# Multi Room/Zone help v2.1



## 4U2NVME (Aug 20, 2010)

Ok this is version 2.1 of this post, we all know that version 2 is always better then version 1. I post should be Mike P approved ;c). The .1 version is a repost of the second version I typed and posted and got lost in the cloud somewhere.

Hey all I am in the process of building a new house and want to build a Theater room and add multi zone/room support to the house. I originally looked at the Onkyo 3007 and 5007 to accomplish this. From research on this forum I have found that it may not work as well as I would like. 

What I wanted to know is if my Onkyo amp could be controlled from a different room/zone via a key pad, and the key pad would allow me to select inputs or music/songs etc to play via it. What I now think I have to so is use the Onkyo as my main theater amp, and then install a product such as piles or something along that line for the multi room support. As well I think I need to use some smaller amps to drive each zone. Am I on the right track; has anybody set up this type of system in their house before? 

Has anybody uses the Onkyo and bridged it with a (choose manufacturer here) piles mult-zone amp or controller? If so what did you find worked well. Did the 3007 communicate well and were you happy with the end result.

I am looking at creating about 6 zones/room in the house. I am not sure if I want to create a ‘homerun’ (hope I used the correct term – put amps in one single location and run all speaker wires from there) system or run cat6 cable to each room/amp and than run the wires from there. The advantage of the home run system that I can see is that all units are in one place and the wow factor? The advantage of the other way, putting the amps in each zone is the ease and length of speaker wire runs.
It has been pretty hard to find good information on how to set up a home system, that the industry appears to have kept the details on how to accomplish this on the DIY level and only allowed the professionals to have the information.

Anybody out there willing to give me some advise or lend me a hand? I have worked with stereo’s all my life and pretty handy, from Car stereo install’s to fishing wires up and trough finished walls, through my attic and down a back wall for rear speaker fills, so I do have some knowedge. Since I am building a house I want to run all the wires in the walls and either build the super system now, or allow me to expand once I find out that the cost is wife prohibitive ;c).

Hope to hear from a few people and take care. Thanks in advance for reading this far at least and maybe throwing some gems of advice.


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

> What I wanted to know is if my Onkyo amp could be controlled from a different room/zone via a key pad, and the key pad would allow me to select inputs or music/songs etc to play via it.


 Doubtful. There are no connections on the back of the Onkyo for keypads. Most home theater receivers are capable of only very basic multizone functions for two or three zones. Typically there are only output jacks for the secondary zones that would feed to local equipment.




> I am looking at creating about 6 zones/room in the house. I am not sure if I want to create a ‘homerun’ (hope I used the correct term – put amps in one single location and run all speaker wires from there) system or run cat6 cable to each room/amp and than run the wires from there


 The home run MO is what’s typically done.




> It has been pretty hard to find good information on how to set up a home system, that the industry appears to have kept the details on how to accomplish this on the DIY level and only allowed the professionals to have the information.


 Home Theater Direct sells whole house systems for DIYers.
Regards,
Wayne


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## 4U2NVME (Aug 20, 2010)

Wayne than you for the feedback and information. I'll look at Home Theater Direct!!

-NV


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## 4U2NVME (Aug 20, 2010)

Wayne great find!! It looks like a to good to be true type of deal. I will definitly look at using this product. Any body else find anything like this that I can compare to?

Has anybody used this system, how do you find the sound quality in rooms outside of your main Theater room? I am thinking of using Polk Speakers anyways, but the quality on the HTC speakers, are they good?

-NV


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Probably best to Google for some reviews. That's what I do when I'm shopping for something. :T

Regards,
Wayne


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## 4U2NVME (Aug 20, 2010)

I have read the onsite reviews, and they all appear ok, just wanting to make sure they are legit reviews....


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## soundoff (Oct 3, 2007)

What I wanted to know is if my Onkyo amp could be controlled from a different room/zone via a key pad,


There are methods to use low power relays to turn on the ac remotely. So you could in a manner of speaking set something up for on/off control. Most whole home dist. companies have this stuff avail.

Volume control is done through the key pad to a whole home system controller and the Onkyo amp is connected to it externally.

There is tons of documents on setting this stuff up easily found on mfg websites, inside the owners manuals


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## 4U2NVME (Aug 20, 2010)

Thanks Soundoff, Its definatly information overload, getting to understand it better now. Untill I have one of these units in front of me for the first time and acutally going through the process 'can this do this' and how do I make it work, will I fully understand it. But I do have a much better understanding of what should be possible.

-NV


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## soundoff (Oct 3, 2007)

It is a process. It can be very fun and also challenging. I've worked with products from Russound, Niles, and NuVo. All good stuff and easy to use. I have even taken a training class at Russound in NH for the media server so that'll tell you how complex some of the options are out there for whole home dist. systems. You can add video, camera's, doorbell, intercom, lighting, garage door, door locks the list goes on and on.....you can search on "smarthome" and find info.
If you know how to read a schematic / blueprint then the process becomes that much simpler.
The unit itself is not that complicated to understand basic functions and use. It serves as a hub or control center and feeds both key pad controlers, (single or dual gang box size, the larger offers more functionality) and speaker / amp distribution. If you can run a modern HT reciever it not that much different in complexity.


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## 4U2NVME (Aug 20, 2010)

Hey Wayne,

I call Home Theater Direct and what a great bunch of guys! Extremely polite and very helpful. I sent them my house plans and talked to them today. They are currently reviewing my plans and after talking to me will design me a system and give me a price for them. The two guys I talked to were great, will just have to wait to see what they came up with. Was nice, even though I liked the largest system they had, after talking to me he did not suggest that one. Seemed very honest and sincere. 

I currently make a good living but with building my house my 'dream theater' room has meant I am also looking for a part time job to support my hobby. So I hope I get this right, thank again and if you think of anything else in respects setting up a dream theater room on a semi tight budget let me know. Weather its room treatments, screen, or just the best way to lounge on your couch to watch your favorite movie. Who knows maybe this will end up being kind of a journal of my quest to get this up and running, and keep me married at the same time .

-NV


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## pongaselo (Apr 7, 2009)

I have not heard of any av receiver that supports control from a keypad. What you will most likely prefer is a dedicated distributed audio amp with multiple input and keypad controllers for each station. Share the analog input going to the AV receiver and you get two things. Better serviceability from the amp (particularly Onkyo as they seem not to like the extra zone 2 and 3 workload) and a nice dedicated volume and source control at each station. I have done 3 distributed audio systems with the basic Nuvo 4 zone unit and while I was afraid that 30 wpc would be inadequate, it turned out to do a very credible job. The control is small and simple and setup and user training were a breeze.


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## 4U2NVME (Aug 20, 2010)

Thank you Pong! Ya it seems I will be doing the Onkyo for my main HT room, and some sort of a distributed system for the rest of my house.


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## 4U2NVME (Aug 20, 2010)

Wayne, its been a while since I have written about my multi room setup. I went with your suggestion and purchased the Advanced HTD setup and speakers. Its taken FOREVER to get the house completed, but I did all the wiring, hanging speaker plates, hanging speakers, and wire hook-ups. 

I was able to test it tonight and it appears to work like a dream. It’s a 6 zone system, and I had 5 zones controlled independently. I could not test the sixth zone as I have had 3 pairs of speakers most likely stolen from my house while it was being built.

Below I will add some pictures of the system.

This is what it looks like in the Rack, I purchased the optional rack mounts, I would have thought that they really would of throw those in, but it cost about 20 or 30 dollars or two sets.



















I tossed a few songs on my USB memory stick from my laptop. The system has basic controls and allows you to play MP3's directly from USB memory:










I purchased two punch down blocks from Monorpice. I will have about 36 or more terminated Ethernet cables running throughout the house. Its a bit overkill, but since I was running the wire myself, I went for it. Have been terminating Ethernet, COAX, and other cables now for 3 days :crying:. Good thing is they all appear to work, I cleaned up all the wires on the punch down block, just wanted to get a shot of it before I did that.



















One pair of the Many Mounted in the Ceiling, these ones do sound a bit muddy, but there are Treble and Base switches that allow me to boost or reduce them by 3dB a piece. Will have to see if that clears it up, on the other hand the other speakers in each of the zones sounds very good.










I also installed a 5.1 system in the Master Bedroom. Will have to wait to see how it sounds with a separate amp, I also have one of the wall subs. I'll give a short note on how they sound once it get them up and running. Still have to cut the subwoofer into the walls.


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