multi room

[blake floyds]

Hi
I am building a house and i would like sky and music in 7 rooms i would like speakers in the ceiling but i want all the boxes in one place

can any one tell me what cables to run for the remote , hd picture , and how many sky boxes will i need

thanks

 

[ChrisFrost]

That's a "How long is a piece of string" question. It depends largely on your budget, your expectations of sound quality, on who's distribution hub you choose, and on how you expect to control the system.

There are systems based purely on Cat5e. There are systems based on Cat5e + speaker cable. There are systems based on video & audio coax + Cat5e. The list goes on and on.

Do you have a figure for the budget?

 

[ericmark]

Simple is

but RF is not best way to distribute signals. Although digi-eyes do work and allow you to remote change channel the scart lead is far better way to connect to TV and the cost of 7 sky boxes would be a little excessive.

 

[ChrisFrost]

ericmark, I can't really see a customer putting in 7 Sky boxes unless they were totally loaded...in which case they wouldn't waste time coming on to a forum asking for AV advice; they'd just have an installer spec and commission a system.

blake floyds,
All of the distributed TV systems I've done have used two boxes. The most common choice is 1 x HD box shared for the main TVs and a Sky+ box shared for the smaller/casual viewing TVs.

Distributed music systems fall in to two main categories:
- background music (lower-fi) over Cat5
- foreground music (higher-fi) over speaker cable

Within each category there are grades of performance and functionality. The more advanced systems will handle video distribution over composite video/component video/HD on Cat5/6 and provide some form of control feedback either via basic IR remote or a wall mounted keypad.

I would strongly recommend you discuss your needs with a good custom installation company in your local area. Have a look at the CEDIA web site for a list of dealers and installers close to you.

 

[dbell1968]

If you're doing this yourself, it may be easier to split the requirements for the audio / video side.

For music, have a look at systems such as Squeezebox, Sonos or even Apple Airtunes using Airport Express. They are all excellent ways of achieving high quality audio in multiple rooms.

For Sky, you need to decide how many separate Sky tuners you need. You can add an Octo LNB to a dish as a relatively standard install which will give you 4 separate Sky+ / Sky HD boxes, but remember each multiroom subscription will add another £10 to your monthly bill.

If you only need 1 or 2 Sky boxes, and you want to distribute HD to all 7 TVs then you could distribute using an HDMI matrix like this:

http://www.futureshop.co.uk/gefen-18-hdmi-distribution-amplifier-p-570.html

You'll also need to consider how you're going to change channels from the other room,e.g.using magic eyes or an RF system.

Also you may struggle with long HDMI runs if you're going to 7 rooms. In that case, look to Cat5e / Cat6 distributed solutions

As you're doing a new build, then take the opportunity now to get every conceivable cable in!

 

[Donkmeister]

I'm going for a different sort of methodology, by attempting to prewire to cover all (current) bases. My crystal ball is on the blink so I can't wire for unforeseen standards!

For example, the bedroom equipment rack (sounds dodgy!) is soon to be equipped with something like 8 Cat6s and 6 coaxes. These are all run back to the central patch panels, which means that I can set those coaxes to be used for terrestrial, cable, sky, or a mix. If I decide to run an HDMI distributor then I can use Cat6-HDMI couplers.

I have also obtained HDMI cables and faceplates to be run locally, for example the bedroom TV will be supplied through buried HDMI from the rack, and the main server can be operated using the livingroom TV and wireless keyboard.

So, rather than putting a Sky/Virgin/Freeview box in each room, I'm simply providing a means to supply signals to those boxes.

 

[blake floyds]

ok I will run speaker wire to each room

But for the sky can i run coax cable and still get good hd picture

if i used coax for a HD pic can i use I magic eye

Thanks guys

 

[timtheenchanter]

why ceiling speakers?

have a look at the flat panel options if you really dont want real speakers, they sound much better than most ceiling ones, and you can incoperate them into the decor, putting pictures/prints in them.

http://www.slretail.co.uk/products/products_index.html

amongst others.

 

[dbell1968]

Coax cannot carry HD. For HD you can use either HDMI or ethernet (or component but not really viable)

Anything up to 32" will produce an 'acceptable' picture though on coax as long as you have a good strong signal. It will not be in the same league as HD but that is the choice you need to make. What are your viewing distances?

Magic eye will carry over coax, make sure your amp can pass the voltage through.

 

[blake floyds]

if I use ethernet
what cable should I run

 

[ChrisFrost]

Cat6. Two runs to each display as a minimum.

 

[Donkmeister]

You'll be using Cat6 (just as ethernet can) to carry the signals, but it won't be using ethernet signals so make sure you don't patch it into your data network. Keep the Cat6 cables for your HDMI separate from the Cat6 cables for your data network!

Google for "HDMI balun" and you'll find plenty of HDMI-Cat6 converters to choose from, as well as matrix switches that input HDMI and output to several sets of Cat6.

Balun is a contraction of "balanced line - unbalanced line", as Cat6 cable is a balanced line and HDMI cable is an unbalanced line.

 

[blake floyds]

i think I know what to run now but what about the remote if I am going to use cat 6 cable for my picture
Can i use cat 6 and a face plate for the remote control and do you know any good makes

 

[blake floyds]

can i use cat 6 cable for the picture and run a coax and use a magic eye to change the channel
And what coax should I use for non hd picture

 

[russellellwood]

Very interested in this topic. Been looking at doing the same in my own house. Video is all sorted but for audio not sure really what route to go down. Not got a large budget so been playing around with pc based multiroom audio. At the moment i have 4 external usb sound cards running on my computer and running some software called xlobby. At the moment each sound card only feeds some cheap speakers, just testing at the moment. The plan is to have each soundcard feeding an amp then the amp will feed the speakers in each zone. My only problem with xlobby is its a trail and you cannot buy the software on it own. Looking at other software to do the same job. Will start a topic in the next week or so to show this project i am working on.

How are you planning on sending audio to different zones?