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    Whole House Audio

    Hello,

    I have the OnQ/Legrand LiriQ whole house audio system, which I think is a rebranded Russound A-BUS, but I might be wrong. The system is limited in its opportunities for control, and I don't think its possible to activate zones from other areas, so I am considering an upgrade.

    Given that the house is wired CAT5 to the in wall amplifiers, then speaker cable from the inwall to the speakers, it would seem to me that the Russound CAV6.6 is my best option - are there any other solutions I should consider too?

    My needs are:

    iTunes as main music source, controlled by HS2
    Ability to switch zones on and off from HS2
    Ability to switch inputs on certain zones to another (non iTunes) input via HS2
    Preferably controlled via RS232/Ethernet rather than IR

    Any advice appreciated

    Thanks

    Jon

    #2
    If you're wired for A-Bus only then using the Cav6.6 won't work as it's a speaker level system, meaning the speaker wires come from the central wiring hub to each zone, as opposed to cat5 like the A-Bus.

    Russound does have a new system out that I think would do what you want but I haven't seen it yet to tell you for sure.

    Check out the CA4 system. It's a sort of hybrid of the A-Bus with some of the features of the CAV6.6 and unlike older A-Bus systems it is rs-232 controllable so that gives an in to HS control with other than IR.
    Marty
    ------
    XPpro SP3 /w HS Standard 2.5.0.80, HSTouch Server - 1.0.0.70, HSTouch Client 1.0.0.73 HSTouch Android - 1.0.0.2, HSTouch iPhone - 1.0.0.2
    Playing with HS3 a bit but it's just play at this point.

    Comment


      #3
      Thanks for your reply. I looked at the Russound CAV6.6 manual, and it has wired outputs, but also has 'A-BUS Ready Sub Zones' and 'UNO Keypad Ports' - I wondered if this meant it could be configured to say have ABUS on zone 1, regular wired on Zone 2 etc etc.

      In some ways this would be ideal, as I could buy just the CAV6.6 amp and then add wired zones if I wish or upgrade the ABUS panel to the newer panels on CAT5.

      Not sure if i've misinterpreted this though

      Jon

      Comment


        #4
        The CA4 does seem to be exactly what i need now however - and a reasonable price.

        I would be interested to know if the CAV6.6 can do what the CA4 does (i.e. work with the CAT5 wall panels) as well as the wired regular speaker connections - that would give me options for the future.

        Does anyone know if the CA4 can be controlled by any homeseer plugin?

        Jon

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by nojstevens View Post
          Thanks for your reply. I looked at the Russound CAV6.6 manual, and it has wired outputs, but also has 'A-BUS Ready Sub Zones' and 'UNO Keypad Ports' - I wondered if this meant it could be configured to say have ABUS on zone 1, regular wired on Zone 2 etc etc.

          In some ways this would be ideal, as I could buy just the CAV6.6 amp and then add wired zones if I wish or upgrade the ABUS panel to the newer panels on CAT5.

          Not sure if i've misinterpreted this though

          Jon
          That's a good question, I never tried to run the cav with only sub zones using the A-Bus. I suspect it won't do well since they are just sub zones and follow along with what the main zone is doing. At that point they are really only volume controls.
          Marty
          ------
          XPpro SP3 /w HS Standard 2.5.0.80, HSTouch Server - 1.0.0.70, HSTouch Client 1.0.0.73 HSTouch Android - 1.0.0.2, HSTouch iPhone - 1.0.0.2
          Playing with HS3 a bit but it's just play at this point.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by nojstevens View Post
            The CA4 does seem to be exactly what i need now however - and a reasonable price.

            I would be interested to know if the CAV6.6 can do what the CA4 does (i.e. work with the CAT5 wall panels) as well as the wired regular speaker connections - that would give me options for the future.

            Does anyone know if the CA4 can be controlled by any homeseer plugin?

            Jon
            I haven't seen them yet but according to my Russound sales rep you can combine them for more zones as needed. I do know the cav6 works on speaker level outputs except for sub zones that are line level and amplified at the keypad, the main zones are amplified at the source.

            It is controllable via RS232 and while the current plug in uses Rnet so it won't work, if you or someone here were script savvy it shouldn't be hard. Russound does publish the spec's I believe.
            Marty
            ------
            XPpro SP3 /w HS Standard 2.5.0.80, HSTouch Server - 1.0.0.70, HSTouch Client 1.0.0.73 HSTouch Android - 1.0.0.2, HSTouch iPhone - 1.0.0.2
            Playing with HS3 a bit but it's just play at this point.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by nightwalker View Post
              I do know the cav6 works on speaker level outputs except for sub zones that are line level and amplified at the keypad, the main zones are amplified at the source.
              Yes, and the A-bus subzone "shares" the source selection with its "master". You can select from any of the sources at the master keypad, but are limited to 1-4 at the A-bus A-KP2 keypad. The A-KP2 keypad has a "small" in-built amplifier and also "line-out" screw terminals to feed an external amp if required.

              Originally posted by nightwalker View Post
              It is controllable via RS232 and while the current plug in uses Rnet so it won't work, if you or someone here were script savvy it shouldn't be hard. Russound does publish the spec's I believe.
              Power state and volume level of the sub-zone is independent of the master zones, and as far as I know it is not controllable through automation. For example, issuing an "All Off" via a any master keypad in my setup (or presumably through the RNET Russound plug-in) does not change the state of any A-KP2 in A-Bus sub-zones.

              Comment


                #8
                Thank you both for your input.

                It would seem the CA4 is more appropriate for my needs - however, it is not currently controllable by Homeseer? If there is no hs2 plugin, how do you configure the zones? is there another piece of software that does this?

                Jon

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by nojstevens View Post
                  Thank you both for your input.

                  It would seem the CA4 is more appropriate for my needs - however, it is not currently controllable by Homeseer? If there is no hs2 plugin, how do you configure the zones? is there another piece of software that does this?

                  Jon
                  Jon,

                  These are the units which the Russound RNET plug-in supports (from the plug-in release notes in the HS2 updater):

                  CAV6.6
                  CAM6.6
                  CAA66
                  CAS44
                  ST2
                  ST2-XM

                  I'm not sure what the control options are for the CA4. Do I correctly understand that it offers an RS232 port for control, but that the protocol it uses is not RNET? If so, and you can get your hands on the protocol spec, then scripts or a plug-in could be written to control it as nightwalker suggested.

                  Don
                  Last edited by dschoppe; January 7, 2009, 07:18 AM. Reason: Not enough coffee yet for proper grammar

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Yes the new CA4 is supposedly RS232 controllable. It specifies RS232 as opposed to RNet. I'm sure the protocol is available somewhere as Russound usually wants people to have access for just these occasions.

                    I have to admit the unit looks pretty nice, lots of features the former ABus systems didn't have and more power from the keypad amplifiers.
                    Marty
                    ------
                    XPpro SP3 /w HS Standard 2.5.0.80, HSTouch Server - 1.0.0.70, HSTouch Client 1.0.0.73 HSTouch Android - 1.0.0.2, HSTouch iPhone - 1.0.0.2
                    Playing with HS3 a bit but it's just play at this point.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by nojstevens View Post
                      Thank you both for your input.

                      It would seem the CA4 is more appropriate for my needs - however, it is not currently controllable by Homeseer? If there is no hs2 plugin, how do you configure the zones? is there another piece of software that does this?

                      Jon
                      Like standard ABus systems there isn't really any configuring to do, the zone is whatever port you plug the keypad into, no software needed. They have provided a RS232 port for control of the unit so it is controllable by software, just none has been written yet.
                      Marty
                      ------
                      XPpro SP3 /w HS Standard 2.5.0.80, HSTouch Server - 1.0.0.70, HSTouch Client 1.0.0.73 HSTouch Android - 1.0.0.2, HSTouch iPhone - 1.0.0.2
                      Playing with HS3 a bit but it's just play at this point.

                      Comment

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