An overhaul is needed

[wolverines]

You guys have been great at helping me get to where I am, so I'm hoping for some more good insight. I've been away from the boards for several months thanks to a combination of - basement remodel, server meltdown and the arrival of #3. So I now have XP Pro installed on a new HD and will need to start the process of installing CQC (got 1/2 way through when the old HD went south) and all the other programs. Looks like I'll just go straight to 2.0, but that's for another thread.

What I need some advice on is my whole house audio setup. In order to be flexible and price concious I followed many of you down the home made path. Works great, but now the basement is being finished and my vision has changed slightly. I don't think my existing equipment can fully handle what I need. I'm hoping for some advice on what tweaks to the setup can get me back on track. I think the autopatch half-y is the weak link.

Existing setup - delta audio 410. using 2 outputs to an autopacth half-y, then to a speakercraft bb1265 amp. That monster powers speakers in the LR/DR (as one zone), kitchen and patio - so call it 3 zones. When CQC is finally setup - I'll use my laptop and a Fujitsu 3400 to control.

I now need to add 5 more zones.
Family room 5.1 system (even though it will never play anything different than the kitchen, it will have it's own receiver)
MBR
Exercise room
play room
basement family room / bar area (5.1 system + a bar area - I'm thinking a Denon here).

The catch - I don't have volume controls anywhere (WAF issue) so I've been using the software to control volume. I could go on, but I hope that's enough to solicit some ideas. Maybe I simply need the correct autopatch model. I'm open to solutions. The Xantech was my originally desired route but IVB made that too popular ;-). I avoided the Russound type setup because of overall cost, and because I don't need this to do video.

Thanks in advance.

[IVB]

Several thoughts:
1) Congrats on #3
2) that amp is a 12ch amp. Will MBR/exercise room/playroom each only have 2ch, so you can homerun all speaker wires right into that amp?
3) Do you need to distribute analog (from M-audio) and digital (for 5.1?) Or will the 5.1 source be a local source in basement/famroom?
4) Are you going to either have local PCs or serial-over-CAT5 to control those receivers? (or not put them under system control?)

What about the autopatch makes you think it's inappropriate for you? I don't actually know what the half-y is, but is it the # of zones you can support?

[wolverines]

Vivek - thanks for the help.

1-MBR, playroom and exercise room all will be home run back to the main "closet" so they'll be powered off the BB1265 (that's 12 channels - 65W per channel or 130W per pair of speakers).

2-I only need to distribute analog. This will be basic music listening throughout the house. I have an older Onkyo for the family room upstairs to do the 5.1 there. I'll feed the whole house audio to that to power those speakers. I'll try and control it with IR. Eventually maybe go serial with a new receiver there. In the basement family room, all that equipment will be in the same rack as the server and whole house audio, but that too will only be for analog when listening to music. The Denon would give me serial control to make things cleaner.

3-basement receiver will be serial control from the server. I'll need to use IR for the family room receiver right now. If I upgrade that, I'll have serial control for there as well. I've got an opening (basement not finished yet) to run an extra cat5e up to the family room for whatever purpose I can find.

The autopatch half-y has rca connectors and can handle 8 sources (that's plenty for my needs) and only zone outputs. Where I get tripped up is the # of zones I can output and the lack of volume controls.

[IVB]

how many outputs on that half-y? It didn't get entered up there.

Did your route your speaker wire direct to speaker? Can you snake in a V/C now? Also, does the half-y allow you to control volume, or is it a pure switcher?

Only other option now would be a wallmount 3400 in each general area, or perhaps a wifi PDA.

[wolverines]

Sloppy typing on my part. The half-y has 8 inputs and 4 outputs. It's a pure switcher, which as far as I know, is just like the other autopatch's.

I've wired a cat5e with just about every set of speakers, plus I looped the wire to leave room for V/C. However, the wife absolutely hates the idea so I've got to accomplish this without V/Cs.

The house is not so big, so I think I can get by with my 3400 covering the LR/DR, family room, kitchen and outside. The kitchen is right next to it all so that's where the 3400 will go. Downstairs I'll figure out later. The "closet", with the server and all audio equipment, is right behind a wall in the downstairs family room. I'm thinking some sort of touch screen hooked up to the server would work down there. Maybe a pocket pc in the future.

I think my problem is the combination I have (autopatch, 12ch amp) and the desire to have no volume controls, but obviously be able to control the volume in each zone. Since the amp can take a discrete source for each set of channels, that's what leads me to the autopatch as being the limiting factor.

I'm hoping some other users with the 1Y or 4Y set up (8x8 or more) can chime in.

Thanks.