[kungfu-joe]

OK guys, please have mercy on me.

I just bought a new house, and on the main floor, there are pairs of speakers in every room. Upstairs, in "the bonus room" there are pairs of speaker wires coming out of a wall.

Here's my ignorance. I'm not really sure what this set up is called. If I Google "Whole House Audio", there's just too much.

What I'd like to do, is to connect these to a receiver of some kind, so I can play music throughout my house. Preferably, I'd like to stream Bluetooth from my daughter's phone. She would flipping love that. What can I do? Can I use my TV in my family room to stream audio to these speakers? I really have no idea what's even possible.

I really don't know anything, and am looking for some background. There's probably five or six different pairs of wires. I can count if it's important. What sort of receiver do I need to power this many different speakers, and how does control work? Can I power individual pairs? Can I listen to something in my office while my daughter listens to something in the family room? I haven't cracked the ceiling speaker grills open to see what brands they are, or any other information.

Feel free to give me homework. I'm really looking to learn, and am a little overwhelmed by the huge amount of info out there.

Lastly, if this isn't really the right forum location, please help me out.

Thanks guys.

KFJ

 

[hoyalawya]

Is there a speaker volume control knob in each room? Also, what is your budget for equipment?

 

[jautor]

Homework: Read any number of WHA / Whole House Audio threads in the "Home AV Distribution" forum a few down from here...

And look at the Sonos Connect:Amp as a "zone player" for one or two rooms (to start). Add more as budget allows.

 

[kungfu-joe]

hoyalawya: Nope, no knobs or controls in any room. Just speaker wires popping out of the wall upstairs.

jautor: I've read most of them, and frankly, they're worthless. Mostly because they assume large amounts of knowledge I don't have. For example, I read a few of them this morning, where they say things like "Check out the NuVo or Russound systems" Well, I did, and there's a huge gap there as well. I'm really looking for beginner stuff here.

That said, I'm looking at the Sonos CONNECT:AMP, and it looks like you can connect two speakers to it. I have 12, located in different rooms. Not sure how this would work.

I apologize guys, but I totally lack the vocabulary to phrase my problem better, and I certainly lack the knowledge to get started. I want to learn, but every article out there is either way too complicated, or deals with wiring. I have the wiring, I just don't know what to do with it.

I apologize if this sounds bad, but I'm just entirely too frustrated. Budget? No idea. I really am more interested in learning what's involved, or even possible before I decide to throw money at the issue.

Right now, I have multiple speakers in almost every room in my house, and no idea what to do with them.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[jautor]

jautor: I've read most of them, and frankly, they're worthless.

You're welcome...

Mostly because they assume large amounts of knowledge I don't have. For example, I read a few of them this morning, where they say things like "Check out the NuVo or Russound systems" Well, I did, and there's a huge gap there as well. I'm really looking for beginner stuff here.

As a beginner, the best way to learn about these systems is to read the product (sales) brochures (aka "cut sheet"), and then the instruction / installation manuals for some of the popular systems - as pointed to by many of those threads. Read three or four of those (choose different vendors and product families), which will show the wiring diagrams for the system as well as the features / operation.

That will give you the background as to what you can do with the wiring you have in place, and what features come in what budget range.

That said, I'm looking at the Sonos CONNECT:AMP, and it looks like you can connect two speakers to it. I have 12, located in different rooms. Not sure how this would work.

The Sonos Connect:Amp is a "zone player" type system architecture. You buy one of these for each zone (room). Buy as many as you need, add more over time as budget allows. The Sonos unit, being a 4-ohm stable amplifier, can also support two pairs of speakers - so you can share one unit between two rooms to get started at a lower cost...

I apologize guys, but I totally lack the vocabulary to phrase my problem better, and I certainly lack the knowledge to get started. I want to learn, but every article out there is either way too complicated, or deals with wiring. I have the wiring, I just don't know what to do with it.

Here's a good article at HTD which shows a lot of the fundamental components:

http://www.htd.com/Products/Help-Me-Choose

But you said you looked at wiring diagrams and it didn't help?

I apologize if this sounds bad, but I'm just entirely too frustrated. Budget? No idea. I really am more interested in learning what's involved, or even possible before I decide to throw money at the issue.

Right now, I have multiple speakers in almost every room in my house, and no idea what to do with them.

You'll need to do more reading, especially at the vendor sites and the AV Distribution Forum, or think about hiring a pro to provide all that knowledge... This is a big topic, it will take some time to gain the knowledge assuming you want to DIY your solution.

Budget-wise, $500/zone (plus speakers) is a good number to put in your head. If that number scares you, you'll be looking at either a lower-functionality / usability solution, or will start with fewer zones and grow over time...

(oh, and yeah, the Home AV Distribution forum is really the right place for WHA discussions)

Jeff

 

[hoyalawya]

Is there some place in the house where all the speaker wires home run to? You have 12 speakers so look for a wall with 12 speaker binding post plate. It is odd that there is no speaker volume knob in each room. In the rooms, is there a Cat (Ethernet) cable terminated high on the wall? The house could be wired for a keypad WHA system.

 

[kungfu-joe]

@jautor: Thanks.

I've just made the connection that WHA=Whole House Audio, which greatly improves the search results. Duh.

OK, so after a lot more research this morning, (Screw work!), it looks like I have the following options.

1. I could buy a ton of Sonos CONNECT AMPS, for about a jillion dollars total. Wow. Definitely cannot afford. I could probably splurge and get one though, but that wouldn't help me with all the other rooms. That said, I'd probably not really use the audio in all of the rooms, but then what's the point? I'd still need at least two systems.

2. Monoprice makes 10761 (snappy name), a 6 zone home audio multizone controller. This isn't really an option, because I'd need to run cables through the walls to control pads, which isn't really feasible, given the fact I've got some pretty fancy woodwork and ceiling treatments in locations. Plus, overall, I really am not interested in having to control the volume and source by a pad on the wall.

3. HTD makes a mid-level system with no keypad. I need to do a bunch more research here, because my home router is nowhere near where the system would live, but this might be a solution. I need to chat with them, because I really am not following the intricacies of their solution.

So, thanks to everyone for the feedback. I'll see what else I can figure out.

 

[K2sno311]

For your second option above, you wouldn't need to rip apart trim or fixtures. You just need to know what wire to run from a simple "punch out" box up or down into unused space (i.e. attic or basement)...

See this article here:
http://www.familyhandyman.com/elect...a-whole-house-audio-system/step-by-step#step1

 

[ctviggen]

@jautor : Thanks.

2. Monoprice makes 10761 (snappy name), a 6 zone home audio multizone controller. This isn't really an option, because I'd need to run cables through the walls to control pads, which isn't really feasible, given the fact I've got some pretty fancy woodwork and ceiling treatments in locations. Plus, overall, I really am not interested in having to control the volume and source by a pad on the wall.

Why not? It means you don't need a device in each room.