Leviton HiFi2 questions

[DevinH]

I've started looking at future whole-house-audio solutions and so far I'm liking the Leviton HAI HiFi2. The main thing is that I want to stay away from Sonos/wireless system because I much prefer the look of recessed in-ceiling speakers. The thing I liked most about the HiFi2 are the zone Bluetooth remote input modules... allowing users to plug in any 3.5mm audio devices or connect a phone/tablet through bluetooth right from the room.

A few questions:

1. Does anyone have this system and have been able to integrate it with homeseer? I'm thinking of doing things like having my favorite radio talk shows automatically start playing in my office when they come on. Having a music based alarm clock in our bedroom, or possibly triggering music in a zone if the room's z-wave motion detector is tripped.
   
2. I already have my zones pre-wired with speaker wire from the zone ceilings to the basement where the board will go. But I don't have ethernet run to the wall locations where the volume keypads will go. I was talking to a local home theater installer and he said that it doesn't sound like my speaker pre-wire would work with this system because the amplification would occur at the keypad locations... meaning I would need the speaker wire to go from the ceiling, to the keypad location, instead of going directly to the basement. I took another look at the diagram, and it doesn't appear that is the case. Can anyone set the record straight for me?
   
3. Are there any other whole-house-audio systems you'd recommend or think I should take a look at instead of the HiFi2?

[Rupp]

Don't forget that Sonos has the Connect Amp that you can use to connect your own speakers and the upper end Sonos speaker has line-in inputs as well.

[DevinH]

Don't forget that Sonos has the Connect Amp that you can use to connect your own speakers and the upper end Sonos speaker has line-in inputs as well.

I wasn't aware of that product, looks interesting. From what I can tell, each amp is powers just one set of speakers? At $500 each, that could get pretty expensive for eight zones. That, and I would end up with eight stacked on top of each other in the basement.

[Daweeze]

Hello,

I have HiFi v1.0. Essentially the v2.0 really just changes the format of the wall keypad control (ethernet to controller) to an OLED Display, push buttons instead of rotating knob and ability to display Song information when used with a compatible source. It also adds an integrated power supply whereas I instead have two power bricks for the v1.0 unit and Ethernet Connectivity. It houses up to 8 digital amplifier cards, each of which is stereo and powers (via speaker cable) a single set of speakers (I ran a single dual voice coil speaker in each room). It has a paging input and relay controlled paging control. I am using my HAI OmniPro II to control my v1.0 unit it right now but I have hopes down the road for someone to develop an HS Plug-In for it as it can be controlled via Serial. So here's some info to try to clarify how it hooks up.

Speakers: Home Run 14-16awg Stereo/4c Speaker cable from HiFi 2.0 to the Zone Speakers (8 Zones = 16 Speakers or 8 Dual Voice-Coil Speakers)

Input/IR Tx Module: Cat5e/Cat6 Ethernet Cable from Module to the HiFi 2.0.

Wall Control Module: Volume/IR Rx, Etc.....Cat5e/Cat6 Ethernet Cable from Module to the HiFi 2.0.

Hope this helps!

-Travis

[DevinH]

So here's some info to try to clarify how it hooks up.

Speakers: Home Run 14-16awg Stereo/4c Speaker cable from HiFi 2.0 to the Zone Speakers (8 Zones = 16 Speakers or 8 Dual Voice-Coil Speakers)

Input/IR Tx Module: Cat5e/Cat6 Ethernet Cable from Module to the HiFi 2.0.

Wall Control Module: Volume/IR Rx, Etc.....Cat5e/Cat6 Ethernet Cable from Module to the HiFi 2.0.

Hope this helps!

-Travis

Thanks Travis, that helps a lot. I just read through the installation manual and it coincides with everything you said. I'm thinking the home theater guy I talked to might have assumed that it was similar to other systems he's installed which required the speakers to connected to the keypads in order for the keypads to control the volume.

[DevinH]

but I have hopes down the road for someone to develop an HS Plug-In for it as it can be controlled via Serial.

I'm looking at the HiFi2 Serial API right now. Looks pretty simple. I bet it's mostly the same for the HiFi1