Building a new house - a/v options / ideas?

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  • mackers
    Automated Home Jr Member
    • Jan 2011
    • 12

    Building a new house - a/v options / ideas?

    Hi

    About to build a new house and I wondered if some of the experienced people out there could throw a few suggestions my way based on the requirments below? I intend to talk to our builders electrician and see how much he knows but I could do with some prior knowledge on options / ideas. I'm not that up to speed on all the tech, so please treat me like a layman!

    Put simply, the house would comprise 4 bedrooms, kitchen / diner, 2 receptions rooms, hall, landing, loos with TV's / audio in most of the obvious places.

    Thanks in advance!


    "Node Zero"
    I intend to have the following in one room / under the stairs and would like to be able to view the different sources on different TV's (ie watch a DVD in the lounge, sky in the kitchen and check the cameras upstairs) and with the option to listen through the speakers in each room:

    sky modem / router
    computer
    sky hd+ box
    media player (predominately storing movies)
    dvd player and or blue ray player
    cctv dvr (for 4 cameras)
    ipod docking station or source to play / control my music


    I intend to have speaker cabling installed in most rooms, but i'm not sure what speakers to get or if / where they need extra power / amps. 5.1 or 7.1, in the walls or in the ceiling, etc etc

    I plan to have cat6 installed throughout, probably around 4 cables per room all leading back to node zero (just to future proof) as this seems to be the only common denominator in all the information / installations i've read about.

    I have looked at Sonos the Nuvo Grand Concerto. I'm not bothered about having controls on the walls in each room - a logitech remote or similar to control everything would do ... or would it? The sonos controls seem very user friendly.

    I'm sure the electrician would know, but i cant get my head around how to distribute the video and connect to the speakers.

    I have been told to use an HDMI distributor, HDMI Baluns (behind the wall mounted TV's) to plug straight into the cat6 socket and a patch panel?

    Whats the best layout for cat6 sockets in a room? All in one socket or one behind the tv and one at each power socket?

    I'm unsure on power / amp requirements for whatever kit is best & the speakers and what type of speaker wire to use.

    At this stage i'm not too fussed about being able to control the lighting but would welcome suggestions on this as well as options to link it to an alarm system / cameras.

    As mentioned this is for a new build so no constraints other than money and I dont have any of the main kit yet!

    Look forward to your advice and thanks for taking the time to read through and post.
  • Geps
    Automated Home Guru
    • Nov 2010
    • 136

    #2
    Have a look at this current thread first. That seems a brief overview of most that will help you along.

    Comment

    • mackers
      Automated Home Jr Member
      • Jan 2011
      • 12

      #3
      thats great - thanks

      Comment

      • mackers
        Automated Home Jr Member
        • Jan 2011
        • 12

        #4
        Hi
        Had a good read through this - it seems there is a slightly different approach to mine, so any further ideas based on the cabling i intend to install would be appreciated.
        Thanks

        Comment

        • toscal
          Moderator
          • Oct 2005
          • 2061

          #5
          have a look at Abitana. There are other similar systems, I only have experience in Abitana.
          For sound have a look a Sonelco, the easy series is quite good and very flexible and can be fitted in conjunction with a Sonos system Also their Domo series is another option. See this thread . They use a twisted pair cabling system, but not CAT5 or similar, the Sonelco cables are slightly thicker. And its all colour coded, so blue always goes to blue on the terminal connections. The Easy series - Kit P8106 has speakers that look like downlights.
          It is also possible to do things like when you turn the lights on the sound system is also activated in that room. Sonelco's theory is that its better to have say 4 smaller speakers in a room that 2 big ones. Think of it like lighting a room with one 200W bulb or 4x50W bulbs.
          I can send you their basic catalogue if you want.
          IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
          Renovation Spain Blog

          Comment

          • mackers
            Automated Home Jr Member
            • Jan 2011
            • 12

            #6
            Much appreciated - thanks

            Comment

            • TimH
              Automated Home Legend
              • Feb 2004
              • 509

              #7
              Originally posted by mackers View Post
              "Node Zero"
              I intend to have the following in one room / under the stairs and would like to be able to view the different sources on different TV's (ie watch a DVD in the lounge, sky in the kitchen and check the cameras upstairs) and with the option to listen through the speakers in each room:

              sky modem / router
              computer
              sky hd+ box
              media player (predominately storing movies)
              dvd player and or blue ray player
              cctv dvr (for 4 cameras)
              ipod docking station or source to play / control my music
              If you can, plan for a dedicated area for this kit rather than trying to "make do". I started-out using the cupboard under the stairs but have outgrown it - re-pulling all my cables to a new location was "fun" (!).

              If you have your audio amps centrally located and pipe speaker cable to each room then you need to allow space for those amps too node zero too.

              Also think about noise, heat & vibration from this kit and whether you can located the room away from the main living areas of the house. This needs to be balanced with keeping cable runs short. You may need to include for hot air extract - ADSL routers seem to run particularly warm (my router has stayed under the stairs as it was overheating the new cupboard).


              HTH,

              Tim.
              My Flickr Photos

              Comment

              • mackers
                Automated Home Jr Member
                • Jan 2011
                • 12

                #8
                Thanks for that.

                We plan to build a study and put everything in there so hopefully will be room for most of the bits and pieces!

                I'm still undecided on the actual hardware but i plan to bring all the speaker cables and cat 6 cables back into the study into a patch panel.

                I am still unsure if i should or need to put coax cables in?

                Comment

                • automate-me
                  Automated Home Jr Member
                  • Mar 2011
                  • 15

                  #9
                  Originally posted by mackers View Post
                  I am still unsure if i should or need to put coax cables in?
                  How would you get basic TV without coax? Baluns are not cheap....
                  My views are my own
                  Works for Home Cinema UK, TV Stands, AV Candy.

                  Comment

                  • mackers
                    Automated Home Jr Member
                    • Jan 2011
                    • 12

                    #10
                    Hi
                    Thanks for this. I was wondering if I needed basic TV and hence the need for coax for example if i was only using sky and not freeview would I need an aerial?
                    Understand I need coax for freeview / basic TV.
                    Regards

                    Comment

                    • automate-me
                      Automated Home Jr Member
                      • Mar 2011
                      • 15

                      #11
                      Originally posted by mackers View Post
                      I was wondering if I needed basic TV and hence the need for coax for example if i was only using sky and not freeview would I need an aerial?
                      Couple of common sense questions to ask yourself:

                      1. What if you fall out with sky?
                      2. What if you r sky box fails?
                      3. Will you have enough sky boxes for the people viewing tv. I.e. If someone wants to watch the news do you argue over the channels as you don't have a back up option.

                      We tend to run 2x coax and 2-4x cat 5 to each tv location to enable you to pipe sky around over rf, pipe freeview over rf, internet, ir (maybe), and couple in case you decided to goto for an HD matrix.

                      Does that make sense?
                      My views are my own
                      Works for Home Cinema UK, TV Stands, AV Candy.

                      Comment

                      • mackers
                        Automated Home Jr Member
                        • Jan 2011
                        • 12

                        #12
                        Thats great - thanks for the advice - that was sort of the set up we were looking at and possibly using a sonos (pre-wiring speaker wire throughout).
                        Thanks again.

                        Comment

                        • audiofile
                          Automated Home Lurker
                          • Mar 2011
                          • 3

                          #13
                          Woud look at cat6 instead of cat5, gives you better bandwidth and although not crucial at present the way HD is going just gives you that little bit more future proofing

                          And agree with above reply, yes put 2 x coax feeds in as well in the event of system failure on any part, might drive you slightly mad with absolutely no TV, can't beet a good RF back up system, also allows you to chuck a few sky eyes giving you a neat cost effective way of doing IR control in rooms without control
                          www.audiofile.co.uk | Home Automation | Home Cinema | Premium Hifi
                          Branches in Cambridge and Bishop Stortford

                          Comment

                          • mackers
                            Automated Home Jr Member
                            • Jan 2011
                            • 12

                            #14
                            Thanks for the advice.

                            The plan so far is to have a plate behind wall mounted TVs with x2 coax and 2-4 Cat 6 depending on TV location (4 in main rooms / 2 in bedrooms)

                            Looking at future proof options too, should I cable x2 Cat6 near light switches or power sockets (potentially for control panels?).

                            I assume sonos would be a simple addition once speakers in place and wired back to amps in central location.

                            Thanks to all again for your interest and comments - much appreciated

                            Comment

                            • automate-me
                              Automated Home Jr Member
                              • Mar 2011
                              • 15

                              #15
                              Originally posted by audiofile View Post
                              Woud look at cat6 instead of cat5, gives you better bandwidth and although not crucial at present the way HD is going just gives you that little bit more future proofing
                              Cat 5 versa Cat 6 is a trade off between the cost of cable. Also a lot of cat 6 cable jobs we rescue have poorly terminate cat 6 connections. If a cat 6 cable is not terminated correctly to CAT6 standards it will not a true cat 6 connection - so i.e. the person might have well installed cat 5... I know it sounds silly but Cat6 is more prone to crosstalk and system noise...
                              My views are my own
                              Works for Home Cinema UK, TV Stands, AV Candy.

                              Comment

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