Getting sound around the house

[beelzerob]

Though every room is wired for speakers, we're way too far away from getting one of those fancy distributed audio systems like a Russound or Nuvo. However, we the days are getting nicer, we're working outside or downstairs more and more. I have a very kludged system right now for us listening to audio, and I'd like to make it better....*without* having to buy more stuff (or at least, not TOO much more stuff :roll: ).

Here is what I have available (may or may not be used, it's just stuff that MAY be useful):

• Yamaha RXV1500 with a 2nd zone (powered) and a 3rd zone (non powered) - CQC controllable
  
• A simple 2 ch amplifier - non controllable
  
• Baytech DS4-RPC controllable power strip - controllable (no driver yet for CQC)
  
• Autopatch 4YDM
  

Ok, here is what we currently have to do to hear music in the garage:

1) I go downstairs and power on the amp that is attached to those speakers.
2) I go upstairs to the kitchen touchscreen.
3) I unplug the USB speakers there are the touchscreen
4) I start Pandora

Now we have music in the garage, since the audio output of the PC is connected to the amp that powers the speakers in the garage ("...this is the cat who ate the rat who lived in the house that jack built...."). But it also means the PC speakers in the kitchen have nothing.

The reason we have USB speakers in the kitchen is because I found the speaker wire I have running up there from downstairs was losing *some* of the audio signals going through it. I dunno if the wire is too long or just poor quality. So I put USB up there instead, and they work great.

Currently, the 3 places we'd like to hear music is 1) The garage, 2) the kitchen touchscreen, and 3) the master bath. And the music we would MOST like to hear would probably be Pandora, with our own ripped music on our WHS being second.

Anyone have any suggestions on the best way to make all this work? I know this is probably easy, but I'm just not able to get my head around it.

Thanks!

[klindy]

Part of this is simple. You have a 3 channel amp which will provide the amplified signal to the three zones you outlined. The 3rd channel will need to be powered by the "simple 2ch amp". That assumes you can 1) put the 2ch amp close enough to the Yamaha to run L/R analog audio to it; 2) that your speaker wires can get to the amps.

The harder part (i.e. piece you may have to buy parts for) is getting the source TO the amps. I assume your amps are in the equipment close which also houses the WHS server. And that the WHS can send out L/R analog audio (1 source). If so, AND you don't mind the SAME music on all three zones, you can run the audio our of the PC into the AUX in on your amp. If you want different music at each location (or at least two different) you'll need a second "Source".

I use a Delta1010LT card which gives me 4 separate streams. That way I can listen to ripped music in one zone and some other source in another zone. You may be able to add a separate sound card to your PC if you have onboard audio (i.e. adding a second source). OR you can simply use a second PC which can either access the ripped music or Pandora.

The limitations are that you'll only be able to listen to one Pandora stream (unless a single PC is capable of streaming two or more sessions at a time AND you have a multiple zone sound card installed). You may need a second PC for a second stream but I'm not familiar with Pandora at all.

You should be able to listen to multiple streams of ripped music from one PC if you have a multiple zone sound card.

The Autopatch wont come into play if all you have is 3 zones and 3 sources. I'll be the Yamaha can handle the 3 sources (Aux1, Aux2, Tuner, Phone, CD, whatever) and I know it can handle the 3 zones because of your description.

Your templates would need to be put together to identify the 1- zone you want to control and which 2- source you want to listen too.

Another limitation would be in zone 3 since you'll be using a non-controllable amp. You'll need some kind of local volume control to make that happen OR be able to control the volume of the source (WMP/Pandora/Sound card). I would recommend controlling the volume in the other two zones with the Yamaha.

Hope this helps. You're closer than you think.

[sic0048]

Isn't there a CQC Yamaha driver for your receiver? If so, you basically have a 3 zone system already. Just hook your existing amp up to the 3rd zone outputs of the Yamaha. Then connect any "sources" that you want to use through out the house. Obviously one source would be an output from a computer. But you could have more than 1 output. Perhaps you might want 2 or 3 or more outputs from the computer. One would be for Pandora, but the others could play ripped music from the computer. So you could have Pandora playing in 1 zone and music in a 2nd zone.

Does the amp automatically turn on when it senses an audio input? If so, you don't need to worry about trying to power the amp on or off. Just leave it on 100% of the time and allow it to go into "stand by" when no audio signal is found. Then use the power command on the Yamaha 3rd zone to turn that zone on/off.

If the amp does not auto sense an audio signal, you might be able to use the baytech switch to power the amp on and off. Just make sure the switch is rated high enough to handle the high power that mosts amps require. You should be able to use the existing CQC SNMP driver to control it. If that looks too hard (it is for me), then bug Beelzerob to create a Baytech driver. He has one and it is on his list of things to do, but he hasn't stepped up and created one yet (EDIT - please note I'm an idiot and didn't even pay attention to who the OP was.....;-)) I have a Baytech switch too, so I'd like to see some action too! :-)

There is a CQC Pandora Driver too. So you could really control 100% of what you want via a CQC IV. Perhaps that would be via the touchscreen in the kitchen. But it could also be a small hand held remote or other device. Lots of options available.

[sic0048]

Another limitation would be in zone 3 since you'll be using a non-controllable amp. You'll need some kind of local volume control to make that happen OR be able to control the volume of the source (WMP/Pandora/Sound card). I would recommend controlling the volume in the other two zones with the Yamaha.

Actually the Yamaha will control volume, power and mute status of all three zones, so you do not need to use an external volume control. It just lacks a third set of amps to power the output of the third zone. But the simple 2 channel amp can fill that role quite nicely.

[beelzerob]

If that looks too hard (it is for me), then bug Beelzerob to create a Baytech driver. He has one and it is on his list of things to do, but he hasn't stepped up and created one yet (EDIT - please note I'm an idiot and didn't even pay attention to who the OP was.....;-))

I'll try, but that beelzerob is a pain to work with, and always claims he's too busy. :-)

I guess I should explain a little of the infrastructure/setup:

The Yamaha is in the greatroom. There are, I think, 10 rg59's between the greatroom and the wiring room, so I should be able to get L/R audio for the 2nd and 3rd zone to it (the 1st zone, in case it wasn't clear, is the greatroom itself). Then, I'd have to get 1 L/R pair back down to the wiring room, where the simple amp is. I also have speaker wire from the greatroom down to the wiring room, so that the 2nd zone can be powering speakers, and I'd connect those speaker wires in the wiring room to whatever speakers I actually want to power.

I forgot to mention that I do have a Delta 410 card....haven't used it for anything yet, but there it is.

I think I'm going to have to go some wire counting tonight and create a little picture of just what is everywhere.

So, if the 3 zones were:
1) Garage
2) Kitchen
3) Master bath

This is great input and I appreciate it very much! I just have to start drawing pictures and connecting stuff before I get too confused, because realistically for the 3rd zone I'd have:

1) L/R audio from PC in wiring room to Yamaha in Great room
2) L/R audio from Yamaha in Great room to simple amp in wiring room
3) Speaker wire from simple amp to speakers

So, correct me if I'm wrong, but basically I need to tie an amp to a pair of speakers, right? (just understanding this helps simplify a lot of my confusion) And then all I'll care about is what audio signal gets fed to that amp. And the Yamaha can send any of my inputs to any of those outputs.....so then it really becomes about getting all of the desired inputs to the Yamaha. Man....I don't know if 10 RG59 is going to be enough...

[klindy]

So, correct me if I'm wrong, but basically I need to tie an amp to a pair of speakers, right? (just understanding this helps simplify a lot of my confusion) And then all I'll care about is what audio signal gets fed to that amp. And the Yamaha can send any of my inputs to any of those outputs.....so then it really becomes about getting all of the desired inputs to the Yamaha. Man....I don't know if 10 RG59 is going to be enough...

In short - Yes. You need to get each pair of speakers tied to a specific amp (one each for each zone in the Yamaha). And you'll need a L/R out from the Yamaha in the greatroom to the amp in the wiring closet to feed that amp.

Then you need a pair (L/R) from each source TO the Yamaha. If one (or more) of those sources is in the greatroom (CD player, cable box, etc) then it's simple for that source. If you need the source to be in the wiring closet, they you'll need to get the L/R into the greatroom. You can use a single coax for each channel or you may be able to use a cat5 pair (YMMV).

If you run out of coax you could put the AP in the wiring closet and hook any/all sources local to the AP as inputs (maybe all four zones of the PC and any other audio sources in the closet) and use just 3-4 pairs of coax to feed the Yamaha. That way you could have 8 inputs (or however many are on the AP) sent to the Yamaha with fewer direct connections. However you'll be limited to 3 (or 4) concurrent separate streams.

Another solution would be to put the Yamaha in the wiring closet too and just feed the output to the TV or whatever is in the greatroom. I guess it would depend on the wiring in place and what you wanted to connect.

[beelzerob]

I tried to run enough wire so that putting the Yamaha in the basement was possible, and I *think* I did. I'll do an inventory tonight of what I've got and see what the best solution is. It starts getting full real fast with the wii having to stay upstairs, and the VCR (kids movies).

I could moved to ripped movies instead of the DVD player upstairs...but that's *real* scope creep....I'm just trying to listen to music at this point, so I'll keep it there for now.