I'm moving into a house that has been pre-wired for whole-home audio. I'm hoping that someone will be able to recommend the components (especially the amp) I'll need to configure my home theater and audio systems.
Here's the set-up for the house:
* Speaker wire runs from a head-end in the media/family room to: --speaker pairs in 4 rooms (8 speakers) (kitchen, dining room, patio, and living room) --5:1 home theater speakers in the media/family room where the tv will be (right, left, center, right-surround, left-surround, subwoofer)
* The wire runs to the 4 remote rooms pass through a volume controller in each room. We also ran CAT5 to each VC location
I know I need help selecting an amp, but I probably also need help with other equipment that is needed to make this set-up work. I want the set-up to be able to do the following:
* watch tv using the 5:1 speakers while there is no music/sound coming through the speakers in the other rooms * listen to the same song simultaneously in the 4 remote rooms while the tv is on in the family/media room (e.g., we're having a party and the kids are watching tv while the rest of us are in the other rooms listening to the same song) * listen to the same song throughout the house (including some of the home theater speakers) while the TV is off * listen to the TV audio in the 4 remote rooms * my music collection will sit on a music server that I can route into the amp as an audio source
I know very little about amps, but I think I need a multi-source/multi-zone (2 zones) unit. I'm concerned that most multi-source/multi-zone units will buckle (I'm sure there's a better technical term) under the pressure of having to power 13 speakers simultaneously.
Does anyone have a recommendation for an amp or collection of components that will do what I want? I'm willing to pay what it takes to get something that works, but I'd like to keep the price down. I'm hoping that there is a solution that works, but is less expensive than a whole-home audio system like the one put out by Nuvo.
I was thinking ~$2k (maybe less if there is a good option), but I might go a little higher (e.g., $2500) if there were a big advantage to doing so. "Close to infinity" isn't an option for me :-(
Do have dealers in the area for Rotel, NAD, Arcam? This is all good solid-state equipment that should work nicely for you.
I might recommended a pair of Rotels 1066 6ch amps. I happen to own own for center/surrounds. They can do 60W/ch into 6ch or 70W into 5. This is plenty of power for any speakers of reasonable sensitivity. They are beefy and sound good. I do not push mine at all, though.
Two of these would set you back $1400 and, with one in 5 and one in 6ch mode, would leave you with two more channels - perhaps a more powerful stereo amp for your main/front speakers.
I don't have time right now to think thru all your other requirements, sorry. :-} You might well be better served by receivers instead of separates, though. I don't really have any experience with the Japanese multi-channel receivers but you would definitely spend less money going that route.