[tmc2k]

I would like to review my plan for home network and AV.

It's Jan 5, 2009 and the framing is mostly done, the walls are open and I need feedback. I did a lot of searching on these forums to get to where I am now, but I'd appreciate feedback on the details below.


The Home: 2800 Sq Ft, 2 Story (not including basement), 4 bedroom (all upstairs).


I will have a family room doubling as a media room on the first floor (Zone 1)

Sound and video to kitchen (Zone 2)

Sound to MastBedroom and bath (Zone 3).



Wiring Plan:

I currently plan to piggy back on the electrician and have him do the wiring for everything.

Run Cat6 to every room for GB home networking

Run coax to carry cable signal to AV Closet, Basement, BedRoom1/Office, MastBedroom, Kitchen

- what type of cable should I use here? and what is the best way to run it?

What should I run for future ability to distribute HD video? Another Cat6 run?



Zone 1 Media "room" (not a dedicated theater room) is on the main floor.

A AV closet with exhaust fan (and maybe cool air intake) about 20 feet away will house all the AV gear.

- run hdmi and speaker wires from this closet to Zone 1 and 2, run speaker wires to Zone 3.



Current Equipment:

Samsung BD-P2550 Blu-ray player (with netflix and pandora streaming) *So far I've been happy with this player

Harmony 890 rf remote. (not setup yet)

Panasonic 5disc DVD player (upscalling/HDMI) (legacy player)


Plan to purchase in march/april:

Yamaha RX-V3900 AV reciever

Sony 52in XBR6 Bravia LCD


Also Investigating for April purchase:

MediaCenter extender

Cable HD receiver (probably Comcast box)

Wall mount for above LCD.

Rack to mount all the AV gear in the closet.

Rack to mount networking in basement.


Speakers and speaker layout unknown and have lots of questions.

I'm not an audiophile but I'd like to do a 7.1 system in Zone1, any suggestions for speakers. Is it ok to do use in-ceiling for all surround speakers?

Any suggestions for purchase of Center, FrontLeft, FrontRight and sub as a set? And then 4 in-ceiling surround speakers, 4 Zone 2 speakers and 4 Zone 3 speakers. I'm not even sure what would be a good budget for this part.


Also, what are the distance limitations when running audio to different zones?


Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Gman-north]

Wiring Plan:

I currently plan to piggy back on the electrician and have him do the wiring for everything. BIG MISTAKE


Don't ever let your electrician run your low voltage wiring...Find a good integrator in your area that understands how to route wiring properly!!!


Read my article on this:

http://www.electronicinteriors.ca/au...deo_myths.html

 

[tmc2k]

Thanks for the feedback. My electrician has indicated some of the things you mention in the article. Since I have experience with computer networking, I thought that between the two of us, we could figure it out. But you have a point.

I'm posting here more because I am not building a dedicated theater. It really *shouldn't* require hiring a separate person to do this but I'm willing to spend some amount on that. I just don't want to run into one of those joker's who charge $1000 to design a plan that doesn't really work. I hope to avoid this by getting some feedback here in these forums.


Thanks.

 

[TurinTurambar]



Quote:
Originally Posted by tmc2k /forum/post/15477116


Thanks for the feedback. My electrician has indicated some of the things you mention in the article. Since I have experience with computer networking, I thought that between the two of us, we could figure it out. But you have a point.

I'm posting here more because I am not building a dedicated theater. It really *shouldn't* require hiring a separate person to do this but I'm willing to spend some amount on that. I just don't want to run into one of those joker's who charge $1000 to design a plan that doesn't really work. I hope to avoid this by getting some feedback here in these forums.


Thanks.

As one of "those jokers" who designs whole-house plans and then tries to charge for his design in the proposal and gets shopped sideways, this annoys me. Hire a professional to design at least an input/output spec, and if he wants to charge for it, maybe try telling him you wont pay for it until you have it "reviewed", or, ask for references to clients who will vouch for his designs.

Our industry is in a bad way right now. If you can afford it, hire some quality help and pay him what his time is worth. Building that relationship and creating a successful system will help both of you in the future.


Chris

 

[Gman-north]

Good answer Chris.....

 

[tmc2k]

Apparently you are not one of "those jokers" that puts the industry in a "bad way". I was referring to the the those who probably work for the box shops that charge $1000 for a plan w/o seeing your house (as mentioned in the 1st reply).


Gman's advice was very good - so I know to ask the electrician more questions. That is the type of specific advice I came here to seek. I did so, and I learned that he has specific experience in low voltage as well. I feel good about the networking portion of the plan.


I'm still hoping for some feedback on video distribution. I'm not trying to do a complex system. Ideally I just want to wire for future options since I probably won't distribute video beyond two rooms in the next 2 years. I plan to go ahead with running RG6 coax to 5 rooms and the basement in addition to the Cat6 run for networking.


The key question I have is: What wiring to install now if I want to run HDMI from a future AV reciever to multiple rooms. The typical answer to this question seems to be "just use component". I see products such as HDMI extenders (over Cat5/6). So I'm trying to figure out if these types of solutions are widely used or effective.


Thanks for the feedback

 

[Gman-north]

What should I run for future ability to distribute HD video? Another Cat6 run?


I would run component and RCA audio for you HD distribution. As mentioned in other posts, HDMI is still very problematic for switching and distribution purposes. I'm not a big HDMI fan and we use Component in 99% of our installs unless the customer insists on HDMI. The box store jokers as you call them would disagree but then again, 3 days of training does make you an expert, right? lol Buy yourself some mini coax (5 leg - 3 for component, 2 for audio) and you'll be fine........Good Luck..Gman