AV System

We've always wanted to be able to have sound in every room in the house.  The Whole House Audio project will make that a reality.
It's really pretty simple- you need
  • a multi-source, multi-zone amplifier to drive all the speakers
  • speakers in every zone, and
  • a control system to select source and volume in every room.
After lots of research, we settled on the Kustom 6640 amp. It takes 6 sources and powers 6 zones; the control panels are intelligent IR repeaters that listen for their own volume and source commands and pass all other signals through; and you can even hook up your doorbell to this system! (we found this one on ebay- dealer overstock...)
Here's one of the controllers that goes into each room. Pretty simple device- source, volume and IR repeater.
This one is installed in the playroom and has 3 source inputs- a "RealJukebox" running on the server and the DirecTivo and the DVD player from downstairs.
We needed a place to put it all, like a rack (doesn't every house have one these days ;-). This beauty is an old DEC rack we got from RST Recycling in Hudson, NH.
We've installed it in the utility room in the basement.
Then we added components-
  • on top our Netopia firewall and a 16 port Farallon 10/100 hub
  • next down is is a Compaq 850R server
  • under that is the 300 disc Sony DVD jukebox
  • next is a Kustom 6640 distribution amp
  • next is a spare DirectTV receiver and our 160gb DirecTivo!
  • and under that our Sony receiver we use in the family room
  • finally, on the bottom is an APC 2200 UPS w/2 battery packs (this gives us about 7 hours of UPS power...!)
and we wire it all together!
This is definitely a work in progress- currently, we have:
  • 2 zones wired in the playroom, with 4 speakers wired in the ceiling.
  • 1 zone hooked up in the family room to go to the home entertainment center.

    • Next up- the dining room! Stay tuned...
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