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    Whole House Audio System

    Hello,

    I just joined the Home Automation College so not much knowledge & experience.

    I would like to know which standard Whole House Audio System Forum Memebers have choosen or now want to go with a different one (please explain with reasons, why). I am planning to go with Russound CAV6.6 or CAM6.6 but still not sure as others are more compelling like NUVO, ChannelPlus, ChannelVision, Xantech, Niles...

    Some of my Main Criterias are-
    1. That it should provide atleast 20 Watts per Channel (all A-bus based audio systems provides around 7 watts per channel)

    2. It should have RS-232, So I can control from HS/Cinemar..

    3. Speaker Switching should be supported. Meaning, It should speak only to that room Speaker from where I am issuing the Voice Command by Changing the Audio Source Automatically. If I have a 4 source system then it should swith to source 1 (presuming source 1 is where HS speaks to)

    4. It should automatically set the volume to a desired level (Set by the User either in HS or in the Whole House Audio System)

    5. At least 4 source and 4 zone.

    6. Should not cost more than $2000 excl speaker.

    7. Any other important point that I may have missed.

    I have gone thru the Paul's forum posts and now doing brainstorming for the right whole House system. I have excluded all the A-Bus based design as I am not able to think of a way to perform speaker switching as none of the available A-Bus products have RS-232 or I am not aware of any other method. (please fill me in if there is a way)

    The choices I have so far -

    Russound CAV6.6 (Has RS-232)
    Russound CAM6.6 (Has RS-232)
    Niles ZR-4630 (DB-9, Is it same as RS-232)
    Niles ZR-8630AV (DB-9, Is it same as RS-232; expensive for me)
    NuVo Simplese (Doesn't have RS-232)
    NuVo Essentia (Has RS-232)
    ChannelPus MDS-6A (Doesn't have RS-232)
    Xantech MRC44 (Has RS-232)
    Xantech MRC88 (Has RS-232)
    Others (please specify)

    Any other that satisfies the above requirements to some extent or something really great that I am totally unaware of. Also any place to shop for these (Other than ebay)
    33
    Russound CAV6.6
    36.36%
    12
    Russound CAM6.6
    6.06%
    2
    Niles ZR-4630
    6.06%
    2
    Niles ZR-8630AV
    0.00%
    0
    NuVo Simplese
    0.00%
    0
    NuVo Essentia
    6.06%
    2
    ChannelPus MDS-6A
    3.03%
    1
    Xantech MRC44
    3.03%
    1
    Xantech MRC88
    9.09%
    3
    Others (Please specify in Post)
    30.30%
    10
    Last edited by shaurya; June 16, 2005, 05:32 PM.

    #2
    Sorry no advice here, but I'm very interested in this as I'm currently mulling this over as well. Thanks for starting the thread ;-)

    Comment


      #3
      Poor man's whole house audio...

      I'm in the OTHER camp. I'm going the route of a dedicated small PC with two 6 channel sound cards.

      Using jriver media center, I can have 6 2 channel stereo zones. I feed each the zone into small 30W amps and multiple 2way ceiling speakers.

      The controls will be web based and perhaps mainlobby down the road...

      K

      Comment


        #4
        Rx-v2400

        This does NOT meet your criteria, but the Yamaha RX-V2400 has three zones (1 being 7.1) it is serially controlled as well. Too bad there is not a homeseer plugin yet.

        Comment


          #5
          Kwaugh,
          Thanks for your post. Your approach is quite promising. Can you share your experience and pro/cons of this setup.

          Madmax,
          I am looking at the Yamaha specs to see how far it meets my requirements..Thanks again for your post.

          Shaurya

          Comment


            #6
            Ab8ss??

            Eight sets of speakers all safely and indivigually controlled. Two sources. Serial, X10 or IR controlled. $159 shipped.

            I run my house on one along with a vintage 1978 Pioneer 100W system. I can just about blow the roof off the house with all 16 speakers cranked up. NO LOSS of frequency range. One of the best HA additions so far.

            http://www.hacs.com/ab8ss.html

            Rob
            .

            Comment


              #7
              outbackrob, you bring up an interesting product. I've been looking at the AVS-8X8 (http://www.hacs.com/avs-8x8.html) and am really thinking about grabing one just to check it out (hey for the price cannot really go wrong). Anyway, I'd be VERY interested to hear from anyone who has used either this or the ab8ss. My biggest question is how to control volume of each zone with these products?

              Comment


                #8
                Hello Outbackrob,

                I have the same question that CaymanIslandCarpediem has

                1. How do I do volume contorl/mute from a room
                2. How do I change source
                3. How do I pause/skip/forwrd/rewind etc...

                Any insight would be helpful.

                Thanks,
                Shaurya

                Comment


                  #9
                  Volume with the "AB8SS"

                  On the AB8SS there is no volume control. It is an impedence matching switcher only. BUT, you can add a CHEAP volume control (I've seen then at $13-$20) to achieve what you want. I have a few rooms with a volume control for fine adjustment, but most are just connected directly.

                  Normally I control volume at the source. My ATI remote can control volume and actions for TV/DVD/CD.... and with the included plug-in, it will control WinAmp.

                  You can also control WinAmp via X10 commands (or web) using the SeerAmp plug-in.

                  For an eight pair impedence matching switcher, the AB8SS is a REALLY inexpensive (but well built) way to switch speakers. You'd pay far more for one that size at a retail store. PLUS, it is controlable via serial, IR and X10. (For X10, you also need the powerline interface which I think is about $20) The WAFAB8SS plug-in works GREAT if you want to control it via serial interface. It is much faster this way)

                  If you want to move up a little, HACS is just about to start selling a modular system with manual or remotely controlled volume controls. I just noticed these yesterday. Hmmm. Pretty sweet..... http://www.hacs.com/ess.html

                  Rob
                  .

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by shaurya
                    1. How do I do volume contorl/mute from a room
                    2. How do I change source
                    3. How do I pause/skip/forwrd/rewind etc...
                    1. You can mute by turning off the speakers in that room. Can be done by HS command or with X10 commands and an X10 remote.

                    2) HS command. There is an A and B source. BUT, it is one or the other for ALL pairs of speakers. Once source at a time.

                    3) Same way you do it now, or with a plug-in that controls your device.
                    .

                    Comment


                      #11
                      I'm a newby to doing the sound stuff but after reading some of PKOSLOW's posts and how his system is designed using the Gentner (ClearOne) AP800 system, I went out and purchased one on ebay for $138US.
                      I mainly purchased it for the mic switching but after realizing that it had up to 12 outputs and 4 aux inputs, I surmized I might have a fairly cheap speaker zoning system as well.
                      Once I pick up a few cheap amplifiers, I should have a pretty good system.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        steveinman,

                        You scored a great deal on the AP800!

                        I'm doing all my audio switching in the Biamp SPM723 and only using the AP800 for the mic mixing. You are correct that it has a very capable matrix mixer built in that even has presets that you can define. Understand that if you are working with stereo sources & zones, you will really only end up with 2-inputs (sources) and 5-outputs (zones)... you loose an output for your mic output.

                        If you go in mono, you do end up with pleanty of ins & outs.

                        I put my vote in for the Russound CAV6.6 even though I don't own one. I figure I've spent over half the cost of one on the home grown stuff I put together and it's probably only 25% as capable. Add all the time I spent to get it just right and the fact that all the gear takes 10 rack spaces as opposed to just 2 and I feel that unless you just can't swing the $$$ for the CAV6.6, it's probably the best choice.

                        Something else to consider with the CAV6.6 is that you can purchase the preamp/amp without the keypads for approx $1200-$1300 US... if you plan to have PC control with touchscreens, etc. then the Russound wall mount keypads aren't required in each area. You would need at least one for programming.

                        Also, don't forget the MainLobby plug-in that's available to integrate into HS!!!

                        Cheers,
                        Paul

                        Click to visit: www.sbsmarthomes.com
                        Santa Barbara Smarthomes

                        Authorized Russound Dealer & Installer

                        Personal HA Website

                        HomeSeer User Profile

                        Comment


                          #13
                          outbackrob,
                          The design you presented is very promising and tempting. I am now looking at it.
                          Can you throw some more light on any CONS of your setup that you wished could have been possible.

                          steveinman,
                          Your approach is quite tempting as well. However Paul has pointed out some good points of this setup that are worth considering.


                          pkoslow,
                          Paul, I am really excited to see you in this thread. (been wishing that you join the thread) I am also inclining on CAV6.6 but still just not sure...

                          One issue that I came to know about CAV6.6 is once it switches the speaker in a particular room and changes the source to the source on with HS is speaking, How does it come back to the original Source with the same volume level.

                          I am hoping more & more experienced people like you (pkoslow), outbackrob, kwaugh, madmax and others will join and provide more insight.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Matrix Switchers, etc

                            There are a lot of ways to switch Signals. The AVS-8x8 was mentioned. That will allow any of 8 inputs switched to any of 8 outputs. The CAV6.6 will do this, but only in a 6x6 configuration. The nice thing about the CAV6.6 is that the volume of each zone can be set via serial control. So, homeseer events can manipulate the volume. On the CAV6.6, there is an input that will broadcast to all zones which is nice for homeseer events. In my case, the CAV6.6 comes close to meeting my needs, but not quite good enough. I have a Couple zones in my house which require 5.1/7.1. I also would like more inputs than six. Therefore, I plan on using a 16x8 Autopatch matrix switcher, a niles SI-1230 six channel amplifier and a couple Yamaha RX-V2400 receivers. The Niles amplifier and autopatch do not support serial volume adjustments. However, the RX-V2400 does. With these two receivers, amplifier, and autopatches, I can do what I want. Seems like a fairly elaborate setup though.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              shaurya,

                              What madmax points out about the intercom input is true. If you connect your TTS output to the intercom input, it will interrupt the regular source in all the zones an play the TTS announcement and then switch back to the regular source automatically.

                              To accomplish what you're requesting, you'll need to connect the TTS output to one of the 6 regular inputs and rely on scripting to change which zones receive the TTS announcement. With enough scripting, it should be possible to send TTS announcements to any/all zones and then switch back to the previous source as well as manipulate the volume in each zone.

                              Saying that, I'm not aware of anyone that's doing this yet so you would be breaking new ground.

                              Remember my advice from a previous post... "baby steps"! Before you can switch TTS announcement to the room you are issueing VR commands from, you need to first get reliable multi-mic VR setup, and then get your tuning, scripting and hardware in place to tell Homeseer where you are speaking from depending on the mic gate status.

                              In theory the above are not too difficult, but implementing them to work reliably can be very tricky and time consuming... I've been perfecting mine for almost 5yrs now!

                              Paul

                              Click to visit: www.sbsmarthomes.com
                              Santa Barbara Smarthomes

                              Authorized Russound Dealer & Installer

                              Personal HA Website

                              HomeSeer User Profile

                              Comment

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