Articles and whitepapers

Audio Distribution for New Build (2/12/2004)

By Jonathan Pengilley, Steljes Trade

Imagine listening to a classical CD in the kitchen whilst your spouse is experiencing the rich full sound of a DVD upstairs, your daughter is listening to pop music in the living room and your son and his friend are tuning in to the football in his room. Audio distribution makes this possible all through one system - allowing users to experience sound from multiple sources in designated zones in the house.

There are many options for home audio systems available. End users may have seen show homes that are built with expensive high-end home audio systems pre-installed, but they will also have seen the associated costs. In the past, less expensive options have been limited in their functionality and did not deliver the same quality of sound. Today however, there are alternatives that provide an affordable option for superior home audio.

The need for audio distribution

The consumer is interested if they are fully aware of what they can get. When you consider the average house price, the addition of £1500-£3000 for a multiroom audio solution is not a risky choice.

System installs for audio distribution largely fall into two kinds, new build houses and rebuilt homes. It is extremely rare, not to mention difficult, to wire a multiroom system in a home which is currently inhabited and fully decorated. New builds on the other hand, are ideal for the larger custom installer, because they already involve a considerable amount of speculative pre-wiring.

The need for audio distribution has come about through a couple of different factors. House builders are looking for a way of differentiating themselves from their competition. Economic indicators are that in the residential market there has been a hardening of the market and prices are stagnating. Therefore house builders want to add value to their offering in order to make their properties more attractive, rather than having to resort to dropping the price.

As there is a growing trend towards pre-wiring properties with Cat5/data cabling as standard, the idea of the 'wired home' is becoming the norm. Multiroom audio goes a stage further by enabling multisource, multizone music that can be controlled with an easy-to-use keypad.

The advent of hard disk music servers has also been significant in increasing accessibility and reducing the price of audio. Storage archiving and retrieval of music is much easier, and it is therefore straightforward to provide multitrack, multisource and multilocation music from one hard disk.

Configurations

Audio distribution systems can be chosen to handle the specific requirements of the building. For example, Nuvo multiroom systems that are distributed by Steljes, range from the entry level Simplese system that supports 2 sources and 4 zones, to the top-end Concerto system that supports 6 sources and 16 zones.

Nuvo Simplese (front and back) with controllers

An audio distribution system normally consists of Cat5 cabling for the control element (i.e. keypads) and speaker cable to each set of speakers. Some companies have taken the route of sending the audio signal at line level or digitally to a local amplifier and then cabling to the local speakers using standard speaker wire. This concept is sound in that the audio can be transmitted using Cat5 cable, however Cat5 is not capable of carrying the power required for the local amp and therefore a proprietary cable is required - which defeats the object of using standard Cat5 and speaker wire. Until a standardised cable, that will carry the current required to power a local amp, is ubiquitously available, companies such as Nuvo will continue with Cat5 for control and 16-gauge speaker wire for audio.

Wiring diagram for Nuvo Concerto system

Since not every home on a new build estate will take up the option of a multiroom sound system, the Nuvo package includes an EZ-Port Cat5 connection hub. This looks like a neat Cat5 socket on the wall, but in fact provides a socket which connects to the Cat5 cabling and allows users to simply plug their processor into it. For the installer or home builder, this means that they may choose to put the cabling in, but if they leave the decision of the system to the owner, they do not have to leave the required eight feet of cabling hanging from the wall. In this way developers can install the initial cabling at the early stages of the build but leave the port in a neat useable state for future requirements.

Another important aspect in multiroom audio kit is whether it has IR pass through. Products which have integrated IR receivers allow a user with a remote control in the room to control a CD player or other equipment in the rack from any location in the room. Multiple sources can be controlled via a key pad with one remote control such as those provided by Universal Remote Controls. These remotes are often available at a competitive price point with good margin opportunity.

The benefits of prewiring

I personally would not recommend that anyone try and retrofit a multiroom audio system, even though I may be losing a potential customer. Prewiring a property is not expensive, both from a cabling and labour perspective, and saves thousands of pounds and major headaches later.

Customers are spending a lot of money on their investment and they never know what they are going to want to add at a later date. Builders should prewire the property to take into account possible future requirements, allowing the property to be sold with added-value options that customers can take up as an when they choose.

Jonathan Pengilley is the Commercial Director for Steljes Trade, distributor of collaborative and display technologies, exclusive distributor of SMART Technologies, and partner with manufacturers of affordable home entertainment products.

www.steljes.co.uk