Multi-Room Audio, Advice needed?

Jacko-uk · 12-07-2006, 06:25 AM

Hi Guys,

A few people have given me advice on how to set this up but I thought i'd ask you guys as from reading other posts you seem to know your stuff, so if possible can you guys tell me what you think the best way to set up the following will be.

Ok i've just bought a new house, and weve gutted it so far, its back to bricks etc and awaiting re-wiring so after thats done i want to lay cabling etc for a multi-room audio setup.

This is what i require...

I am buying a windows media centre PC to live in the main room of my house to store all my media, and i am buying an Xbox 360 to use as a games console and as a media centre extender for the main bedroom. Obviously this will give me the ability to watch/listen to different media in the 2 rooms. But what i also require is the ability to have speakers in the other rooms in the house and a couple of speakers out in the garden for when i have people round.

What i ideally want from this setup is to be able to have all the speakers in the house to be able to access the same sound source (from media centre) ie all 6 zones/rooms playing the same song, but then i also need the rooms to keep their independance when playing media from the main pc.

Now a DJ friend of mine has suggested buying a 12 channel mixer, but im not sure if this would be the best way to go.

So to summerise i need to be able to achieve the following

1. 2 rooms with media centre & extender play seperate sound as normal but need the ability to switch to play the same sound source at the same time.

2. Need the rest of the rooms in the house to be able to play a single sound source from media centre pc when required.

If you guys can advise me on what equipment i need, cables etc, and how best to set this up it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
Jacko

Wayne A. Pflughaupt · 12-08-2006, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Now a DJ friend of mine has suggested buying a 12 channel mixer, but im not sure if this would be the best way to go.

Puh-leeze. Tell him to try some dipole speakers or a TIVO in his DJ rig.

Don’t know anything about the windows media center, but it shouldn’t be hard to connect it to your receiver.

It looks like a plain two-zone receiver will do the trick for you, since it looks (like aside from the media center in two rooms) all you want is to be able to play the media center throughout the house. That’s not six zones, it’s the same zone (i.e. program source) sent to six locations. It isn’t a separate zone unless you want the other zone(s) to be able to play a different source from (for instance) the media center. It looks like the only place you want an independent zone is in the main bedroom.

If that’s really the case, that it’s really one zone going to the many locations throughout the house, all you need is a receiver with pre-amp outputs, so you can hook up the extra amps you’ll need for all those speakers.

You might troll around the Niles Audio web site. They sell all kinds of great gear for whole-house audio. You will probably want a multi-channel amplifier with provisions for in-wall remote volume control;.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt



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