Question

Whole Home Wired Multi Zone Setup

  • 23 February 2019
  • 2 replies
  • 1391 views

Long story short... I have the following, all home run, back to my office closet:

(4) CAT6 cables to each room in 1" conduit, (24) CAT6 cables total for A/V
(4) CAT6 cables to exterior of house in 1" conduit for internet
(4) CAT6 cables to each corner of the house in 1" conduit, (20) CAT6 cables total for security
(9) whole home audio zones with (18) speakers total, (16) speakers are in ceiling

I am not even sure exactly what I am trying to accomplish and I am open to suggestions. Currently, I am thinking of the following:

1. All A/V equipment located in the office closet (AppleTV, FireTV, etc...)
2. Modem located in the office closet
3. All security equipment located in the office closet
4. (9) audio zones with independently controlled volume. All zones can simultaneously share the same input and I only need (2) input sources... Sonos and TV. And I do not have wall volume controls installed.

I am looking for advice on:

1. How to neatly get all the wires through the wall and still have access to the conduit if I need to pull/replace wiring.
2. Should I go with a server rack or something else?
3. Do I just go with (9) Sonos Amps $$$, or is there a cheaper alternative... maybe a Sonos Connect and Multi Room Amp?

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2 replies

i would consider a wired multi-room amp to take maximum advantage of your existing wiring and feed it with 2 Connects to preserve the ability to have different programs playing in different areas.
In any case include the capability to individually adjust room Volume. You may or may not need to play different material in some rooms. From a control, ease of installation, and maintenance standpoint, a pile of SONOS AMP’s would be an excellent choice. There are a number of systems that build in multiples of four and eight rooms, but (in my opinion) they are not as easy to install or control, but the hardware cost might be a little lower. Some of these products require professional installation and the hardware cost savings could easily be surpassed by programming costs.

One point that is not clear from your original post is how the TV will integrate into the system. Is this part of the nine rooms or in addition to?