# Does there exist?



## Guest (Nov 22, 2007)

Does the following exist?

An audio (and possibly video, if available) distribution unit

It goes to every room in the house

Each room has a number (Room 1, Room 2, .....)

Each individual unit in each room has inputs for the room.
One input is from the front, for portable things like an ipod,
and one is in-wall, for permanent things like a radio.

It is sort of like a computer. USB cards usually come with 2 types of interfaces: one type is on the outside of the computer, and one is a special interface for devices inside the computer.

Each unit also has outputs.
One output is on the front, for headphones.
One output is in-wall, for surround-sound
And the last output is on the device itself such as a speaker (optional)

It should also have individual volume controls, and you can collectively select which audio sources to listen to.

Here is a model:

-----Room 1---Room 2
----------\ \----/ /
-----------\ \--/ /
------------MIXER

So basically, All the inputs from Room 1 go to the mixer, and are then dispatched to all other rooms.
All the outputs from the mixer are received from each room, which can then decide for itself which rooms it wants to listen to.

Does anyone have any idea of any product in this type of thing? Even if it's not exactly what I want, can anyone give me some ideas?

The mixer can be any type of thing, from a computer with special software, to a dedicated thing.

Any help at all is appreciated!


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## jerome (Apr 24, 2007)

Did you take a look at the Sonos system?

I'm not sure that Sonos will fit all your needs but is sounds like it could be a good place to start.


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## Otto (May 18, 2006)

Hi Therain Ishere, and welcome to the Shack. 

Jerome has a fine idea with the Sonos, and such a solution may work for you. I have seen them in action, and they work well. 

Another choice is a mulit-zone receiver. These receivers can basically send whatever source input to whatever room you choose (so long as everything is wired correctly). The highest number of zones I've seen on one receiver is three, with two being more common. Lower-end receivers will likely only have one zone. I currently use a two-zone system -- one for my main listening room, and the second feeding speakers in my family room's ceiling, which are also wired in parallel to a pair on our patio. It works very nicely for us.

With both the Sonos and the multi-zone receivers, you will generally _not_ be able to send audio signals from the room you are in; you must select the audio/video to be played from the devices that are directly connected to the receiver or preamp. In the case of the Sonos, it's going to be able to play the music you select and send it to the local system, in which case you'll again need some type of (at least) amplifier in the room you wish to fill with sound. 

All in all, the system you're describing is possible. One way or another, you're going to have to send all the audio signals from each individual room back to the main receiver/mixer, such that it can be distributed. There may be ways to do this wirelessly, but I would predict sound degradation. It's the wiring _everything_ back to the main receiver that will cause difficulty.

Crestron does some pretty cool stuff with home automation. I don't know if they have something that will do everything you want, but it may be worth checking out. But it won't be cheap.

Another thing -- what's your budget. If you have lots of $$$, you can certainly make this happen.

Good luck either way!


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Sonos is defiantly the best way to go, I have a friend who has that system running in his house and he loves it.
The Onkyo TXSR805 has 3 zones built in and I believe the models above (875, 905) also have 3 so if your looking for a receiver that is capable of that then Onkyo is the one.


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## jerome (Apr 24, 2007)

Otto said:


> With both the Sonos and the multi-zone receivers, you will generally _not_ be able to send audio signals from the room you are in; you must select the audio/video to be played from the devices that are directly connected to the receiver or preamp. In the case of the Sonos, it's going to be able to play the music you select and send it to the local system, in which case you'll again need some type of (at least) amplifier in the room you wish to fill with sound.


I don't think that this is correct for Sonos. If I remember well then the ZonePlayer models have a LineIn and LineOut connections. How it really works and what you can do, I don't know (I don't own a Sonos system myself).

The main advantage of the Sonos system is that it is wireless. No need to route cables through the hole flat or house. Now wireless is not ideal either because you may experience problems, as with all the wireless products.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

The Sonos system doesn't have to be wireless it can also be hooked up to an Ethernet cable. The Sonos system hooks up to your PC as well so you can have access to mp3 files and video if you choose. It is also controllable by remote control and this gives you full control of any device hooked up to it from any room that has a remote control receiver.


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## jerome (Apr 24, 2007)

That's entirely correct ! You can use both connections. My mistake :hide:


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