Whole home audio is at odds with fidelity from the start. But if that is the goal, I'd get a pre-amp with balanced outputs, split them with gear designed for the job (not just Y-cables), and do the runs with good quality balanced cables. Then stick amps in each room with speakers, and turn them on and off where I wanted sound or not.
Outlaw is selling their old pre-amp right now as B-Stock for $400 which would be nice for this option. But, it seems like the cost of amps in each room would start to add up quickly. The nice thing is that you don't have to worry about a switch though. Like you said I could just turn on the amp in the room where I want the sound.
Does anyone know if an amp like this is good quality?
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=245-500#windowcontentI know Crown is a good brand, but I'm not sure about their budget stuff.
Or get a distribution amp designed for the task (like the ATI AT 6012
http://www.ati-amp.com/at6012.html ), and use individual speaker on/off switches, not the multiple selector.
The amp suggested here is about $2000. You still need a pre-amp. But, just on/off switches in each room after that. It seems like the Crown amps in each room would be about the same cost, after you factor in all the balanced cables needed in the first option.
