Gutting house - AV decisions

[IceBoy]

Hi All,

House will undergo a full refurbishment project in spring. Not sure how much money will be left for AV fund!!

My preference is to have ceiling mount speakers in 3 to 4 zones and run the cables under the stairs....

The ceiling speakers in my outdoor office (monitor audio) are superb with a REL sub.

So am I doing the right thing....only a starter for 10 !

IceBoy

PS. I will have many questions in the new year - Warning!

[KamSandhu44]

My bit of advice.

If you're planning on putting HDMI cables in the wall, make sure the are 'Premium Certified' cable of at least 18gbps, otherwise you will fall over the 4K hurdle.

[gtidriver]

Ive installed a system in my house which terminates in the understairs cupboard. No speaker set up but have different units around the house for music, Every room has at least skyplus tv a phone connection and two cat 5 terminals, if i was to do it again id probably run more cat5 to each terminal and id have installed the headend in the loft for ease of access. All cables are run in conduit so i can replace a cable if needs be. Also ive bought most of the super rod range, no more cutting huge amounts of flooring up, make sure you have power run to the headend as well. Is it a large house that you have?? maybe run an extra couple of cat5 incase of wifi boosters can be hard wired.

[hyphen]

If you are planning ceiling speakers then make sure the soundproofing is considered, so you are not hearing it in the room above.

[anonymous-user]

Why ceiling speakers? IME you lose all sound staging with ceiling speakers; wall mounted around ear height would get my vote every time. if you're gutting the house, you could even look at using ceiling mounts in cavity walls for added "concealment".

[kingston12]

KamSandhu44 said:

My bit of advice.

If you're planning on putting HDMI cables in the wall, make sure the are 'Premium Certified' cable of at least 18gbps, otherwise you will fall over the 4K hurdle.

Good advice. I'd also test all of the cables before you bury them using the highest requirement you can access (4K/HDR). I have come across brand new premium cables that don't work and ancient ones that do.

As you are starting from scratch, I'd be tempted to run two HDMIs parallel in case one fails and also an optical lead in case you want to run sound back from your TV to AVR (HDMI can do this, but is unreliable in my experience).

This might seem like unnecessary cost and hassle, but is much better than the alternative of channeling out walls in your newly finished house if one cable fails!

[kingston12]

Greg66 said:

Why ceiling speakers? IME you lose all sound staging with ceiling speakers; wall mounted around ear height would get my vote every time. if you're gutting the house, you could even look at using ceiling mounts in cavity walls for added "concealment".

Ceiling speakers are ok for background music, and will be very useful for AV if Dolby Atmos properly takes off.

[MrSparks]

IceBoy said:

Hi All,

House will undergo a full refurbishment project in spring. Not sure how much money will be left for AV fund!!

My preference is to have ceiling mount speakers in 3 to 4 zones and run the cables under the stairs....

The ceiling speakers in my outdoor office (monitor audio) are superb with a REL sub.

So am I doing the right thing....only a starter for 10 !

IceBoy

PS. I will have many questions in the new year - Warning!

It depends what you intend to connect them to.. especially with a low budget.

I see people all the time who say they've run loads of cable back to under the stairs, but then realise they can't really achieve a "multi room" audio system without spending thousands on a proper system, or a Sonos system.

You might find bluetooth ceiling speakers in each room will give you what you want at a more reasonable cost. Using Google ChromeCast Audio you can achieve a pretty decent multi-room system as well.

Take a look at our site for some inspiration www.kitchenbathroomradio.co.uk but either way make sure you know how much you're willing to spend before you install the wires so that you can put the right stuff in for your budget.

[VEX]

I dont bother with Telephone Cable, you can use a CAT5/6 port.

I would run any HDMI or propritary cables in trunking so it is easy to replace, also run at least a pair of cat6 cables with it as back up. Once installed, cables can only degrade and demands/sec's can only increase.

Anything speaker-wise that is wireless, still needs power.

I have been playing with a Gramofon / Amp set up for a cost effective, 1/2 price Sonos basher and think it could work well for those with budget issues.

Stick to a standard config that the industry uses, then it is easy for anyone else coming in to understand.
Minimum,
2xCAT6, 2xCoax to every TV point.
Double Data in the opposite corner of room.

Another pet hate is people not taking into account the view or aspects of a room (even architechs and interior designers!) So work out what your focal point of a room is, first, then plan your furniture, then you TV's and Speakers.

Ceiling Speakers work well for background music and room filling (and Atmos which is stunning) And I have a range of excellent in-ceiling that act very well for surround / cinema duties. I have even used them at home!

Hope that helps. Happy to answer more if you need it.

V.

[AC43]

Greg66 said:

Why ceiling speakers? wall mounted around ear height would get my vote every time.

+ 1

Also, is the house detached? If so you need more subs. At least two more.

EDIT; and Google Chromecasts to squirt Spotify Premium at a high bitrate into proper amps.

Edited by AC43 on Wednesday 21st December 17:05

[VEX]

AC43 said:

Greg66 said:

Why ceiling speakers? wall mounted around ear height would get my vote every time.

+ 1

Also, is the house detached? If so you need more subs. At least two more.

EDIT; and Google Chromecasts to squirt Spotify Premium at a high bitrate into proper amps.

/quote]

But it very mush depends on the requirement in the rooms.

To be honest, if it is a listening room, then book shelf or floor standers every, every time!!

V

[jason61c]

VEX said:

+ 1

Also, is the house detached? If so you need more subs. At least two more.

EDIT; and Google Chromecasts to squirt Spotify Premium at a high bitrate into proper amps.

/quote]

But it very mush depends on the requirement in the rooms.

To be honest, if it is a listening room, then book shelf or floor standers every, every time!!

V

i'd go book shelf in every room. Failing that, buy some used kef 'eggs'.

[AngryBaldMan]

if you want any free impartial advise in the new year, send me a message, this is us www.ambertone.co.uk

I can suggest wiring designs etc, don't put any HDMI in without a cat5/6 cable backup (think that was mentioned before) we tend to use HDBaseT distribution with receivers in each room for the HiDef. The most common failing for the HDMI cables buried in the wall is if the plug gets damaged as you cannot re-terminate them.

It's good to get an industry standard spec in there, so that you can fit what ever you want afterwards.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

I've home built 2 systems using ceiling speakers in my houses over the years. I need to update the following thread...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...