What to do with a wholehouse intercom system

M

m1abram

2[H]4U
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Mar 15, 2002
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Ok I recently bought a house and the house had in it a wholehouse intercom system that looks to be circa 1970. It is rather old and very ugly (think 70s decor). The system consists of a main control unit in the Kitchen which is about 1'x2' and it has the AM/FM radio and AUX input. The units in each room are 1'x1' and just have a single speaker and mic. The holes in the walls are basically as large as each unit.

The system works, and the radio reception is quite good since the ant. is in the attic. However the wife says they are too ugly and got to go. I actually agree with her even though I like listening to NPR on saturday mornings with it. The usefulness of a intercom system is not really that great, and the sound quality for a wholehouse audio is pretty crappy.

So what should I do with it? Just drywall it up and forget about it? Any creative ideas I could do? I am thinking of trying to use some of the wire that is in place to try and pull CAT6 through and put in some network drops. Not sure how tight they put the stuff in though, my thought is pull a string attached to the old speaker wire first then use the string to pull the CAT6. Does that sound feasible?

Man that is going to be a crap load of drywall work, total of 8 units in all (not counting the outside units that will have to stay until we re-side the house.)
 
put in touch screens and automate the house. :D

while that would be cool, it wouldn't be very cheap. the network idea is good, depending ont he placement ont he wayy. you don't want to have the network cable dangling halfway down the wall.
 
IDversusEGO said:
put in touch screens and automate the house. :D

while that would be cool, it wouldn't be very cheap. the network idea is good, depending ont he placement ont he wayy. you don't want to have the network cable dangling halfway down the wall.
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Well moving the drop lower on the wall should not be much of an issue, would already need to make a patch for a 2 foot hole whats a little more ;)

I like the touchscreen idea, but in all practical sense to me just going with a wireless touchscreen is better. Plus not sure the wife would go for it either ;).
 
Just a "cost is no object thought" :D

Mount a bunch of tablet PC's in place of them. You'll just have to run power to them. You could go wireless but if you have to pull electrical cable why not pull some network cable as well?

damn, not enough coffee, I should have read the thread! :p
 
I would upgrade the system and use it for a whole house audio system. That's what I'm planning on doing to my old intercom. Sounds like we have the exact same setup.
 
bizzz111 said:
I would upgrade the system and use it for a whole house audio system. That's what I'm planning on doing to my old intercom. Sounds like we have the exact same setup.
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You have links to newer systems you plan to use?
 
saw a couple newer models at lowe's and home depot, complete with digital tuners and cd players. no link, however.
 
slap some speakers in there....or better yet..make a mount for a speaker, woofer, and tweeter out of some plywood and mount em behind a modders mesh like material.....aka perforated metal....
:edit:what i meant to say is...slap some speakers in there and create one giant GOOD sterios system
 
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