ESS Power buy

[jackpod]

Yep an Akai model GX220D. I picked it up in the early 70's. it is in excellent shape and altho I have whitled down my tape collection to just a handful i still use it on occasion. I was fortunate enough to design and build this part of the house as an addition but now I wish I would have made the closet even bigger. it doubles as my electronics bench area as well.

[completelyhis]

I have a similar opportunity. I've been finishing my completely unfinished basement for the last 4 years. I started with excavating 117 cubic yards of dirt using 5 gallon buckets, then dumped 110 cubic yards of concrete in it. I've got the framing 99% done, electric and plumbing about 80%. I had to sacrifice 30 square feet of my theater room for the bathroom (waf compromise), but it will still be nice. the a/v closet is only 4' wide and about 8' long. its also where all my automation stuff is. Sometimes I wish I made it bigger (guess I could if I wanted to). But I don't plan on being in that room often, i think it will work.

good times!

[Snelvuur]

Btw, i referred to that receiver. It seems there is allready a plugin for http://************************/BLDenon/default.asp

Although it can use 3 zones, you could use that to feed the 2 inputs on the ESS and let it homeseer tell the receiver which input you want. Would be a nice combo setup imho. All those racks i see here is a bit much for me

Here in the netherlands its x2 the price for most stuff. Tsu9600 pronto for instance about 1300 euro here (about $2000 dollar)

[completelyhis]

That would be a great setup using the dennon receiver to feed the ESS modules.

[johnoc]

I definitely agree. I love the Denon, best sound I've every heard (but it's definitely the most money I've every spent of a receiver!). My only issue of course is my Zone 1 is for TV/XBOX/DVD's, so I only have Zone 2 (powered amp) to use for the ESS. Zone 3 still needs an amp if I'm going to use it for the second ESS input. I just hate the idea of having another large receiver (with all the heat, etc) just for TTS messages... Isn't there a smaller amp only that costs around the same as a receiver, seems strange that I can't find one... What about a PC sound card with amplified sound, are they available??

[completelyhis]

John,

Something like this
http://www.tnt-audio.com/ampli/t-amp_e.html
is perfect for what you are dealing with. Really small, great sound, draw very little electricity, puts out little heat. I bought four or five of them about a year ago. I plan on using oen our two of them for my ess...I think it may be a good solution for powering the line level out of an amp to the ess, or for those who want to go directly from the PC sound card to the ess, this is a great solution.

I have a few extra sitting around, if anyone is interested in them, I'd be willing to off load them for a good used price.

[jackpod]

Here is a few things to consider in deciding how to design a setup for distributed audio/TTS.

First decide on what speakers you are going to use, how many in each location, stereo or mono. The type of speakers and the volume (loudness) will dictate amp specs. Speaker efficiency and number are important. You don't want to have 15 speakers on a 1 watt amp, but you don't need an amp with several hundred watt capability either. For TTS I am using a 50 watt amp powering 11 speakers and I could easily attach up to 30 (with proper impedance matching). Distributed audio is a different beast. I have a commercial whole house audio system installed, the Nuvo Essentia which supports 6 inputs and 6 zones, each zone has a 20 watt per channel amp. I am using Nuvo in ceiling speakers. It is more than adequate, but definately not "rock concert" loudness. Another thing to consider is the quality of the source, if all you plan on using is highly compressed MP3's amp/speaker specs are not as important because of limited dynamic range and frequency response. In my case my cd's are all ripped as wav files (full dynamic range and frequency response) Remember it is clipping, overdriving and distortion that can damage speakers and amps. It is better to have more amplifier power (less distortion) than not enough

If you plan on running a single speaker in each room, just use an old stereo receiver using one channel for TTS and one channel for distributed audio

The T-Amp that Ian linked to is awesome and would work well however keep in mind the amount of wiring also plays a part in amplifier efficiency, wire adds resistance and resistance affects overall impedance. With very efficient speakers this amp would work well

[johnoc]

Jack,

Thanks for your help on this, I'm clueless when it comes to understanding all the impedance matching stuff... I currently have 5 pair of speakers in different rooms (including outside) which I hope to drive TTS message (maybe play music off the harddrive or via web radio) from my HS PC. Additionally (and this is where I get lost) each location already has an inwall volume control (the speakers and volume controls were already in when I purchased the house). So my plan is to not use the inwall controls (just turn them up all the way) and use the ESS remotely from HS. Would that cause any issues? And given my 5 pairs (maybe moving to 6 or 7 pairs in the future), what Watt amp should I really be looking at? I understand it has to do with how load the sound is and your comment around length and quality of speaker wire has an influence, but is there a general Watt that I should use as a minimum given the above??

Thanks...

-John

[completelyhis]

John,
Are the in wall volume controls impedance matching?
What size are the speakers?
What wattage (rms) are they rated to handle?
How loud do you typically expect to want it? (drive the neighbors crazy loud, or just enjoying music loud?)
Are the speakers 2 way, 3 way?

[jackpod]

John,

Now lets open yet another can of worms

Lets get some more details about your current setup. I have seen many times when installers put in an audio system they use what they call a 70 volt distribution system. If this is what you have, it can be used but it has to be done differently.

any chance you can take a picture of one of the wall volume controls? can you take it out and take a picture of the backside? have you ever seen the backside of one of the speakers? do the wires connect directly to the speaker or is there a small transformer?

I am not trying to make this complicated but too many times I have seen this to be the case, especially if the system has been installed for a couple years. 70 volt systems are used in commercial type environments

Jack

[johnoc]

I'm not at home currently, but I believe this is my setup:

Impedance Matching Volume Controls: I'm not actually sure, to Jacks point, I have seen them and they look like they have a transformer behind them, I'll try to take a picture later tonight if I can. They look similar to ones I've seen at Radio Shack.

The Speakers are 5.25" 2-Ways, I believe rated at 100 watts.

As far as how loud, I would say normal listening level; i.e. still able to talk to someone... loud? Maybe a little louder than elevator music.

Does that help at all??

[jackpod]

John,

The volume controls will have a transformer even if they are standard , if it was 70 volt the transformer would be at the speaker, do you have them hooked to your receiver now? Are they all wired together or do you have a pair of wires from each speaker. if they are all wired together the ESS might not be the way to go since each module controls a zone and well you would have to have a "home run pair" to each speaker

Jack

[johnoc]

Jack,

Each speaker has a separate pair of wires feeding into the media closet, so I should be cool with the ESS... I guess the question then would be what size of amp or receiver would I need to drive each of the 5-7 pairs?

[jackpod]

I would get between 50 and 100 watt per channel

[TeleFragger]

well id be up for buying a ess1 and ess7 off the bat.... rack mounted ones....