coachj
Auditioning
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2011
- Messages
- 1
- Real Name
- J
I am remodeling a house for myself and no wiring is currently in place for anything. I am just about to start framing so I will need to figure out what my A/V situation is going to be in order to run the wires before drywall. Below is an explanation of what I am going for, and as a laymen, I have no clue about home theater or A/V, so if you can give me advice using as much explanation for all the jargon, it would be helpful.
First a couple of notes about my family:
We currently have Cox Cable and are heavy users of the Cox DVR. However, we currently only have one DVR/Cable box [non HD] that we use with an old 60"Mitsubishi projection screen TV [no other TV's in the house].
We also have one HTIB [New Onkyo HT-5300], but it doesn't seem to put out enough sound quality and I am thinking I will need to upgrade that as well. However, it may be the fact that neither my Big Screen, nor my cable box has HDMI. Or I just don't have it hooked up right. Who knows? I plan on upgrading to newer LCD's in three rooms.
One thing for sure is that my wife and I [and 4 year old daughter] have competing interests on shows and often we find that the DVR is recording 2 shows and won't allow one of us to watch something [like the UNC-Duke game].
The other problem is that when you record on the Cox DVR, you have to watch on that same TV and cannot go into another room [or I may be wrong so let me know – I have not discovered how to get any of the recordings off the DVR on to any other media]. We also find that we keep shows on the DVR for long periods of time [like Disney movies] and the space is usually running low for other shows.
What I would love to find out is if there is any way to have a system that allows me to record more than 3-4 shows at one time and watch them on any TV in the house, without using multiple cable boxes???
I do have a computer, and would love to be able to utilize that as a video hub, downloading or recording onto that hard drive, then delivering the audio/video to any TV/system in the house. Is that possible?
I am finding that you can buy tuners for your computer, but I am unsure if you can buy multiple tuners [to record multiple shows at the same time] and I am not aware of how those tuners would record without some sort of scheduling database so the program knows when to record.
I am running COAX to all rooms. However, I am unsure if I need to run any other type of lines?
Nevertheless, I need to figure out what to do so I can wire my home. Below is a description each room and what I want to accomplish:
Main room:
I am looking to make this the main TV watching area and anticipate having a LCD and system with full 7.1 surround system here. I anticipate this system will feed the A/V to that room, as well as feed A/V to the outside patio area where I will have 4 speakers [no surround - a large patio and the pool area]. If possible, I would also like to be able to watch videos from my computer [office] on the TV in this room [or use the computer as a DVR as stated earlier].
Patio/Pool area:
I will have two sets of speakers [or if anyone has another suggestion, I am all ears]. The area is quite large. The patio is 14x40 and the pool area is almost 50’ from there. I am thinking that I would want volume control outside. In the future, I may have a LCD here, but for now, no.
Master Bedroom:
I will have another LCD here. I would think that I will need another system to run the A/V in this room. I could use the Onkyo that I already have. OR, if there are other suggestions, throw them at me. I anticipate that I will want less surround here [maybe 3.1], and will want to have ability to watch from the recording device [either DVR, Computer, or from the main room DVR???]
Office:
The office will house my computer and can be the hub for the data lines and such. I will also have an LCD in here. I anticipate that I will have speakers, but no surround here. This is where I will probably watch games [I am a basketball coach and watch for my job]. Having the ability to record games and watch in here would be ideal, but I would like the ability to feed that stream to other areas of the house as well.
Here is what I want to know:
• Is there a combination of devices that allow you to record multiple [more than 4] shows at one time, store larger amounts of data in one place, and feed that recording to multiple rooms [not at once, but make a decision which room you want to watch]?
• Can you run multiple locations, with multiple speaker set ups from one receiver system, or do I need more than one receiver?
• Any suggestions on hardware for receivers, speakers, wiring, etc…
• What other hardware will I need to accomplish this?
First a couple of notes about my family:
We currently have Cox Cable and are heavy users of the Cox DVR. However, we currently only have one DVR/Cable box [non HD] that we use with an old 60"Mitsubishi projection screen TV [no other TV's in the house].
We also have one HTIB [New Onkyo HT-5300], but it doesn't seem to put out enough sound quality and I am thinking I will need to upgrade that as well. However, it may be the fact that neither my Big Screen, nor my cable box has HDMI. Or I just don't have it hooked up right. Who knows? I plan on upgrading to newer LCD's in three rooms.
One thing for sure is that my wife and I [and 4 year old daughter] have competing interests on shows and often we find that the DVR is recording 2 shows and won't allow one of us to watch something [like the UNC-Duke game].
The other problem is that when you record on the Cox DVR, you have to watch on that same TV and cannot go into another room [or I may be wrong so let me know – I have not discovered how to get any of the recordings off the DVR on to any other media]. We also find that we keep shows on the DVR for long periods of time [like Disney movies] and the space is usually running low for other shows.
What I would love to find out is if there is any way to have a system that allows me to record more than 3-4 shows at one time and watch them on any TV in the house, without using multiple cable boxes???
I do have a computer, and would love to be able to utilize that as a video hub, downloading or recording onto that hard drive, then delivering the audio/video to any TV/system in the house. Is that possible?
I am finding that you can buy tuners for your computer, but I am unsure if you can buy multiple tuners [to record multiple shows at the same time] and I am not aware of how those tuners would record without some sort of scheduling database so the program knows when to record.
I am running COAX to all rooms. However, I am unsure if I need to run any other type of lines?
Nevertheless, I need to figure out what to do so I can wire my home. Below is a description each room and what I want to accomplish:
Main room:
I am looking to make this the main TV watching area and anticipate having a LCD and system with full 7.1 surround system here. I anticipate this system will feed the A/V to that room, as well as feed A/V to the outside patio area where I will have 4 speakers [no surround - a large patio and the pool area]. If possible, I would also like to be able to watch videos from my computer [office] on the TV in this room [or use the computer as a DVR as stated earlier].
Patio/Pool area:
I will have two sets of speakers [or if anyone has another suggestion, I am all ears]. The area is quite large. The patio is 14x40 and the pool area is almost 50’ from there. I am thinking that I would want volume control outside. In the future, I may have a LCD here, but for now, no.
Master Bedroom:
I will have another LCD here. I would think that I will need another system to run the A/V in this room. I could use the Onkyo that I already have. OR, if there are other suggestions, throw them at me. I anticipate that I will want less surround here [maybe 3.1], and will want to have ability to watch from the recording device [either DVR, Computer, or from the main room DVR???]
Office:
The office will house my computer and can be the hub for the data lines and such. I will also have an LCD in here. I anticipate that I will have speakers, but no surround here. This is where I will probably watch games [I am a basketball coach and watch for my job]. Having the ability to record games and watch in here would be ideal, but I would like the ability to feed that stream to other areas of the house as well.
Here is what I want to know:
• Is there a combination of devices that allow you to record multiple [more than 4] shows at one time, store larger amounts of data in one place, and feed that recording to multiple rooms [not at once, but make a decision which room you want to watch]?
• Can you run multiple locations, with multiple speaker set ups from one receiver system, or do I need more than one receiver?
• Any suggestions on hardware for receivers, speakers, wiring, etc…
• What other hardware will I need to accomplish this?
