# Need Advice on 2 room SS av system



## HDJeff (Sep 24, 2012)

I have a 1 bedroom apartment that i want to have A/V in both bedroom and living room. 

I am not a techie officially, i would call myself a wannabe. I have interior design background, so I know how I would like it to end up, but not exactly sure how to execute it. I will be doing most of the work myself and am on a tight budget. The televisions are roughly 15´apart with a wall separating them. Currently all the equipment is set up in the bedroom. 

This is the * equipment I own. 

Macbook*
Apple Airport Express*
Samsung 40¨ 1080p TV*
Samsung Surround sound SPEAKERS ONLY, 2 front, 2 rear, center and sub*
Tivo (rent from cable company)*
1 Tera bite hard drive*

These are the features I would like in each room

*Living Room*
HDTV, Possibly 3D 50+¨
Surround Sound Home Theater/Stereo
Hard Drive storage for video and music
Wireless capability for Netflix, etc.
Computer Hook up for Itunes and Screen
Turntable

*Bedrom*
The television is mounted above my desk, which doubles as a monitor for my laptop and is wired through an av cable. 
HDTV, Samsung 40¨* 
Surround sound Home theater/stereo 
5.1 speaker system*
1 terabite Hard Drive*

Here are my questions. 
*Home Theater*
Can I use 1 Home theater receiver for both rooms? Probably only use 1 video source at a time on one or both tvs. or 1 audio source at a time in one or both rooms. with capability of switching either on/off.
Or do I need one for each room?

I am intrigued with the 3D home tv, is this a viable option considering what is available and affordable? 
Can I store and retrieve music and movies from a hard drive?
*
Music*
I listen to music mostly. I have one speaker system now in the bedroom, I want to add a second to the living room. I want to be able to listen to both systems at the same time or one at a time. I use an Airport Express to transmit music from itunes to my receiver (which recently died) for music. 

Can I use the one Airport Express for both speaker systems?

To me this is slightly complex, in reality, to a professional it is probably basic. I am at the point where I need to buy equipment. Any advise some one could offer would be great. I would like to be finished with it within the next few months, it goes a little slower doing the work myself. 
Thank you,
Jeff


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## wgmontgomery (Jun 9, 2011)

This may be a bit simpler than expected; since you want surround in two rooms, you will need two surround AVRs. Although there are MANY AVRs on the market that will provide sound to multiple rooms, I can not think of even one that will play surround in two rooms. (_If anyone can think of one, please let me know_.)

So, in order to have surround in two rooms you are going to need two complete systems (AVR and speakers).


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## HDJeff (Sep 24, 2012)

thanks Gary, so does that mean I could not play the same media on both systems at the same time?


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## wgmontgomery (Jun 9, 2011)

That could be done, but you may have to decide which room would be "primary" (plays HD video and lossless audio) for some sources. I can not comment on the Mac stuff as I am a "PC" person, but most components only provide one HDMI output. You can buy an HDMI switcher, but-since you are in an apartment- I don't think that running wires through walls is a viable option.

A simple BDP (aka Blu Ray player) in the secondary room would provide movies in HD, music, streaming from Netflix, etc. for less than $200. Panasonic makes great "budget" BDPs; you could simply put one of them in the secondary room, use a wireless router for internet streaming, AND you may be able to import audio from the other sources. A Sony PS3 will do all of this, too. I use one for music, movies, streaming, sharing and do NOT even play games on it.


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