Hi,

Hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

I am doing home remodeling. While at it I decided to redo my wiring for A/V
distribution. I ran RG-6 (x2). CAT-5 (x2) and speaker wire from each room
we are remodeling and brought each individual line back to a central
electrical room in the house. I didn't run anything like S-Video or RCA
cableing.

I would like music and video in each room.

I have 2 satellite boxes (from the same provider) and am going to add a 3rd
from a different provider. I also have a CD player and DVD and VCR but am
questioning the real-life useability of having DVD/VCR centralized. The CD
player may be replaced by either a CD "jukebox" or put onto a computer HD in
the future.

I want to do this on the "cheap" for now but not so cheap that I am totally
wasting my money.

So where do I go from here? Any guides?

I live outside of Toronto, Canada in case anyone can recommend someplace I
can visit or buy from directly.

Thanks.

Alan

Maybe you can get with the same money a dvd player for each room.After all
they sell only for 50 euro (here) and calculating what the electrician would
charge you for this type of wiring you could get 2 dvd players with cruise
control.

--
Tzortzakakis Dimitriïs
major in electrical engineering, freelance electrician
FH von Iraklion-Kreta, freiberuflicher Elektriker
dimtzort AT otenet DOT gr
Ï "Alan" Ýãñáøå óôï ìÞíõìá
. ..
Hi,

Hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

I am doing home remodeling. While at it I decided to redo my wiring for
A/V
distribution. I ran RG-6 (x2). CAT-5 (x2) and speaker wire from each room
we are remodeling and brought each individual line back to a central
electrical room in the house. I didn't run anything like S-Video or RCA
cableing.

I would like music and video in each room.

I have 2 satellite boxes (from the same provider) and am going to add a
3rd
from a different provider. I also have a CD player and DVD and VCR but am
questioning the real-life useability of having DVD/VCR centralized. The
CD
player may be replaced by either a CD "jukebox" or put onto a computer HD
in
the future.

I want to do this on the "cheap" for now but not so cheap that I am
totally
wasting my money.

So where do I go from here? Any guides?

I live outside of Toronto, Canada in case anyone can recommend someplace I
can visit or buy from directly.

Thanks.

Alan

In , on 12/05/04
at 08:52 PM, "Alan" said:

Hi,

Hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

I am doing home remodeling. While at it I decided to redo my wiring
for A/V distribution. I ran RG-6 (x2). CAT-5 (x2) and speaker wire
from each room we are remodeling and brought each individual line
back to a central electrical room in the house. I didn't run
anything like S-Video or RCA cableing.

I would like music and video in each room.

I have 2 satellite boxes (from the same provider) and am going to add
a 3rd from a different provider. I also have a CD player and DVD and
VCR but am questioning the real-life useability of having DVD/VCR
centralized. The CD player may be replaced by either a CD "jukebox"
or put onto a computer HD in the future.

At the moment, there are a daunting number of options, more every week.

In your case, a satellite "multi-switch" (shares a single dish with
multiple receivers) is relatively inexpensive. Dozens or even hundreds
of receivers can be accomodated with proper design; eight or less is a
one-box piece of cake. (one must have run enough RG-6 lines to the dish
-- one per LNB.) There are also inexpensive modulators that will allow
you to distribute video sources (except High Definition sources) over
the same RG-6 as the satellite. It gets harder if you want to
simultaneously distribute cable TV and local video. There is also some
relatively new technology that allows component video to be shipped
over CAT-5.

A relatively inexpensive and straight forward audio option is to use
autotransformer speaker volume controls in each room (with or without
IR repeaters).

I want to do this on the "cheap" for now but not so cheap that I am
totally wasting my money.

So where do I go from here? Any guides?

In the future we will become more computer network based, but for the
moment, the really good systems are expensive and, while it's great for
the new generation of MP3 aficionados, old style audio types don't
appreciate the audio quality of the low end (about $200USD) stuff
offered by the computer manufacturers.

I live outside of Toronto, Canada in case anyone can recommend
someplace I can visit or buy from directly.

In the US, most higher end audio stores are in a good position to help.
Some may be snotty and want to stress having them do all the wiring,
others will be happy to sell you a bag of parts and, if necessary, some
consulting services. Occasionally, I'll see the autotransformer volume
controls in mega bulding supply stores. I can't recall seeing satellite
multi-switches, but both are easily available mail order. They are
premium products, but I've had good results with SPAUN multi-switches.

Multi-switches are easy to deal with. Just hook all the LNBs and the
satellite receivers to the box (sometimes there may be a setting or
two), and you are done. Make sure you purchase a multi-switch with
enough "ins" and "outs". You need enough outs for your network of
receivers and enough ins to do High Definition. In most home
situations, a 4-way or 8-way is enough.

Resistive volume controls (sometimes called "L-Pads) are cheaper than
autotransformer speaker volume controls, but the autotransformer
controls are far superior and not very expensive in absolute terms. Use
the premium type that offers to match impedances. (there will be a
discussion of "1x", "2x", "4x", or "8x".) In most cases I've had very
poor luck using the speaker controls with built-in IR sensors, but the
XANTECH units seem to be reasonable. I use separate IR sensors. They
take-up more wall space than the integrated units, but are much more
reliable. If you use remote IR sensors keep them *AT LEAST* four feet
away from lamp dimmers. If you are using Plasma TV's, the IR sensor
situation becomes more complicated.

-----------------------------------------------------------
spam:
wordgame:123(abc):14 9 20 5 2 9 18 4 at 22 15 9 3 5 14 5 20 dot 3 15
13 (Barry Mann)
[sorry about the puzzle, spammers are ruining my mailbox]
-----------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for the advice.

"Barry Mann" wrote in message
om...
In , on 12/05/04
at 08:52 PM, "Alan" said:

Hi,

Hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

I am doing home remodeling. While at it I decided to redo my wiring
for A/V distribution. I ran RG-6 (x2). CAT-5 (x2) and speaker wire
from each room we are remodeling and brought each individual line
back to a central electrical room in the house. I didn't run
anything like S-Video or RCA cableing.

I would like music and video in each room.

I have 2 satellite boxes (from the same provider) and am going to add
a 3rd from a different provider. I also have a CD player and DVD and
VCR but am questioning the real-life useability of having DVD/VCR
centralized. The CD player may be replaced by either a CD "jukebox"
or put onto a computer HD in the future.

At the moment, there are a daunting number of options, more every week.

In your case, a satellite "multi-switch" (shares a single dish with
multiple receivers) is relatively inexpensive. Dozens or even hundreds
of receivers can be accomodated with proper design; eight or less is a
one-box piece of cake. (one must have run enough RG-6 lines to the dish
-- one per LNB.) There are also inexpensive modulators that will allow
you to distribute video sources (except High Definition sources) over
the same RG-6 as the satellite. It gets harder if you want to
simultaneously distribute cable TV and local video. There is also some
relatively new technology that allows component video to be shipped
over CAT-5.

A relatively inexpensive and straight forward audio option is to use
autotransformer speaker volume controls in each room (with or without
IR repeaters).

I want to do this on the "cheap" for now but not so cheap that I am
totally wasting my money.

So where do I go from here? Any guides?

In the future we will become more computer network based, but for the
moment, the really good systems are expensive and, while it's great for
the new generation of MP3 aficionados, old style audio types don't
appreciate the audio quality of the low end (about $200USD) stuff
offered by the computer manufacturers.

I live outside of Toronto, Canada in case anyone can recommend
someplace I can visit or buy from directly.

In the US, most higher end audio stores are in a good position to help.
Some may be snotty and want to stress having them do all the wiring,
others will be happy to sell you a bag of parts and, if necessary, some
consulting services. Occasionally, I'll see the autotransformer volume
controls in mega bulding supply stores. I can't recall seeing satellite
multi-switches, but both are easily available mail order. They are
premium products, but I've had good results with SPAUN multi-switches.

Multi-switches are easy to deal with. Just hook all the LNBs and the
satellite receivers to the box (sometimes there may be a setting or
two), and you are done. Make sure you purchase a multi-switch with
enough "ins" and "outs". You need enough outs for your network of
receivers and enough ins to do High Definition. In most home
situations, a 4-way or 8-way is enough.

Resistive volume controls (sometimes called "L-Pads) are cheaper than
autotransformer speaker volume controls, but the autotransformer
controls are far superior and not very expensive in absolute terms. Use
the premium type that offers to match impedances. (there will be a
discussion of "1x", "2x", "4x", or "8x".) In most cases I've had very
poor luck using the speaker controls with built-in IR sensors, but the
XANTECH units seem to be reasonable. I use separate IR sensors. They
take-up more wall space than the integrated units, but are much more
reliable. If you use remote IR sensors keep them *AT LEAST* four feet
away from lamp dimmers. If you are using Plasma TV's, the IR sensor
situation becomes more complicated.

-----------------------------------------------------------
spam:
wordgame:123(abc):14 9 20 5 2 9 18 4 at 22 15 9 3 5 14 5 20 dot 3 15
13 (Barry Mann)
[sorry about the puzzle, spammers are ruining my mailbox]
-----------------------------------------------------------