More fun with audio distribution

[rv6pilot]

My goal is to be able to have any room select from any a/v source in the house. Example; Master bedroom wants to listen to rock but office wants jazz and still living room wants country. I realize I need a stereo reciever/amp for each room but I have not found a selector that can truely send any source to any speaker.

Many threads talk about the AB8SS but that still doesn't get it done.

Any pointers, suggestions, swag ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks

[jon00]

It all depends on the number of rooms in your house but all you need is a stereo audio matrix with a number of inputs and outputs.

Kramer produce a 16 x 16 stereo matrix http://www.kramerelectronics.com/pdf/VS-1616a.pdf - that's 16 rooms covered!

Each output would go via a stereo amplifier to speakers in each room whilst the inputs would be fed with your audio sources.

It is just a matter of controlling the matrix via its serial port via homeseer to route any input to any output.

Please update your profile so we know what country you are from.

[jim123]

The Kramer product line certainly looks impressive, expensive and overwhelming. In my scenario (which I think is common to a lot of homes) is similar to RV6Pilot. I want to distribute audio to about 14 zones (10 stereo, 4 mono - for paging) independently from a several sources including AM, FM, computer voice, media server (CD/DVD terabyte repository on a disk drive), microphone (room-to-room paging), etc.

On the Video end of things, I'm interested in distributing mostly composite quality level signals to run-of-the-mill TVs also from a variety of sources including SAT-TV (2 receivers), antenna (VHF/UHF), CCTV (mostly security, but also some interior functional room cameras), etc. For these lower quality level signals I thought I'd simply modulate them to various UHF channels and run them down a single coax. However, I do also want to distribute component level signals between 3 TV's in my home theater and the master bedroom.

I think everything I've said is sort of standard for most houses.

Most of the expensive matrix switchers I've seen seem to do fine, but are expensive. Most of them also have an independent amplifier (for audio) for each zone. In my case, I really can't conceive of more than 3 zones being used simutaneously, so I kind of see all these amps idling as a waste.

Would it be possible to simply create an Array of Inexpensive/Independent Receivers - I'll call it AIR . This way I can parallel my various source equipment to a couple of audio receivers and do likewise with fancier A/V receivers that can handle the Home Theater and Master Bedroom signals. In this scenario, it seems that all I'd have to switch is the speakers and keep track of what sources are already in use.

Am I missing something?

[rv6pilot]

I did find this product after doing some more searches: AVS8X8 This may be just about right.

Any thoughts?

[jim123]

RV6Pilot - sounds like we're at about the same place in our system planning/implementation.

So in using the AVS-8x8 switch, what would be the inputs and the outputs?

I figure the inputs could be SAT Receiver 1, SAT Receiver 2, Digital Media Player 1, Digital Media Player 2, AM/FM Tuner 1, AM/FM Tuner 2, HS Voice, Microphone, etc.

And the Outputs could be: Stereo Amp 1, Stereo Amp 2, A/V Amp 1, A/V Amp 2, etc.

The only problem I really can't figure out is what happens to the outputs of the amps - specifically speakers. Would these go to a speaker switch like the AB8SS? If so do I have to "group" zones, so that I wouldn't be able to use more than one from each group?

Still figuring it out.

[dkindred]

Jim,

I just wanted to clarify something about the AB8SS, in case you may not have picked up it from the description. You can only have one audio source active at a time with it. You can pick which zones (8 speaker pairs) are active for the source, but it is not a matrix switcher.

--David

[rv6pilot]

Killed my high David.... So, do you know of any product (resonable price) that would allow IR switching or X10 switching of any source to any output?

Thanks

[dkindred]

Sorry, RV6Pilot, I don't know of a speaker multiplexer that is reasonably priced. I think most folks I've heard of decided to go with using separate low-cost (garage sale) amplifiers which they turned on/off with appliance modules. It wouldn't be fast, but it would be cheap, and with an AVS8X8 you could have up to 8 zones.

--David

[Mark S.]

I'm confused now. So does the AVS8x8 switch line-level or amplified signals?

Mark

[jim123]

Amplified Signals (Speaker Level)

[jim123]

Sorry, I got my product numbers wrong.

The AB8SS is the speaker switch that David was warning me about.

The AVS8X8 is a simple line level switch - no amp, no pre-amp - just a switch.

[dkindred]

Jim is correct. More information can be learned about the two products by contacting Ray Newman, the owner/engineer of the products. You can find his contact information at his web site: www.hacs.com.
--David

[Renegade]

You may want to check out the Autopatch line of products as well. They show up on Ebay all the time for what seem to be reasonable prices. Although the ones there now are on the high side if you ask me.

These are true matrix switchers, any input to any destination. And they can be had in up to 32x32 configs depending on what you are willing to spend.

[rv6pilot]

Thanks for the feedback all... I will check out the autopatch mentioned.

[smee]

With the AVS8X8, your audio sources would be connected to the inputs (line level). The outputs would be connected to amplifiers. The amplifiers would drive speakers in each zone. The amplifiers can all be located together with only the speaker wires being run to each room. This would give you 8 different zones, each of which could connect to one of 8 different inputs.

Using this system for paging was also mentioned. I'd recommend thinking about using a separate system for paging. For voice (either from humans or HomeSeer), you can use simpler, less expensive speakers and amplifiers in parallel with your audio distribution (as a separate system). This way you don't need to worry about switching them in and out (although you may still want to mute the audio distribution during announcements).