Home entertainment

[JohnnyF]

Hi,

we are undertaking a full rewire for our house and we are quite keen to install some sort of home entertainment system where we can have our music routing to different rooms but served by a central server/PC (or the like). We quite like the idea of the speakers in the ceilings and have seen the control pads that fit to the walls.

The demo we saw also had these pads controlling the lighting.

If we could get visual (TV etc) routing as well then that would be a plus.

My question is:

1. The hose is a mid terraced - with speakers in the ceilings would this cause a problem to our neighbours if the sound wasn't insulated (say any worse than a normal stereo)
2. The crux, we don't have too much to spend. Does anyone have any recommendations of a good budget wired product?

Thanks

john

 

[securespark]

We'd like a Roller, but can only afford a Kia.....

How much is your budget??

 

[Chri5]

Fully automated, multi room av is pretty expensive kit.

Then there all the control wiring, specialist switch / IR panels, remotes, passive speaker systems, amps amd main control units.

If you in to PC's, know a bit about MS Media, wireless routers and IP remote devices you could go the way of wireless IP- pretty sure that's what most will adopt in the future.

Music via PC and IPOD, used as a duke box, with remote room receivers to control TV and audio.


In the mean time, cheap and cheerful.

Buy a loft box of £60 and wire up all the potential TV rooms in the house this will give you (in each room):-
DVD fed
Analogue TV feed
Sky / cable feed
VHS feed
Digal freeview feed

Controlled via remote fed via red eye units in each room accept the main room, which will have normal IR remote control.

Buy a QED 4 way speaker switch and have multi room audio to the main recpt, the back room, the bathroom and a.n.other room.
Use 79 strand cable from an electrical wholesale co.

Run in some Cat 5 back to a hub location and you might as well star wire for the phones at the same time.

 

[RF Lighting]

We install the LexCom home automation stuff from SquareD


You get a sexy little panel like this in each desired room

SquareD


You are looking at upto £15,000 for a fully installed system

 

[securespark]

Tch, Rob! Can't you fit a square-cornered switch to match the control plate? How shoddy!!

 

[RF Lighting]

It wasn't my install.


The slots on the switch screws are not vertical



(It was our company)

 

[Chri5]

Well the cheap methods mentioned by me would be:-

Loft box
100m co-ax
Triplex plates x 5
£120

Qed speaker box 4 w
100m 79 strand x 4 rooms
£90

Telephone x 5 sockets
100m 3 pr
£50

Cat 5 x 5 sockets, f/plates
100m Cat5e cable
£60

Then there's all the work.........

Totally feasiable and all completely legal for a DIY novice to do, total cost of materials would be slightly less than one of your IR Wall panels

 

[JohnnyF]

15K - gees. That would leave us with 5K for the rest of the house!!

I went to the homebuilding store in Swindon (which was pants but thats another story) and there they said some people spend over a 100K on it!

I think I'll investigate what Chri5 mentioned...

cheers for the advice