ... amplification ... distribution ... etc.


Obviously, I'd like to keep this as cheap as possible, but only so much as the result is consistent, and cleanly managed.

 

[Raistlin_HT]

nothing? I suppose I was a bit vague, so I should probably break it down into stages.



I guess my first question would be recommendations for wiring. Generally what is suggested to be ran where?

 

[jautor]

A bit vague, yes. "Tell me everything I need to know"...

Try reading David Feller's eBook on pre-wiring listed in this forum, and the Wiring Your House 101 / 102 guides over at the cocoontech forums...

 

[sic0048]

The good news is that being a ranch house, you can probably access most interior walls from the attic without much trouble. Exterior walls are trickier because of the roof line causing limited access in the attic and the insulation in the walls really makes running wires a pain. It is certainly easier to run exterior wall wires downward into the basement/crawlspace. If the basement isn't finished off, then you should be able to run those wires pretty easily too.


I say this because it is nice to know you can probably add more wire in the future if you forget something the first time around.


But I also recommend you read those suggested items. If you cannot find them, then let us know, but they have been linked to multiple times already.

 

[Raistlin_HT]

Thanks for the input. I'll look into the mentioned books.




I would like to get things 'right' the first time, since I intend to finish of the basement later.