Articles and whitepapers

Multiroom A/V Systems (8/6/2004)

By Mike Bonnette

People today, whether they are embarking on building their own home, or buying a ready-built one, are considerably more interested in being entertained than ever before. We have seen the level of knowledge grow vastly in the last few years, especially in the last eighteen months. There is increasing interest in multiroom audio systems, from simple switching boxes with rotary volume controls in each room, to more complex systems allowing the client to listen to the CD player in the kitchen while someone else is listening to the radio in the living room. The latest products also cater for the growing interest in video, for example you can now enjoy satellite in the kitchen whilst a DVD is played in the study.

Distributed audio in the kitchen ceiling

As the expectations of the consumer rise, so must the standard of the installers' skills and the equipment selected for use in each project. We must ask all the right questions to find out what our wants and desires really are. This gives us our destination, and we can then begin to build a road to take us there. Without knowing your destination, it is impossible to ensure beyond all doubt that the system will work - blanket bombing the house with Cat5e data cable is simply not the answer.

The planning process

Areas of interest vary from project to project, from simple TV and satellite sent around the home with a little music distribution, to a full-blown home control system with colour touchscreens in the walls.

Simple switching

The most simple and least costly way of moving music around the home is to use a switching box that will take the speaker output from a normal stereo amplifier and split it into several rooms using speaker cable. In each room the volume can be lowered using an in-line rotary volume control. This simple system does however, have a couple of drawbacks. Firstly, you have no control over your sources, for example pausing the CD when the phone rings. Secondly, you need to ensure that the impedance is calculated correctly, so as not to damage the amplifier.

Multi-zone music distribution

The next move up is to multi-zone, music distribution systems. These allow the main system in the lounge to be sent to each room using a Cat5e cable to an independent volume control that gives IR (Infra-red) remote feedback to control the sources. The main drawback of this is that your children may wish to change the source from CD to radio right in the middle of your favourite programme!

Multi-zone multi-source systems

The next step forward would be the multi-zone multi-source systems. Here we can connect the individual sources, usually four or six, to the main controller. Sources typically include CD, radio, SKY box, media or MP3 server, or anything that has a line-level output. This will the stop the feuding, by allowing me to listen to Terry Wogan for example, while my wife blasts out her favourite CD in a different room, at the same time.

The Russound CAV6.6 Multisource Multi-zone Amplifier

Finally, there are the more advanced systems that allow a combination of music and pictures to be sent to each room. This is, by far, the most powerful system to be used in the home and to my mind, the most cost-effective, providing far better value than an audio-only controller.

Wiring for Multiroom A/V

Most of the systems available today run on a similar wiring platform: a single Cat5e cable from the equipment area to a keypad position and two pairs of speaker cables from the equipment area to the speaker location (usually via the keypad position).

Keypad control of multiroom entertainment

When video is also used, there will be a third type of cable, usually a coax type, either RG56 or CT100, or, especially for long runs, another Cat5e cable with video baluns at either end. This is usually terminated next to the TV socket ready to connect to the video input of the screen or the SCART socket on a normal TV.

The equipment location is normally concealed somewhere in the home, either in a home theatre room, lounge or a purpose-built cupboard, and will house both the control and source products for ease of connection. Most of our clients also use concealed in-ceiling or in-wall speakers, to avoiding messy wires and keep that 'minimalist' look.

The Russound Advantage Twist 'n Tilt in-ceiling speaker

The future

As computers and hard disk media servers become less expensive and more powerful, they will become the main storage device for music and movies. We can then send the output, both sound and pictures, around the home, using a data network or structured cabling, and in some cases wireless networks.

Discreet distributed audio in the home

Having these systems in my home has raised the quality of the time my family spends in our home. As music fans, this allows us to revel in the most powerful emotional medium available. As movie lovers, we can start a film in the lounge and finish watching it in the bedroom, or, as I often do, watch motor racing in my study, while my children watch cartoons. All of this allows entertainment for all, without compromise.

Mike Bonnette is Sales Manager for The Multi-Room Company, specialist supplier of electronic technology products serving consumers, self build, DIY and the residential and light commercial building sector.

www.multi-room.com