AVS Forum banner

Renovating House - Whole Home Audio advice and guidance -- on a shoestring budget!

1K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  limester 
#1 ·
So I'm going the way of 'house poor' so any original ideas of Sonos and other expensive equipment is out right now -- but at the same point I want to future proof.


What I am looking to do is provide audio to Bedroom, Kitchen, Outside deck by using 2 speakers in each area and using an indepedent volume control for each area ..

I want to use existing gear in office (speakers from computer -- ie running a music server) and living room (home theatre) to provide audio to those areas


I have run cat6 to each of the above rooms minus outside .. this is really the last gasp at getting ideas before the contractors drywall everything up this week


I plan to have a server/rack/patch panel setup in the basement where I have run the cat 6 to as well as coaxial to the office, living room and bedroom.


My thought is to run speaker wire to the areas where I need music - does not have to be multi zone -- but future proofing (for when I have money back in my pocket) would be a plus


Do I run the speaker wire to the setup in the basement? .. they have already drywalled, but not taped so I have a day or two ..


Or, do I run it closer to the home theater equipment in the living room?


If I use the living room concept, can I use the cat6 I have run from the living room to to the basement to somehow bring all these pieces together?


The plan would be to use a music server in the basement to provide a single audio source to these devices -- but would also like to future proof as all the walls are exposed -- so run any wiring for future consideration


Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated ..


Cheers!
 
See less See more
#2 ·
HTD has some nice multi-source / multi zone whole house distribution systems http://www.htd.com/whole-house-audio...4Pa38Ta38ObNn0


the also have some layout and setup guides for whole house audio.


Their systems require a stereo pair of 2 conductor wires running each room - one to each speaker of a stereo pair and a CAT5 wire running to a wall outlet box for the control panel. For the outside speakers, run the speaker cables to the speaker locations and run the CAT5 to an inside wall near the door to the outside space. All the wiring would home run at the location of the multi-zone equipment.


There is at least one system that sends a digital audio stream over CAT5 to remote locations, but you would need a digital to analog control box and amplifier in each room that has remote speakers. Sorry, I can't place the name of the manufacturer, but the extra cost of multiple decoders/amplifiers could easily over-run you budget
 
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