Is this a sensible use of KAT5?

[graham_howe]

I need a sense check here so hopefully someone can comment on my
proposal. First off let me explain my setup:

1. Locations
Lounge - home to majority of AV kit at the moment
Dining room and Sitting room - both have a pair of speakers running
from main AV amp (on a 1,2,1+2 switch box)
Sitting room also has TV+VCR+DVD as a secondary viewing location
Patio - has a pair of speakers running from main AV amp (via another
switch box)
All rooms have plenty of CAT5 running back to a patch panel at node
zero (office upstairs).

2. Main amplifier
AV amp (Arcam Alpha 10 + 10P3) with 4 x s-video in and 2 x s-video
out (though one of each is VCR which can either be in our out)
2 x 5 x speaker connections (though only stereo used for second set
of speaker points, fed through switches to speakers in other rooms)

3. Main sources and connections
DVD --> s-video --> AV amp
VCR --> s-video --> AV amp (VCR also connected to Tivo for archiving)
Digibox --> rgb scart --> Tivo --> RGB to s-video --> AV amp
DDAR --> AV amp
Tuner --> AV amp

4. Main destinations and connections
AV amp --> s-video --> Plasma screen
AV amp --> s-video --> LCD projector

That is the current setup, it all works although VCR has to be on AUX
input to the amp which can be a little confusing. However there is an
enormous quantity of cable behind the AV rack that is almost
impossible to maintain (heavy biwired speaker wire falling on s-video
cables and knocking them out etc). So I am considering something
rather radical (for me anyway) and that is to move source and 'pre-
amp' to node zero with 'power-amp' and speakers remaining in the
lounge. There are a few complexities here and this is where I need
some advice.

1. Sources that accept physical media
VCR and DVD - I have a solution to the DVD, and that is to buy a 400
capacity DVD player to put all my disks in at once, thereby removing
the need (except for rentals) to access the deck to change disks.
Then put the monster deck in node zero with the other sources. But it
really would not be practical to move the VCR to node zero, so that
has to stay in the lounge.

2. Remote control
Source selection, volume control, transport control and so on will
have to be performed from the lounge and affect equipment in node
zero, so I need IR distribution. I know how to do this so it is not a
major problem, the CAT5 is already in place to carry the signal.

3. Power amps
With the Arcam setup, the 10P3 power amp is used to control the rear
and centre speakers, the integrated AV amp controls the front
speakers. There is a pre<->power connection between them. It is also
possible to attach another power amp to do the front speakers
(usually for bi-amping) and I intend to buy another 10P power amp so
that the integrated amp becomes just a pre-amp.

4. Connecting pre-amp to power-amps
This is my first suggested use of KAT5, but I am not sure how many
units will be required. I am assuming that with 5 channels of
amplification I will need to 'transport' 5 line level signals but I
don't know what that means in terms of modules.

5. Connecting local sources to node zero
This should only be the VCR, but the s-video signal and nicam sound
need to get to the pre-amp. I will not worry about the Tivo to VCR
connection as I have never used it anyway and can probably do
something in node zero if necessary. So this seems to be normal use
of a KAT5 pair.

6. Connecting video outputs to destinations
I won't mention the switcher but I certainly have 2 x s-video output
to s-video destination.

So, it seems that I have 5 line level audio signals to get from node
zero to the lounge. Two s-video signals to get from node zero to the
lounge (though only 1 will be used at a time). And one s-video +
stereo to get from the lounge to node zero.

At present I think I have 2 x Rx and 3 x Tx units, all are standard
versions. Please advise as to the best combination of units (or
Keith, please advise on any custom units that might be useful). The
end goal is to remove kit from the lounge (high WAF) and to separate
local 'heavy duty' speaker wiring from central 'sensitive'
interconnects.

Regards

Graham