Wiring for sound - surround/zone questions..

techguy

Hi There.

We are currently at the pre-wiring (planning stage) of building our house. Walls will be chased in the next ten days.

We plan on putting surround sound in two living areas along with speakers (stereo audio) in the kitchen.

The source for all the content will be a media server. I'm just wondering where I would wire these speakers back to and the distance limit etc.

And also, can I use the surround system for music sometimes if I want.

--
Say for example, the kitchen. Where should I run these speakers to and how can I have full control of the music etc being played in the kitchen.

I suppose my question is: where do I run the speakers to and how do I select the source etc?

I'm a bit scattered here at the moment as i'm not sure how things can be set up so any questions would be greatly appreciated..

Thanks.

higster

First off...I am NO expert. Did something similar recently and has worked...kept it basic enough...
1. Surround sound in living room for TV. Bought a yamaha amp (see richersounds on boards...they will do a decent deal on amps) and 5.1 speaker system. Room is nearly square so where to put them was easy (four corners and under tv, woffer behind couch) Ran the wiring that came with the speakers under wodden floor and "up" through walls (no chasing as timber frame and had services cavity...think thats the right terminlology...)
2. Ran speaker wires to each room and put in ceiling speakers...lots of stuff out there on how good and how bad this is but works grand for me. Wiring picked up from electrical provider....not bell wire and not monster brand but again works. I control it with an iTouch & iPhone
3. Speakers are hooked up to Sonos system (google them, very good help forum where all q's answered.). VERY easy to run (but is expensive). All music is on a NAS hard drive and internet radio is a breeze (have all Irish stations)


I'm not sure if media player will do it for you as need some sort of amp to "send the music". Your surround sound..will it be for tv/music (or both?)

Goose81

techguy wrote: »

Hi There.

We are currently at the pre-wiring (planning stage) of building our house. Walls will be chased in the next ten days.

We plan on putting surround sound in two living areas along with speakers (stereo audio) in the kitchen.

The source for all the content will be a media server. I'm just wondering where I would wire these speakers back to and the distance limit etc.

And also, can I use the surround system for music sometimes if I want.

--
Say for example, the kitchen. Where should I run these speakers to and how can I have full control of the music etc being played in the kitchen.

I suppose my question is: where do I run the speakers to and how do I select the source etc?

I'm a bit scattered here at the moment as i'm not sure how things can be set up so any questions would be greatly appreciated..

Thanks.

Ok,well for surround sound you have to choices 5.1 or 7.1
Most people have 5.1 but if you are wiring it up you may as well do 7.1 even if you dont use it,just to futureproof it.You can find images online of how a 7.1 setup would look.

5.1=5 speaker and one sub
7.1= 7 speakers and 1 sub

Below is a picture of a 5.1 setup


The centre speaker should sit directly underneath the tv and the front left and right should be in line with that.
Ideally they would be around ear level when you sit down the same goes for the rear speakers.

The wires will all need to terminate in 1 spot i.e where the amp and all the gear will go,maybe under the stairs or something.
This is called node 0.

You will need an av amplifier to power the speakers and you could go for another option for the stero in the kitches.
there are options you can use regarding different zones with amps but you could ask in the richer sounds thread as was said,the will sort you out with the speakers and amps.

You need to run cat 5 wire from every room containing speakers to the node 0.This wire should be beside your light switch sockets,this can be used to control.
And obviously the speaker wire all has to terminate back to the node 0 aswell.


You can listen to music on a 5.1 system,I do it but I set the amp to stereo mode,so the sound only comes out of the front left and right speakers and sub.

As for the wire,use good quality but I would go crazy,just dont let the sparks put in bell wire or something.

something like this will be fine

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/10m-Loudspeaker-Cable-OFC-322-Strand-Loud-Speaker-Wire_W0QQitemZ390076976161QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_CablesConnectors_RL?hash=item5ad2664c21

As for the stereo speakers,just put the speakers wherever you want,ideally in a position similar to the front left and right speakers pictured above.

You need to know exactly where the tv will go and the couch etc for the speaker setup to work,so it will take a bit of planning.
You should also consider running hdmi cables from the ground up to the tv height on the tv wall,so that the cables are all hidden.


Another option you could go for would be to position the speakers like the picture above shows,but put all the speakers in the roof.
If you go the ceiling route you would need speakers like this
http://www.kef.com/en/Custom/Ceiling/Ci130

and they will not be cheap,about 900 euro for the 2 surround sound room and 200 for the stereo room.

cantgetright

hey there goose
Iam at the same stage of my house
have the speakers wired for the 5.1 setup run to the amp (yamaha rxv365) then i have a hdmi cable from ps3 to amp and from amp to tv. do i need other hdmi cable for a sky/ntl box?
Thanks for help..
and... if anyone knows can some sort of ipod docking station can be used with that amp?
Cheers

Goose81

cantgetright wrote: »

hey there goose
Iam at the same stage of my house
have the speakers wired for the 5.1 setup run to the amp (yamaha rxv365) then i have a hdmi cable from ps3 to amp and from amp to tv. do i need other hdmi cable for a sky/ntl box?
Thanks for help..
and... if anyone knows can some sort of ipod docking station can be used with that amp?
Cheers

You will need another hdmi cable for the sky box/ntl box to the amplifier unless you want to unplug the ps3 hdmi cable and plug it into the sky/ntl box every time you watch tv.


This is the yamaha ipod dock

http://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/audio_visual/accessories/accessory_for_ipod/yds_11_silver_g/?mode=overview

If you ask in the richer sounds thread they would be able to get you one,im not sure if it compatible with your amp though.I would imagine it is but you would want to check your manual.

Another option would be to just get a double rca to 3.5mm jack and connect it to your amplifiers aux input,this option would be alot cheaper
http://www.richersounds.com/product/hifi-interconnects/cambridge-audio/aud100-3.5-1m/camb-aud100-2ph-1m

higster

do i need other hdmi cable for a sky/ntl box?

If its SKY HD yes to HDMI to amp.
If its Sky+ its optical/s video to amp...

Goose81

higster wrote: »

do i need other hdmi cable for a sky/ntl box?

If its SKY HD yes to HDMI to amp.
If its Sky+ its optical/s video to amp...

Of course,I presumed he was using a hdmi equiped cable box.

@cantgetright
If you want 5.1 surround from your sky you will need to hook it up using optical cable as well as hdmi because sky boxes cannot output 5.1 sound from hdmi,only optical.

cantgetright

Goose81 wrote: »

Of course,I presumed he was using a hdmi equiped cable box.

@cantgetright
If you want 5.1 surround from your sky you will need to hook it up using optical cable as well as hdmi because sky boxes cannot output 5.1 sound from hdmi,only optical.

Thanks for that
Have the optical cable there for the ps3, so will have to swap back and forth, same with the hdmi. Currys are selling 3m hdmi cable for €109 (bargain) See aldi have 2m cables tomorrow for €6.99

karltimber

Hi,
will give my 2p worth here
my setup
I have a wired -cat5 network in the house with a nas in the utility room supplying movies and all music thru a media streamer and an Onkyo amp and 5.1 speakers in the living room. Also a Squeezebox boom internet radio & music player in the kitchen wired to the naz. covers me for most

Your setup.
I notice on my amp and prob most others - that there is a second set of speaker connections for a 2nd room (only stereo) that could be used for a kitchen. but you would need a way to control the amp like a magic eye or have to go into the living room to choose an album - not really on.

most house builds use the Sonos sytems but they are expensive/

my only advice really would be to put in extra cat5 during the wiring phase - won't cost much. have you thought about a media cupboard - so have the amp & media streamer in a cupboard beside the living room - so you will just have a tv and 2 magic-eyes under it.

have a look thru avforums.com - diy cinema section - some fantastic builds there.

k

akaSol

@ cantgetright Just to highlight the RXV365 requires optical /coaxial cable for every HDMI source as its not a listening "HDMI" amp. The YDS-11 is its I pod dock but I don't think it works for the bluetooth version.
Also the "B" switch only works when the "A" switch is off so one set of speaker OR the other at any one time
@ Goose81 Have you heard the imbalance from ceiling mounted surround sound ? I love my KEF but only for the backs. Idealy inside the wall for directionality.
@ techguy karltimber ' s set up might be well suited for your enquire . A Logitec Duet music server , a micro pc / NAS drive , two reasonably placed amps.
Just be careful that they are 2 ZONE amp's to cover all eventuality's.

>Sol