MutiZone Home Audio Help

[Rockjay420]

I didnt know where else to put this thread, but baiscally I'm in the process of building my new home and I'm wiring for the future.
Currently I have internet/phone/cable/hdmi to each room ( 3 Bedrooms, Tv room, living room,)
and i will be running in wall speaker wire soon.

My question is what kind of amp should i buy? I read that signal/noise ratio is far more important that a wattage rating, but if im running some speakers long distance, i dont want the signal to diminish.

Im buying 6 in-ceiling speakers (Dual Driver, 22hz to 40khz, 100w RMS per channel, 8ohm impedance) and a 8 ohm volume control will be installed in each room. Also two outdoor speakers. Some of the lines will run about 35ft.

I read that i should buy a speaker selector so that i can have multiple zones (i want 5), but does that substitute for an amp or does it simply distribute the amplified signal?

Lastly, do you guy have any suggestions in what else i can add to my dream house (practical now, ive already got hdmi running to the bathroom wall )

 

[ashmedai]

Hmm.

Well, that's a pretty complicated project, and there are a lot of directions you could take it.

One thing I'll point out is that it's a bad idea to have amplifier and speaker too far apart. For one, the impedance of the cable can get significant, as well as potentially introducing issues like phase or non-equal ground potentials that normally only the guy engineering the amp has to think about. How far can be surprisingly long and depends on things like what gauge wire you're using, but it needs to be considered. The most obvious ways to deal with this are to use low-gauge wire, to keep routing as direct as possible, and to put the amplifier in a central location. OR...don't amplify it until it gets where it's going whenever possible. For example if the media is kept digital (e.g. by using a media network like a WHS box or some of those little wifi swingbox hubs, or by using s/pdif) then it is much easier to prevent problems over the main span of the run.

What types of sources are you using, how do you plan to control them remotely, and do you care if more than one room can access a given source's simultaneously? How will you handle conflicting control commands (e.g. if you have a DVD player running a disc and one room wants to pause it)? How many speaker channels are to be installed in each room? Etc etc etc...

Oh, and get some line array speakers for your tv room.

 

[Rockjay420]

I just googled 14 gauge speaker wire max length, and 100ft popped up. So i think im ok, because the two outdoor speakers have the longest run of 35 feet, while others are around 20.
I plan to (or want) to be able to route different media sources to different zones. I have HDMI running to places where a wall mount display will show whats playing in the tv room, but will not be able to change channel or audio source because thats way too complicated/costly.

Zone 1:
Master Bath, Master Bed Room
2 Speakers Total

Zone 2: Bedroom Right, Bedroom Left, Living room, Kitchen
4 Speakers total

Zone 3: Outdoor Deck
2 Speakers Total

So actually, 3 zones.

 

[ashmedai]

14 gauge can be a little hard to connect, but you can always resort to putting banana plugs on the ends. Make sure you account for things like vertical runs and going around corners.

There are receivers that do three zones, for example the Onkyo TX-SR805. You could also get a MIMO HDMI matrix switch (M inputs x N outputs, can route any input to any output, may or may not share) and deal with unpacking the signal when it gets there - or find a way to split the audio and video, transmit the video, and amp the audio in the central location. Or some mix of the above. Some of the receiver options can be pretty impressive, although it's common for the zones to work by cannibalizing channels from the main one (e.g. a 7.1 receiver that becomes 5.1 + 2.0) or sometimes leaves the zones as a line-level signal which would need a secondary amplifier.

A lot of the options also depend on budget, for example eventually you get to the point where you want an AV rack with discrete power amps and preamps x N channels and use the receiver strictly to manage sources or as a preamp.

 

[Rockjay420]

now im a litttle worried, i totally forgot about the tv room home theater zone. If i cannabalize channels, i wont be able to get 5.1 in the tv room. Originally i was thinking i d have two separate receiver/amps, but it seems to complicated.
is there a way to cannibalize 2 channels, and then split them into 3 zones? Im thinking some piece of hardware external to the receiver. (speaker selector?)

Maybe i could grab a reciever with 2 zones (1 out, and 1 for the tv room) , and then split distribute the extra zone among 3 more zones with another piece of hard ware.

 

[Rockjay420]

these are the volume controls:
http://cgi.ebay.com/In-Wall-Volume-...oryZ3276QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812123521
Ok so thats a speaker selector, basically a router for speakers.


Now i just have to find an amp with 2 zones that will let me send different audio sources to each zone.
I have also decided not to use HDMI because of cost, what is the best alternative to routing video? Is there a way to make my own svideo cables or composite cables?

 

[ashmedai]

DVI digital would be the next best thing after HDMI. After that, analog over DVI or component. S-Video is okay but definitely a step down from the digital options, and composite is getting really low-grade.

Can't you get some HDMI wall plates and hook everything up with bare in-wall cable?

 

[Rockjay420]

DVI digital would be the next best thing after HDMI. After that, analog over DVI or component. S-Video is okay but definitely a step down from the digital options, and composite is getting really low-grade.

Can't you get some HDMI wall plates and hook everything up with bare in-wall cable?

From what i read, hdmi cant be DIY'ed, the conductors are far too small (90nm) and really skilled soldering is required.
Im thinking component video is my best option, ill make my own cables using RG6 and a coax compression crimp tool.

So i need a receiver or external device capable of distributing 6 component video streams.

as for my amp, current budget is around 600$, i can always switch the components later when i win the lottery
heres the plan so far ....