In House Audio System

[normanton]

Hi everyone, just about to start wiring my new house, I want a speaker in every room (4 bedrooms and a bathroom). My plan is to go from a receiver (amplifier), through a 6 port speaker selector then out to each speaker. (Speakers are 8ohms). What size receiver and speaker selector would I need? And also could I simply use a 1 way switch for each speaker to make and break the circuit (basically SELECTING what rooms I want the music playing in? This is the first audio system ive wired so any help would be great thanks.

 

[AA410]

Have you looked at SONOS nice bit of kit

 

[tazz]

Would agree with above Sonos, 2 speakers in every room, select any input from radio to tv. Sound quality is excellent.

 

[normanton]

Would agree with above Sonos, 2 speakers in every room, select any input from radio to tv. Sound quality is excellent.

Have had a look. On a tight budget with this being my first property. Haha

 

[davesparks]

then put the cables in now and wait until you've saved some pennies up before buying the toys!

If you are going to install switches into the feeds to the speakers then you will need to ensure that the impedance of the speaker load does not end up below the amps minimum load.

 

[Scratch Music]

Did you get sorted?

 

[uksparks]

I've got a good idea that i have done in my house, give me a min and I'll dig out what I did as I emailed it to someone else

 

[uksparks]

Just for your information should anyone want a “Cheap Alternative” to a Sonos system, this little combination that I have thought of seems to work very well, obviously you know what a Sonos system can do, but this does the following.

Using Google Play, or any other compatible App, you can for example go on your phone, select a song to play, or playlist etc, and then select which Chromecast you want it to come out of, so you label them all, so Dining Room, Kitchen Etc..., and it plays, simple as that. If you want to, you can plug them into the TV and it displays the audio data image, the CD cover, who it is etc playing.

Anyway, this is what you need.

1. 1x Google Chromecast...................£30.00
Google Chromecast HDMI Streaming Media Player: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

2. 1x HDMI to RCA converter..............£9.85 1080P HDMI to AV 3 RCA Composite CVBS S-Video Converter Adapter PS3 SKY HDTV DVD | eBay

3. 1x RCA to 3.5mm Jack Lead............£0.99p
3.5mm Stereo Jack to 2 x RCA Twin Phono Aux Audio Cable Lead 1m 2m 3m 5m 10m 17m | eBay

4. 1x Small amplifier (or one of your choice)...................£8.89
40W 12V Mini Hi-Fi Stereo Amplifier Amp Radio MP3 for Car Motorcycle Boat Home | eBay

5. 1x Stereo speaker or pair of mono speakers

All you do is plug the Chromecast unit into the HDMI to RCA converter, then use the RCA to 3.5mm lead to plug it into the amplifier, then plug the amp into the speakers. Obviously the amp is considerably cheaper that what you would recommend, however, it does seem to work rather well.

I have done this across multiple treatment rooms in my sister in laws salon, and also in my own home in the Kitchen, both bathrooms, main bedroom and lounge. Like I said, this is not a high end audio system, but the quality of the sound entering the AMP is top notch, so if you want to bang a £200 amp on the end feel free, but i'd say its pointless.


Think about it, you can have a cheap solution like this in all the main areas of your house, for example, in the bedrooms, kitchen lounge etc, and you can control them all from ONE device if you need to or you can do it from any mobile phone or tablet.

The app you need on your phone for access to 33 million tracks is Google Play, or you can use Google Movies and TV if you want to push tv etc to a screen. If you want to control all zones from one device, just use Google Chrome on your computer, all you do is open a new tab in Chrome, open Google Play and select a song and then click the Chromecast button and select which room to play to, then repeat the process for each room if desired.

When using the phone or PC to control the zones, you dont have to have the app open, you can lock your phone, minimise the app and use other things at the same time.

What do you think? Its not bad is it when you think how much the alternative is, yeah ok Sonos is very good and does a lot more, but, this is a good compromise. Like I say, this is a totally different system and cannot really compare totally on the quality side of things, but if you used a quality amp and speakers, then you will have no different quality in sound i would imagine.

The Chromecast things use your WIFI by the way, so you need a good signal.

 

[DPG]

Low impedance speakers are not very well suited to long cable runs - this is why PA systems generally use a '100V line' system, where the transmission voltage is sent out at high voltage and transformed back down at each speaker.
I agree with the above comments - go for something more high tech. Or just buy 1 decent Bluetooth speaker with a card slot and internet radio and take it wherever you go. This way you even get sound in the garden, garage or anywhere. Daz