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Setup question

#1
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12/23/07 at 4:37am
  • Joined: December 2007
  • Post Count: 1
I'm about to be doing some home renovations. We'd like to put a central stereo system in the home with speakers in 6 rooms. We'd also like to put a home theater in one larger room with HDTV and surround sound. So we're at this point on being confused.

- can we use one system to control everything (both the stereo throughout the home and the HDTV system)?

- if all speakers will be in the ceiling, can you achieve good surround sound?

- can you have two systems - one to control the rest of the home system and another to control the hdtv surround system but still use the surround speakers, if needed, to play music throughout the home?

i'm a newbie but appreciate the help. thanks!
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#2
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12/24/07 at 8:05am
  • Joined: August 2000
  • Location: Southaven, MS
  • Post Count: 4,494

Re: Setup question

Quote:
Originally Posted by hollywood1
- can we use one system to control everything (both the stereo throughout the home and the HDTV system)?
What do you mean by "one system"? Once receiver? One remote?

[quote=hollywood1- if all speakers will be in the ceiling, can you achieve good surround sound?[/QUOTE] My personal opinion - no. You are sacrificing the quality of a good bookshelf or floor standing speaker for looks. But if that's all your wife will let you use, then turn in your man card and install them. Make sure they have tweeters that you can aim. At least that will help.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hollywood1
- can you have two systems - one to control the rest of the home system and another to control the hdtv surround system but still use the surround speakers, if needed, to play music throughout the home?
So you want to connect speakers for 6 rooms to the surround outputs of a receiver? That won't work. For 6 rooms, you need to determine the number of speakers you want to use. Then find a amp or amps that can drive a low impedance load. Also you need to figure out how you will use the system. How many sources do you want to have? Satellite radio, terrestrial radio, CD, etc. Do you want each room to have independant access to each source? Do you want each room to have its own volume control? Will these be wal mounted like a light switch? Source control the same? Or will you just use a remote in each room for volume and source control? Will the theater room sound system be used at the same time as the whole house audio?

Parts Express and Smart Home are two of many sites that have parts for whole house audio system. There are also A/V receivers that are dual zone. You can use them to drive a 2nd set of speakers in another room or drive a set of amp to power multiple sets of speakers.

-Robert
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