RE: Re: Whole House Audio Questions

["Paul Gordon" <paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

One other thing that you might like to consider is what "mode" of
whole-house audio you are likely to want, and whether you want the
flexibility to switch between them...

What I mean by "mode" is this:

Mode 1 - Multiple audio zones, all individually controllable. - i.e. each
zone playing and controlling its source independently (Motorhead in the
lounge, Mozart in the bathroom?...)

Mode 2 - All zones playing the same material in perfect sync... - party
mode
as I refer to it....

Each mode of operation requires different configurations of the source and
playback equipment... using the extreamer per zone plan, you would need to
be able to synchronise all extreamers on the same playlist to achieve mode
2... - are they able to sync up to each other like this? (and is it
reliable?) SLIMP3's (now Squeezebox), do have this feature, but from
observation of the SLIMPY support lforums it is evident that this feature
is
not entirely without issues... - there are people with multiple slimpy's
that have problems getting the synchronisation to work reliably... - might
there be similar issues with multiple extreamers?.

Of course, the ideal answer is the KAT5 switcher which would allow you to
map any combination of sources to any combination of playback zones.... :-)
- job done!

Just my £0.02

Paul G.





>From: "markttay" <markttay@xxxxxxx>
>Reply-To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
>To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
>Subject: [ukha_d] Re: Whole House Audio Questions
>Date: Fri, 04 Jun 2004 11:46:55 -0000
>
>Thanks for the replies so far, I thought I would address the points
>that have been raised.
>
>The reason for going for a centralised solution, is that I do not
>want any equipment visible in the rooms apart from the ceiling
>speaker grills. I am wary of a solution that has to have electrical
>equipment such as amps or streaming media devices hidden in voids or
>in cupboards. A central "rack" with streaming and
amplification
>would, IMHO make the system easier to maintain and upgrade.
>
>I too originally thought of CAT5 as the cabling scheme. But given
>that the end equipment in this case is, and will always be
>loudspeakers it seems simpler to run speaker cable. I am using CAT5
>for everything else but given the devices you would need at each end
>it seems like overkill to drive speakers
>
>In the design of the house I have incrporated a home cinema /
>listening room where I will have my conventional hifi system so I
>consider the whole house system primarily for background music
>or "non-serious listening" if there is such a thing.
>
>Thanks
>Mark
>
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>Yahoo! Groups Links
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