Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Whole House Audio - in Stereo

Right - four pairs, duh. I was thinking I needed 8 pairs.

Then, if I have 4 pairs of 8 ohm speakers, how would i set the volume controls (assuming I had 3 controls --- 1 running 2 speakers in kitchen, 1 running 2 speakers in living room, and 1 running 4 speakers outisde)?

Also, I found this snazzy little number that might fit the bill:
http://www.sherwoodusa.com/prod_rx5502.html. It's a 2 zone, 8 channel amp from Sherwood. Tom, your solution would be cheaper, though.

I'll put out another solution. This requires that you have powered speakers, like AudioBytes or Audio Engines. If you have those at different locations, you can use Apple's Airport Express and send music wireless using Airtunes. Play your iTunes around the house and control it w/ a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. You can even control volume. If you pair that w/ Airfoil, then you can add stuff like Pandora. This is a poor man's Sonos solution.

OR, you could use a wireless speaker that they have at Brookstone. It's mono and 900 MHz, IIRC, but it's portable and sounds surprisingly good.

Yeah, but ANY solution (except Cesar's) is going to be a gigantic pain-in-the-tuckus because you're running copper all over hell.

I don't know about four speakers on one knob. Maybe there is technical documentation at PE that speaks to this.

We are doing demo and rebuild from scratch. Running copper will be done by the pros, after framing, before drywall. No sweat.

It's all about simplicity of design/functionality/ease using a moderate budget (undoubtedly, this project is nowhere near my mother-in-law's top priority and most of the AV budget will be spent on a 65" TV for the upstairs theater).

I should also note that I also 'attempted' to help the inlaws w/ a whole house audio setup that was 'inexpensive'. Ran wires to patio, kitchen ceiling, and a few other rooms. The goal was the same as yours. We even installed Aperion in walls in the ceiling of the kitchen. The intent was to use an older AVR paired w/ a Niles-type speaker selector to drive multiple speakers. The contractor installed all the wires in the ceiling, as well as the appropriate CAT5 into wall plates for future in-room control via wall mounted controllers or IR back to the wiring closet.

Suffice to say, it got a little complicated. W/o using a real whole house audio system, the question was, how do they control everything, including source selection and volume? This was in 2006 so iPhones weren't as prevalent. As late as 9 mos ago, I tried to complete the project. I used an Airport Express as source for the music, since we could use their iPhones and Macs for control. The problem was how to shut off the dang AVR. I didn't want to have to install and explain how to use X10 power modules. The music sounds great, but power control is too big of an issue because the closet gets too hot. Right now, those speakers in the ceiling just keep those round holes plugged...

Wouldn't this make it seemed that you lived in an elevator?

Naw, Adrien; certainly no disaster if a mode other than all-channel stereo was set temporarily. Of course all channels don't have to be played simultaneously; selecting "none" for back surrounds and the outside speakers don't play, likewise the second inside set if side surrounds are set none.

The 508 also has a powered "Zone 2" option which would allow one of the other speaker sets to play different material with different volume settings, if wanted.

There are quite a few more or less complex and/or expensive solutions, but this simply uses the versatility built in to modern HT receivers.

Let's hope I don't run into a problem like you've encountered, OldSkool.

The plan is to have the components in a mechanical closet, accessible on the first floor, in between the living room and kitchen (accessible, really, from both). Ipod and CD sources will be connected. I am figuring we will operate without remotes - volume changes will be made at the head unit, with tweaking done at the wall volume controls. As far as changing sources, I guess we'll have to do it the old fashioned way, of getting up and going over to the system.

I think I am going to pick up the Sherwood 8 Amp, 2 zone, stereo amp/receiver. It seems perfect for my needs.

Another sugestion. I've got a Sherwood 4 zone stereo amp ($150) Logitech Squeezebox Duet controller ($150/$199), zone volume control inwall and use my Android phone app (squeezecontrller)for a squeezebox whole house wifi controller. (Volume, Program, Cover Art,song, FF/RW, etc.)(Does your owned music, Rhapsody, itunes, Pandora, Satellite, internet radio, everythingOr duet controller $150(Does your owned music, Rhapsody, itunes, Pandora, Satellite, internet radio, everything(Volume, Program, Cover Art,song, FF/RW, etc.) 1 source or add duets for additional source per zone (or use tuner 4 second source)

Just another thought

That sounds awesome. No Android phone, though.

Remember, my 60 year old mother in law has to be able to use this thing. Once it is set up, I am sure it is the essence of simplicity. But I have a hard time getting her to even use the Harmony universal remote (which requires you use it to power up/down the system so it knows which components are on/off). She just likes the feel of her Fios remote and refuses to use it. She then can't get the receiver to work right, so she watches tv (usually low def because she doesn't care/notice) through the tv speakers, nevermind the surround system I had installed.