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WHAT IS WHOLE HOUSE AUDIO / VIDEO


Imagine having hi-fi music in every room of your home with nothing more than an elegant Wall Mounted Keypad and virtually invisible in-wall or in-ceiling Speakers showing. This is the dream system of interior decorators and is typically only found in multi-million dollar homes. We can show you how this can be done in your home with your existing equipment and at a reasonable cost.

Whole house audio/video refers to a centralized audio/video system that pipes music and video/cable signals throughout the home. Because the system is centralized, the only components present in each room are speakers and TV screens. Control of the system is made through a handheld remote or wall mounted control panels. The centralized components can either be hidden away in a closet, or if you prefer, mounted in an impressive Rack System array in your living room. (Some systems may have additional VCRs and CD players located locally in various rooms for convenience. If correctly configured, these VCRs and CD players can be viewed or listened to in the room they are located as well as any other room.)

There are many ways of configuring a whole house A/V system. We will describe the basic methods below. Choose the method that best suits your requirements and budget.

Single Amplifier/Receiver Driving Speakers in Multiple Rooms 


This is the simplest and lowest cost method. The output from a single amplifier or receiver is split amongst several rooms. All rooms will receive the same music. Volume Controls can be located in each room to adjust listening levels (or a centralized volume controller can be used if preferred). Whenever the output from a single amp/receiver is split between 2 or more speakers, an impedance matching system must be used. To control the master volume and source (CD, tuner, tape, etc.) from each room an Infrared (IR) Distribution system can be added.

Multiple Amplifiers/Receivers Sharing Sources 


If different rooms need to listen to different sources at the same time, multiple amps/receivers are required. Use one amp/receiver for each listening (a zone refers to one or more rooms that listen to the same source simultaneously). The amp - receivers can be stacked together and the source inputs can be shared (ie. 1 CD, 1 tape, 1 DSS shared amongst 2 or more amp/receivers). To control the volume and source from each zone a zoned Infrared (IR) Distribution system can be added.

Purpose Made Multiple Zone Amplifier Systems 


Many higher end amp/receivers now come with a built-in second discrete amplifier for a second zone. If your needs do not require more than 2 zones, this may be a cost effective solution. For a larger number of zones consider the NUVO 6-Source/6-Zone System which has six discrete amplifiers and a volume/source distribution system built-in.


Continue to What is Whole House Audio/Video? - Part 2

Whole-House Video Distribution Cabling

Wiring Your Home for Automation

Designing Your Own Distribution System

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