Advice needed for multiroom AV set up

muckyba

Hi,

New to this game so wanted to get advice from the best! I want to kit my new house out with some multiroom audio where I can play Spotify, TuneIn etc. while also playing music from my NAS. All rooms have 2 ceiling speakers and there are 6 zones in the house, and all bedrooms and living rooms have Ethernet connections (so easier to extended strong wifi etc). I will also want TV in a number of the rooms, however only concerned about 4K in tv room.

All sound/AV cables from around the house run to comms room under the stairs which is also beside the tv room. This room currently has a cabinet which currently has no hardware (therein lies the problem and opportunity!). 

Audio: I'm thinking of setting up 3/4 seperate zones (of possible 6) to start with and would like to get an idea of what I will need for this? I was considering Denon Heos Amps, how many zones can these power? Is there an alternative that could be used to listen to Spofity etc. other than Sonos? Heos amps are expensive so I want to see what less expensive options are available.

Visual: I want 4 rooms to have sky access, with sky boxes located in the cabinet. Only 1 needs to have 4k connection which is right beside the comms room so hopefully not too much of an issue with that. What is my best option for getting the visual set up in place?

Can you recommend what makes and models would be useful for me to use? 

Thanks in advance,
Muckyba

Richersounds.ie: John

muckyba wrote: »

Hi,

New to this game so wanted to get advice from the best! I want to kit my new house out with some multiroom audio where I can play Spotify, TuneIn etc. while also playing music from my NAS. All rooms have 2 ceiling speakers and there are 6 zones in the house, and all bedrooms and living rooms have Ethernet connections (so easier to extended strong wifi etc). I will also want TV in a number of the rooms, however only concerned about 4K in tv room.

All sound/AV cables from around the house run to comms room under the stairs which is also beside the tv room. This room currently has a cabinet which currently has no hardware (therein lies the problem and opportunity!). 

Audio: I'm thinking of setting up 3/4 seperate zones (of possible 6) to start with and would like to get an idea of what I will need for this? I was considering Denon Heos Amps, how many zones can these power? Is there an alternative that could be used to listen to Spofity etc. other than Sonos? Heos amps are expensive so I want to see what less expensive options are available.

Visual: I want 4 rooms to have sky access, with sky boxes located in the cabinet. Only 1 needs to have 4k connection which is right beside the comms room so hopefully not too much of an issue with that. What is my best option for getting the visual set up in place?

Can you recommend what makes and models would be useful for me to use? 

Thanks in advance,
Muckyba

Hi Muckyba,

many thanks for the post and apologies for the delay getting back to you.

The audio is relatively simple and to be honest you are on the right track already thinking of Sonos / Heos - I use Heos at home myself as I think it sounds excellent however as you state they can be fairly expensive if you are thinking of running 6 rooms. To be fair to the Heos amps, they are actually pretty high quality amps as they are 2 * 100 watt with Analogue, optical and Coax inputs - on top of that they have USB inputs and can stream via wifi so when you look at decent quality Stereo amps the Heos Amp premium isn't so radical.

On the initial query - is there an alternative other than Sonos that you can use to listen to Spotify, again Heos is great for Spotify Connect - I use it every day and it works great ( however Tidal does sound a good bit better!)

On Q2 - how many amps can a Heos amp drive - the realistic answer is one - you could use an analogue speaker switch however this will both reduce quality and mean that you cannot control each individual zone via the Heos App, so realistically the answer is one Amp per zone. However Heos have now introduced a new 4 Zone Amp called the Heos Drive which is essentially 4 amps in one box - have a look HERE


On the Video front - Sky is undergoing a fairly radical change at the moment with the introduction of the new Q series STB's - if you are using the conventional HD boxes and want to site them centrally you can only send RF out over a distance which will restrict you to non 4K reception - the alternative is that you can run HDMI from the central location or of course you can run CAT5/6 over far longer distances using video balum to allow a HD / 4K signal to be carried from a central location - if you want to use multiple boxes in different locations you may have to get a HDMI Matrix - but you may be happy to keep it simple and as per your post above just wire RF to most points and HDMI to the local 4K site - however it's worth thinking about making the investment and getting the correct cables in if possible as its always harder to do it retrospectively!

If you are interested in a HEOS system or of course a HDMI matrix don't hesitate to drop us a mail directly and we will happily do you a package price and we will try to squeeze as much Boardie discount in as possible.. 

Thanks again and keep me posted,

ATVB,

John Mc & Crew  

muckyba

Thanks John Mc & Crew, very helpful information and good insight. The Heos range is what I think would be right for me to be honest but I was wondering is there anything else that could be used that may be more cost effective? Speakers in all rooms are in ceiling and have been in place for some time but can upgrade overtime.
For my set up, what would the benefits be in using the Heos Drive over using singular Heos amps? I just want to gauge how I can get the best set up here for my money.
 
Re: Video, how much would I be looking at for a matrix set up? House is already built unfortunately built but there is CAT5 cabling throughout. Would  CAT5 be sufficient for today needs and those going forward or is there anyway that I could upgrade without any chasing of walls etc? Any recommendations about networking in the house to ensure that I get the best performance from my set up?


Thanks again in advance,
Muckyba

Richersounds.ie: Brian

muckyba wrote: »

Thanks John Mc & Crew, very helpful information and good insight. The Heos range is what I think would be right for me to be honest but I was wondering is there anything else that could be used that may be more cost effective? Speakers in all rooms are in ceiling and have been in place for some time but can upgrade overtime.
For my set up, what would the benefits be in using the Heos Drive over using singular Heos amps? I just want to gauge how I can get the best set up here for my money.
 
Re: Video, how much would I be looking at for a matrix set up? House is already built unfortunately built but there is CAT5 cabling throughout. Would  CAT5 be sufficient for today needs and those going forward or is there anyway that I could upgrade without any chasing of walls etc? Any recommendations about networking in the house to ensure that I get the best performance from my set up?


Thanks again in advance,
Muckyba

Hi Muckyba, thanks for the post and apologies for the delay in getting back to you

Firstly, on the Heos drive, functionally it is identical to the separate drives, just all in one housing. The one thing with the drive, is that it is 19" rack-mountable, so would save space, rather than having the 4 separate amps.

With regards to the cat5 cable, there are systems available now that can carry HD and 4k signals over cat5, so with the right dongles, depending on the wiring, should be ok for you. Changing the cables now would probably be near impossible if its a finished house.

Have a look at http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/hdbaset-takes-hdmi-and-4k-further/ for more info

Any other questions, please let me know

Brian

corcadorcha

Any solutions around the matrix solution. (Over Cat6) What do people use?
Thanks in advance?
Corcadorcha 

Richersounds.ie: Brian

corcadorcha wrote: »

Any solutions around the matrix solution. (Over Cat6) What do people use?
Thanks in advance?
Corcadorcha 

HI Corcadorcha, thanks for the post.

For the Matrix, one system we use would be the Wyrestorm Matrix switcher - http://www.wyrestorm.com/node/121> 
You mention above for 4 rooms, so if you can limit to the 4 rooms, they have a bundle for 4 rooms and 4 sources, with iR control over a single cat5/6 which is priced at £1699 / €2359 - This includes the switcher, and all balons required for both ends etc

Regards
Brian

corcadorcha

Thanks for that.
I purchased ceiling speakers custom you a couple of months ago. Will  these work through an Amp with matrix. Any advice welcome.... Or even a steer in right direction
Thanks,
Corcadorcha

Richersounds.ie: Kenny

corcadorcha wrote: »

Thanks for that.
I purchased ceiling speakers custom you a couple of months ago. Will  these work through an Amp with matrix. Any advice welcome.... Or even a steer in right direction
Thanks,
Corcadorcha

Hi Corcadorcha.

As long as the Amp has speaker terminals on it then the ceiling speakers will run off of it fingers crossed with no issues.

We have a lot of customers use these type of setups and seems to all go to plan :)

Do you have a model of the amp/matrix you are going to use and I can double check for you.

corcadorcha

No, not really...
I have a marantz Sr50007 for one room which I bought and a Sony AV which I use to power 2 rooms for radio at moment... 
Bought the MA ceiling speakers and look forward to putting it in house... 
After that I am open to suggestions... 
Will be wiring soon and works like love some advice... May not be able to afford all at once but would love to be able to have plan in place both for sound and AV... 3 TV and 3 or 4 zones for sound...
Thanks,

Richersounds.ie: Kenny

corcadorcha wrote: »

No, not really...
I have a marantz Sr50007 for one room which I bought and a Sony AV which I use to power 2 rooms for radio at moment... 
Bought the MA ceiling speakers and look forward to putting it in house... 
After that I am open to suggestions... 
Will be wiring soon and works like love some advice... May not be able to afford all at once but would love to be able to have plan in place both for sound and AV... 3 TV and 3 or 4 zones for sound...
Thanks,

Hey Corcadorcha.

The Monitor Audios would run off either of the amps you currently have.

I'll need to seek some advice on the wiring setup for multi room via CAT5 using matrix etc as I have to say not my strong point.
Few questions:

Are the 3 televisions in the same zones as you want to have sound in also?

How many speakers for each of the 3 or 4 extra Zones - Are they for music or home cinema setups?

Sometimes it hard to spec without seeing the project so if any photos could be emailed to me at Kenny@richersounds.ie we can look over them.

Where are you based as if around Dublin I may be able to get some to your home to actually look over what is required.

Any questions please let me know.

corcadorcha

Thanks Kenny,
Project is still going through planning. 
I will try to put it together room by room....
3 or 4 zones altogether.
Sitting room: TV + 5.1 setup (Marantz with Tannoy) +4 MA ceiling speakers 
Kitchen /living room: TV + 4 MA ceiling speakers 
Bedroom 1: TV+ 2 MA ceiling speakers 
Hall/ensuite / main bathroom - possible placing the remaining 2 MA speakers.

We like to listen to music/ radio around the house. 
Having surround sound not that important in the other rooms with tv. Stereo will do.
Based on Kilkenny. 

Thanks for your help.
Corcadorcha.

Richersounds.ie: Kenny

corcadorcha wrote: »

Thanks Kenny,
Project is still going through planning. 
I will try to put it together room by room....
3 or 4 zones altogether.
Sitting room: TV + 5.1 setup (Marantz with Tannoy) +4 MA ceiling speakers 
Kitchen /living room: TV + 4 MA ceiling speakers 
Bedroom 1: TV+ 2 MA ceiling speakers 
Hall/ensuite / main bathroom - possible placing the remaining 2 MA speakers.

We like to listen to music/ radio around the house. 
Having surround sound not that important in the other rooms with tv. Stereo will do.
Based on Kilkenny. 

Thanks for your help.
Corcadorcha.

Hey Corcadorcha.

I haven't forgotten about you :)

corcadorcha

No problem. 

Thanks

Richersounds.ie: Brian

corcadorcha wrote: »

No problem. 

Thanks

HI Corcadorcha, 

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you.
With regards to the Cat5 Matrix, really all you would need is a single CAT5 to each TV point, leading back to a central point in Utility room/cupboard or whatever for the Matrix
For your sitting room, I take it you would be using your Marantz SR5007? This can be integrated into the Heos system by using a Heos Link so you would have full multiroom capability in this room.

In the other rooms with TVs, if you want the sound of the TV through the ceiling speakers, this could be done, but the best solution would be to have the likes of a Sky box located at the Matrix point, and fed out to the TVs, and feed the audio from it into the HEOS

For the other 3 rooms, simply a Heos amp per room, and each amp could run 2 pairs of speakers if required (providing they are the same or similar spec speakers)

Any other questions just drop me a post

Brian

corcadorcha

Thanks, 
What would the cost of a 3/4 zone cat5 matrix be? Would I be as well putting the Marantz with the matrix in utility room?
Ceiling speakers are the ones I bought off you at an excellent price!!! are MA ProIC65 's . Have 10 of them.
Is it possible to connect 2 pairs to a Heos amp? Would be great if possible.
Thanks for all your help.
Corcadorcha

Richersounds.ie: Brian

corcadorcha wrote: »

Thanks, 
What would the cost of a 3/4 zone cat5 matrix be? Would I be as well putting the Marantz with the matrix in utility room?
Ceiling speakers are the ones I bought off you at an excellent price!!! are MA ProIC65 's . Have 10 of them.
Is it possible to connect 2 pairs to a Heos amp? Would be great if possible.
Thanks for all your help.
Corcadorcha

Pricing for 4 room is as per the bundle in an earlier reply, this covers everything you would need for the Hdmi distribution at £1699/€2359

As far as placing the Marantz, if that is one of the zones for the matrix, you have the iR control to enable you to control the amp so yea, you could place it there, the only thing i'd suggest keeping locally in the room would be things like Bluray players where you physically have to load the discs, saves you running out to the utility room every time you want to watch a disc

Brian