I need to change my TTS amplifier what's out there?

[Rotech]

I've been wanting for sometime replacing my TTS amp. Which I think is a overkill, it's a Harman/kardon stereo amp. When I first started home automation I picked the first thing that got in my way, but now I think is just not the correct thing I want. It emits a lot of heat and has a lot features which I don't use.

I would like something with a smaller footprint, with just the basic, bass, treble and maybe mids and ideally a 2 zone feature but if not its ok, Anyone seen something similar?

[Rupp]

I'm not sure how you are controlling your current unit but here's a very small unit. It doesn't appear to have IR control though.
http://www.amazon.com/LP-2020A-Lepai...tereo+receiver

[Extreme-Z]

I'm not sure how you are controlling your current unit but here's a very small unit. It doesn't appear to have IR control though.
http://www.amazon.com/LP-2020A-Lepai...tereo+receiver

I haven't got my project done but I bought I think 8 of those. In my testing they are nice little amps. They draw very little power when not being used (if needed I can get actual power draw for you). I also bought 8 of the $2 or so USB sound "cards". My idea was to put a pair of speakers in each room then with each USB sound card go to each amp. I could control what was played/talked in each room using Homeseer. I only tested it briefly but it looks like it'll work pretty good and the cheapo USB sound devices work pretty darn good good.

[Rotech]

I haven't got my project done but I bought I think 8 of those. In my testing they are nice little amps. They draw very little power when not being used (if needed I can get actual power draw for you). I also bought 8 of the $2 or so USB sound "cards". My idea was to put a pair of speakers in each room then with each USB sound card go to each amp. I could control what was played/talked in each room using Homeseer. I only tested it briefly but it looks like it'll work pretty good and the cheapo USB sound devices work pretty darn good good.

Aim glad you have them, maybe you can update this post with your findings. Something like this is what aim after, small and less power consumed. I read the rating and some complaint about humming. How is it that your connecting then to HS? It seams u live in Fl what part?

[Rotech]

I'm not sure how you are controlling your current unit but here's a very small unit. It doesn't appear to have IR control though.
http://www.amazon.com/LP-2020A-Lepai...tereo+receiver

Thks Rupp for your find. My setup is simple, Pc to amp. To speakers nothing out of this world. I do sometime music but primarily TTS.

[Extreme-Z]

Aim glad you have them, maybe you can update this post with your findings. Something like this is what aim after, small and less power consumed. I read the rating and some complaint about humming. How is it that your connecting then to HS? It seams u live in Fl what part?

Central Florida... Inverness area which is close to Tampa/Orlando/Ocala.

The Speaker Client can use all or specific sound cards. I'd just tell Homeseer to use only a specific sound card if I wanted sound only in one area. I tested this and it seemed to work well.

[AshaiRey]

Hi Hector,
I have designed my own wholehouse audio system and i tested lots of different configurations. All of them have their pro's and con's. My goals was also to reduce power usage. Over the years i found out these points. If you are like me and you want the audio be in the background or at a reasonable level then an amplipier at 3W is far far enough. And if you don't need 5.1 audio then most rooms have just enough at mono. You really can't hear the differens between mono and stereo if your tinny speakers are behind the same cupboard. So think of it as if you have a handheld radio in each room.

For my 1e version i used 1 amp tossed out of a PC speaker system that costed me a few buck.
http://www.domoticaforum.eu/viewtopi...lit=zmc#p36156

Now i have version 2 running here using small IC amps (about $2,- each) for each channel. More about this one here http://www.domoticaforum.eu/viewtopi...lit=zmc#p57258

At the moment i am experimenting with an XAP800 that i use for VR throughout the house. I want to see if it's possible to use that route for audio distribution so i can leave the parallel port for what it is. Making it much easier for me to find future hardware. And it will simplify things for me on the hardware side but software wise the complexity will raise.

[Rotech]

I didn't mentioned it in my previous post but I also use a ap800 in between the pc and amp. I currently not using the ap800 because I just moved in my home and havent installed mic. In my previous home it was working fine, I hope installing soon. But aim in need of a simpler way to amplify what coming out of HS and also enjoy some music, doesn't have to be something with hi fidelity but a least decent.

I have a hissing sound coming out of my speakers that I need to verify where it's coming from ( could be my AP800), but any how I need to down grade my amplification system. Ashia.... I couldn't view your links what where they?

[Rotech]

Central Florida... Inverness area which is close to Tampa/Orlando/Ocala.

The Speaker Client can use all or specific sound cards. I'd just tell Homeseer to use only a specific sound card if I wanted sound only in one area. I tested this and it seemed to work well.

Inverness , yea... I occasionally go up there to take care of some customers. Plz let me know about those amps. And what ave been your progress with them. By the way where did you buy those USB sound cards?

[GatorEye]

I use these:
http://www.amazon.com/Pyle-2x75W-Ste...dp/B001P2R1RW/

They have all kinds of watt ranges PCA1, PCA2, PCA3, PCA4 depending on how much you want to push. I've had them for several years with no problem. Run one for each zone.

[AshaiRey]

(the first link)
What was my goal?
Listen to audio throughout the whole house and audio only in rooms that are occupied.

What do I have?
1 House with many rooms.
1 Server on the 1e floor.
HomeSeer 2.x
Small budget.
Patience, lack of knowledge and an understanding wife.

Fase 1 - The conception
Because I had no idea of the problems I will face I thought that starting small isn't a bad thing. The kitchen, situated at ground level will be the first room to fix. I had already a wired coming from the 1e floor to the kitchen. On the server end I made a 3.5mm jack plug and plugged that into the soundcard of the server. The sound coming from the soundcard isn't strong enough to get a descent volume so in the kitchen I placed a small amplifier with a bass speaker and two smaller speakers. A small speaker set used for the PC for only 16.95 euro. I added a 'KlikAan KlikUit' YC-1000 switch and a MS13a motion detector to complete the setup. After I made an event and a trigger in HomeSeer I was set. When I enter the kitchen the amplifier turns on, WinAmp start with an internet radio url and music is playing in the kitchen till the motion detector doesn't see motion for more then 10 minutes.

Attachment 1


Fase 2 - Exploring
This taste for more. Next would be the bathroom, laundry and the dress room. Since the bathroom and the laundry are all tiles and glass the acoustic is terrible. Even a good quality speaker set won't do well here. Another point is that a bathroom tends to be a wet place so electric wall sockets are sparse and the one I have there is already in use. The dress room on the other hand muffles sounds badly. Adding these points up I decided to place a speaker into the ceiling without an amplifier, I found a waterproof ceiling speaker for 7,- euro that would fit in to a hole for a standard halogen spot. I pulled some wired from the rooms to the 1e floor. First obstacle ahead. Remember that the output of the sound card was the low and that I had to amplify it. I came to a point that I had to rethink what I was doing.

Fase 3 - Understanding the system
I had to find a way to distribute audio to the different rooms. To do this I came up with an SpeakerSwitch box. With a few relays and some other components is made a control to switch a stereo audio line on and off. Control is coming from the server via the printer port. I made a small application that can control the SpeakerSwitch and can be addressed by HomeSeer. I had 8 relays but 2 of them proved to be defect so I ended up with a 6 channel SpeakerSwitch. One audio channel in and 6 switchable audio outputs. So, back to the ceiling speakers. They need an amplified sound to be heard. Since I had 3 rooms with ceiling speakers I disconnected three channel in the SpeakerSwitch and I had to put an amplifier in between. I only need a small amplifier and making one would cost about 10,- euro of parts, work, time and there would be a change of failure. Back to the PC shop for another speaker set. This time a small 2 speaker set, 6 watt output and only 7,- euro. I ripped the print out of the speaker set, placed it in the SpeakerSwitch and connected the wires. Adding 3 extra MS13a motion detectors in the different rooms added also so much complexity that HomeSeer couldn't cope with it. I had to write a control script that handles the input and take the right actions by switching on the right channel(s) and if needed the amplifier in the kitchen. Four rooms done, more to come.

Fase 4 - Zen, and the art of bus addressing
Playing around with the audio system this far turned out to be fun and is adopted by my wife very quickly, she is pleased with it. I got permission (read: I was ordered) to do the other rooms also. With 4 out of the 6 channels already taken I had to make a choice with rooms to do. I had to pick two of these, the attic, the bedroom, the library, the living room and the basement. I didn't like the idea to pick just two, I wanted to have them all. So back to the design table again. Still remembering the wire from the server to the kitchen? That one is passing the living room too so I could split it there. Doing so I can turn on the amplifier in the living room and the kitchen separately while still using 1 channel... I took this idea further and extended that wire throughout the whole house. Just 3 wires (left, right and ground) from the attic to the basement. You just tap into it where you need it. The AudioBus was born and put in use. Now all are connected to the audio system. The ceiling speakers have an address of 1,2,4 on the SpeakerSwitch. (address 1,2,4,8,16 and 32). I gave the AudioBus the address 64 so the script will know that a YC-1000 switch need to be switched in this case. All rooms have audio now.

Attachment 2

Fase 5 - loose ends
Those 3 unused channels on the SpeakerSwitch were bugging me. I removed the bedroom wires from the AudioBus and added those as a separate channel to the SpeakerSwitch. Another channel was taken by an wireless weatherproof speakerset from Alecto (39,- Euro action price at Praxis). The have a range of 150 meters and now I have music in the garden too. Only one channel left. I can live with that for now.

Fase 6 - Fun parts
The doorbell. Just a bell at a fixed place in the house. That could be done better so I did. When the doorbell knob is pressed a trigger fires in HomeSeer. Now things get into motion. First a snapshot is taken from the current state of the whole audio system. Then WinAmp is silenced (killed) when playing. Next all speakers in all rooms are turned on and a gong sounds in every room. After that a gentle voice tells that there is a visitor at the door and that it is best to have a look. After this announcement the audio system reverts back to its previous state and WinAmp starts playing again if it was on previously. If that wouldn't impress the visitor then nothing does. Now I am experimenting the same concept when a important email triggers the system. But in this case only in the occupied room(s)

[AshaiRey]

(the second link)
I am very pleased with it but it have some drawbacks. These drawbacks made me start to work on a new audio system.
More ambitious and more possibilies - Zoelen Media Center v2.0

My goal was:
- Have audio in every room, garage and garden.
- Each location must have it's own volume control
- Each location must be able to select an audio source
- A Plugin to control it all

ZMC v2.0 is operational now. The system consists of 4 amplified stereo channels and 4 amplified mono channels
with volume control. These amplified channels drive a speaker directly in the room. In addition to that it have also 4 switched stereo channels and 4 switched mono channels (not amplified . All is controlled by motion sensors, HomeSeer and a Velleman K8000 IO board which was kindly donated by Digit on this forum. The system can switch between 2 audio source so each location can have it's pick. The system is able to place announcements to any single location or combination of locations without corrupting the audio stream to the other locations. I've created a basic plugin to controle the volume and the option to mute each channel. At the moment i am adding more functionality to the plugin.

Attachment 1

This schematic is just 1 channel. The volume is controled by a selfmade analog opto-coupler http://members.home.nl/b.vanzoelen/2011.htm#10. The complete system have 12 channel like these and another 12 without an amplifier. I just needed the first 12 and those used up all my DAC ports to control the volume. However the board have another 8 I/O ports left with is use to control the other 12 channels that are not amplified. They are very suitable to connect to another media center, amplifiers or any other device that just need line level input. At the moment i have no need for them so i consider as them a nice bonus for now.

[Rotech]

I use these:
http://www.amazon.com/Pyle-2x75W-Ste...dp/B001P2R1RW/

They have all kinds of watt ranges PCA1, PCA2, PCA3, PCA4 depending on how much you want to push. I've had them for several years with no problem. Run one for each zone.

How do you direct audio to each amp?

[AshaiRey]

As i have written about this problem too in my previous postings you can solve this by using x10 switches on each amp to turn them on/off when needed. I also discribe a more elegant solution too

[Rotech]

As i have written about this problem too in my previous postings you can solve this by using x10 switches on each amp to turn them on/off when needed. I also discribe a more elegant solution too

Thk you Ashairey, for shearing your ideas with us. I don't use x10, I use zwave here, I will look into this, good idea