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Please Help: Newbie doing whole house A/V

#1
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2/23/09 at 7:43pm
  • Joined: February 2009
  • Post Count: 2
Hey guys,
I’m assembling a complete home audio video system, am in a little over my head, and have some questions. Attached is a schematic of how I’m laying everything out and below I have detailed everything else. (EDIT: haven't figured out how to upload pictures just yet...)

The Questions:
1. When the Yamaha Receivers advertise three zones, does this mean I can watch one television station in zone one, a separate one in zone 2, and listen to a separate music stream in zone 3?
2. Let’s say I want to listen to music (via Apple TV) throughout the house. Is there any way I can set this up with this system? For example, can I pass the audio from one receiver through to the other?
3. What sort of range do the Harmony One remotes have (RF)? Can I use four of them to run two receivers or am I going to run into some sort of an issue? Basically, I would like someone in Zone 1 to have their own remote controlling their own television while someone in zone 2 controls their own television.
4. If you guys can think of a better way to set all of this up (in terms of equipment) let me know.

Thanks! Great site!

Zone 1: Family Room
-Sharp Aquous 65” LCD
-Speakers: (2) Omni Mirage OmniSat V2
Zone 2: Master Bedroom
-Television: undetermined 42” LCD
-Speakers: (2) Polk RC60i In Ceiling
Zone 3: Living Room
-Speakers: (2) Polk RC60i In Ceiling
Zone 4: Office
-Television: KDS 22” LCD
-Speakers: (2) Polk RC60i In Ceiling
Zone 5: Gym
-Television: 50” Panasonic Plasma
-Speakers: (2) Polk RC60i In Ceiling
Zone 6: Patio
-Speakers: (2) Polk RC60i In Ceiling

I plan on running all of this off of two Yamaha RXV3900 Receivers located in the office. I need to locate all of the A/V stack in the office due to interior design considerations.

My (planned) AV Stack
-(2) Yamaha RXV3900 Receivers
-(4) Scientific Atlanta Explorer 4250HD Cable Boxes
-(1) Apple TV
-(1) PlayStation 3
-(4) Logitech Harmony One Remotes
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#2
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2/24/09 at 11:15am
  • Joined: February 2009
  • Post Count: 2

Re: Please Help: Newbie doing whole house A/V

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#3
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2/25/09 at 1:14pm
  • Joined: March 2008
  • Post Count: 106

Re: Please Help: Newbie doing whole house A/V

Okay. Simply the fact that you want 2 receivers and 4 different remotes presents a problem. As far as i know, all of the remotes and receivers cannot be linked together, and there's little-to-no expandability for your planned setup. As for your questions...

1) On a network receiver, typically, there are two zones for video and three for audio. Meaning that Zones 1 and 2 can be watching separate video signals and zone 3 only carries audio.

2) You could (in theory) use an audio out from the receiver and plug it in to a second receiver, but this can most likely not be controlled via Harmony One. If you used an audio splitter and split each input signal to go into both receiver, you would be able to listen to one source on every Zone, it would just be a complicated remote configuration. Again, this is all AFAIK info, i haven't been able to test it.

3) Harmony One can go around 100ft in any direction, give or take a bit depending on what's blocking it etc. I'm not exactly sure about RF frequencies, but i'm assuming each one needs it's own frequency if you don't want interference. Don't forget, you'd also need several RF-IR converters to accomplish this.

4) This is a very good question. If you have the money, call a home automation dealer. I am absolutely positive (if you have a good one near you) that they can accomplish this setup and have you up and running with remotes, touch panels, room control; whatever your heart desires. This market was created for people that want to go above and beyond what the consumer equipment can do alone, and you definitely have above average expectations for your project.
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#4
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2/26/09 at 6:20pm
  • Joined: August 1999
  • Location: Katy, TX
  • Post Count: 5,823

Re: Please Help: Newbie doing whole house A/V
Quote:
Originally Posted by GreenPlease
Hey guys,
I’m assembling a complete home audio video system, am in a little over my head, and have some questions.
Basically, what Chris said:
Quote:
This market was created for people that want to go above and beyond what the consumer equipment can do alone, and you definitely have above average expectations for your project.
Whole house systems are very complicated, and something like you’re proposing typically requires electronics from specialty companies like Russound and Niles. The options and capabilities are virtually endless. For instance, the one you’re proposing, you’d probably want independent local volume controls at most of the extra zones.

I would imagine RF remotes would be a big problem: Change the TV station in the family room and it’ll also change the channel in the other rooms, if they’re in range of the remote. Local IR control would probably be better, but that requires extra wiring and local IR receivers.

Like I said, these systems can get pretty complicated in a hurry.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
My Equipment List
“A nice mid-fi system,” according to an audiophile acquaintance.

My Tech / DIY Articles and Reviews
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#5
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2/26/09 at 7:18pm
  • Joined: March 2008
  • Post Count: 106

Re: Please Help: Newbie doing whole house A/V

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wayne A. Pflughaupt

The options and capabilities are virtually endless. For instance, the one you’re proposing, you’d probably want independent local volume controls at most of the extra zones.

I would imagine RF remotes would be a big problem: Change the TV station in the family room and it’ll also change the channel in the other rooms, if they’re in range of the remote. Local IR control would probably be better, but that requires extra wiring and local IR receivers.

Like I said, these systems can get pretty complicated in a hurry.

Yeah, i'm interning at a local home automations dealer now and i can tell you that it gets more complicated than you can imagine. Cornelius, when doing a project like this, you're going to need serial control of the devices and something like Crestron Adagio (or equivalent, this is just what i'm comfortable with) to get full-house audio. Your local dealer can give you tons more information.

EDIT: This is no longer DIY territory unless you're fluent in Automation programming and REALLY know what you're doing.
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