Whole House Audio Speakers

I am thinking about setting up a whole house wireless audio system from scratch that is driven by music sitting on the computer in my den. I have been looking into buying several Apple Airport Expresses for each room and then connecting them to my computer. I also saw the Bose Wireless systems which sounds easier to setup but it only supports ONE speaker/room and I am looking at more than one. Are there other better (even cheaper) options? Thanks.

Take a look at the Sonos stuff. It's really flexible and works with mac or pc and a wireless router.
http://www.sonos.com/Default.aspx?rdr=tr ue&LangType=1033

Crutchfield carries their stuff so that may give you better pricing
http://www.crutchfield.com/sonos

Networked Mac Mini's in each room are a good approach (but a little pricey) and even less expensive would be networked Apple TV's. I have an apple tv in my media center connected via hardwired ethernet, but the built-in wireless works as well. It gives me direct access to my iTunes library and it can either pull content from iTunes, or be used as a "speaker" where iTunes pushes content to it (which is the mode I use to feed music to my hardwired whole house audio system). The apple tv can also store content on it's hard drive as well for local access. The advantage to the Apple TV approach is that it serves video as well so you could be in your master bedroom and watch a movie stored on your computer or rent a movie via the Apple TV connection to the iTunes store right from the bedroom.
Sounds like a fun project.

2009-07-21 23:03:51 by Billy S

www.control4.com - We#39;re here in tinsel town where you are always one step away from a celebrity encounter. And speaking of celebrities ...

Let me tell you about my setup first and then I will explain what I want to do.
Downstairs I have a Denon 4802 receiver which I use for my home theater main amp. I have connected to it an Onkyo stereo receiver that I use to send music upstairs to one room. In that room I have two speakers with no volume control in the wall. The way that I control the volume is with a remote control that has a leapfrog on it that sends a uhf signal to turn on and off and control volume from upstairs.
Now, here is what I want to do. I want to put 4 sets of in wall or ceiling speakers with volume control panels for these speakers. I would also like to control the speakers that are already upstairs. These are not inwall. This will be hard to do because after remodeling several years ago access to the wires is very difficult if not impossible except for downstairs in the basement where they enter the upstairs.
I also want to have a pair of speakers outside to enjoy when we are out.
So that is 6 sets of speakers to run and control.
With the equipment that I have already what else do I need. Would I be better off getting some type of amp other than the onkyo to take the signal and split it out to the other speakers? Please give me suggestions on the setup you would do. If you need more info let me know asap. Thanks for your help.
This must be a tough one.

If my brother was awake he could tell u but I have no clue SRY!

2006-07-24 21:48:13 by IngeborgDot

Price: $999.99

Easy install
Clean, decorator style matches the decor of your home
Universal remote provides whole house control at the push of a button
Kit includes Flush Mount Triple Source Input for attractive in-wall installation
Includes everything you need to install a multi-source, four-zone audio system

I have an amp/receiver that asks for 4-8 ohms on A or B but only 8 ohms when using A and B.
Speakers consist of two zones. Zone A is two pair of stereo speakers at 8 ohm each in parallel (4 ohm load to amp). Zone B consists of three parallel 8 ohm mono speakers (2.7 ohm to amp).
My plan is to drive Zone A normally while bridging to Zone B.
Although each speaker has an impedance matching volume control, I want to "balance" the system (so to speak)using resisters. What combination of resisters do I use?

That will not work!

The load is not a resistive but an IMPEDANCE load.

You will blow up your amp with that kind of configuration. There are distribution amps ( that will do the impedance matching for you) or perhaps a 70V system is more in order.

Electrically there is no way to add resistance to a inductively reactive and inductively capacitive circuit to "balance" out total load. While in theory you will be able to get the resistance to equal 8 Ω, that is not really what you want to change, it is the series impedance loads that you want to change.

Some specifics of exactly what you want to do would be nice, so that one you get decent sound and two you don't catch your amp on fire.

2007-12-10 09:17:15 by Adam F

Price: $600.00 $359.94

4 channels at 35W RMS per channel
Auto protection mode
Designed for any application using a multi-zone preamp that does not require having infrared control built into the amplifier
DC voltage controlled (main power) low-impedance capability
Front panel status LEDs

Hi, I bought a house that had whole house audio, except the controller, and all other equipment was removed along with the speakers. So I have holes in the ceiling where the speaker wires go. Can you tell me if there is a good way to test these to see where they lead to? Rather than hook up speakers, I was wondering if their is some low power device that I could hook up to send a small current so I could then plug a small led light or something to the other end to verify which ends are hooked to which end?

Thanks!

Use a toner to see which wire is which, just put the toner on one end and use the wand to find the tone on the other end, its what i use to id telephone lines. here is an example of what i am explaining, the auction is over but look for something similar. this is the easiest way, otherwise just go to walmart and buy a cheap ohm meter, one at a time twist the wires together and go around the room to see which is shorted.

http://cgi.ebay.com/probe-tone-generator -cable-tracker_W0QQitemZ190187903983QQih Z009QQcategoryZ50971QQssPageNameZWDVWQQr dZ1QQcmdZViewItem

2008-01-11 07:08:20 by dd564

I have 13 Rooms that i want to have speakers in (3 Bedrooms, 4Bathrooms, 2 Halls, Entry,Kitchen,Pool Deck, Living/Dining Room(1Room) ) The walls in the house are currently open and so is the floor on the second floor. I currently own two recievers. I would like the system to have at least two zones. Any Suggestions? how much will this cost?

The cost of setting up a whole home system can vary greatly, depending on the quality you are looking for and other factors.

The best way to get a good idea of what you will need is to find a home theater installer that will come to your home and walk it with you, and give you suggestions. They can reccommend products as well as give you an idea of how hard the installation will be.

2006-08-03 06:06:57 by booieh