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

[mackers]

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]

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

http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/vbull...ead.php?t=2995

[mackers]

thats great - thanks

[mackers]

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

[toscal]

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.

[mackers]

Much appreciated - thanks

[TimH]

"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.

[mackers]

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?

[automate-me]

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....

[mackers]

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