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General discussion

Having trouble with 5 zone home audio system

Jul 10, 2005 11:54AM PDT

Having trouble setting up 5 zone audio system

I?m trying to find the best way to setup a 5 zone home audio system with priority given to the 5.1 surround for home theater.

I?ll list the zones and equipment I have and I?m hoping someone can provide a little direction.

ZONE 1 (FAMILY RM):
-5.1 surround with Polk PSW 140 powered sub.
-Front R & L= Polk LC 80i in ceiling.
-Rear R & L= Polk TC 80i in ceiling
-Center= Polk TC265i in wall under plasma
ZONE 2 (GAME RM):
-One pair of Polk RT800i floor standing. Music only. 2nd. Most important zone.
ZONE 3 (BEDROOM):
-One pair of pre-existing, unk.type in ceiling speakers. Music only.
Sound, unimportant.
ZONE 4 & 5 (BACKYARD):
-Two pair of unk.type outdoor speakers. Music only. Sound, unimportant.

All speakers setup with 14G in wall speaker wire, homerun to build in entertainment center, located in Zone 1 (Family Rm.).

AMP & INTEGRATED RECEIVER SPECS:
-Parasound HCA-1205 five channel amp
Continuous Power Output:
140W RMS X 5, 20Hz-20kHz, 8 ohms
200W RMS X 5, 20Hz-20kHZ, 4 ohms
-Denon AVR2801 Integrated Receiver
Power Amp Section/Rated output:
Front= 90W+90W (8 ohms, 20Hz-20kHz, 0.05% THD
Center= 90W (8 ohms, 20Hz-20kHz, 0.05% THD
Rear = 90W+90W (8 ohms, 20Hz-20kHz, 0.05% THD

I?m planning on using volume controls on every zone accept Zone 1 (Living Rm.)

I?m not sure if I should use the 5 Channel Parasound Amp to power each of the 5.1 surround speakers, and then use the Integrated Denon Amp to power the other zones. Or would it be better to use the Denon to power the 5.l surround speakers and the Parasound Amp to power the other zones.

I?m also wondering if I should put a zone selector somewhere in the system. I have heard that if I?m using volume controls that a zone selector is not necessary.


SPEAKER SPECS:
-Zone 1 (Living Rm. 5.1 Surround)
Front R & L= Polk LC80i, 4ohms, Freq. Response 30Hz-27kHz, 10-125 w/channel
Efficiency 90dB
Rear R & L= Polk TC80i, 8ohms, Freq. Response 30Hz-27kHz, 10-125 w/channel
Efficiency 90dB
Center = Polk TC265i 8ohms, Freq. Response 30z-27kHz, 10-200 w/channel
Efficiency 91dB
Sub = Polk PSW 140 Specs not available
-Zone 2 (Game Rm.)
Pair of Polk RT800i floor standing, 8ohms, Freq. Response 28Hz-26kHz,
20-250 w/channel, Efficiency 90dB
-Zone 3,4,5 unimportant

Discussion is locked

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Setting up your Audio in 5 zones.
Jul 11, 2005 5:00AM PDT

Hello,

First, you will want to dedicate the 5.1 surround sound receiver for just your home theater system and nothing else. Most of these units have the ability to share rooms but only works in stereo mode for both the home theater room and the second room. Not very appealing

Second, you will need a audio distribution module allowing for up to 5 zones.

Third, you will need one impedance matching volume control for each zone to control a pair of speakers in each zone.

You will need the following:
(These are Leviton products. I can provide these if you can't find them.)

1 ? 1x6 Passive Audio Module
3 ? Strauss Stereo Volume Controls

You will send a left/right audio to the module using 14/2 audio cable and then from the module you will connect a 14/4, 16/4 speaker wire to each volume control. From the volume control you will connect one speaker with 14/2 then the other speaker with 14/2 with each connection home-run back to the volume control switch.

If you need more details let me know.

Take Care,

Shawn Mosqueda
WireSmart LLC
www.wiresmart.com
shawn@wiresmart.com

How To Build A Home Theater PC ebook coming soon! Includes 2 years of FREE revised editions that come out every 6 months. visit www.wiresmart.com

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Are you sure??
Jul 13, 2005 2:10AM PDT

The Leviton 1 x 6 passive audio module (please correct me if I am wrong)uses speaker wire as an input, not sure what 14/2 "audio" cable is supposed to be.
Because of this I am not sure what you are suggesting this person is supposed to try. You told them to dedicate their surround system.

Because he has the potential for a good surround system, why mess it up. Get a basic stereo reciever (for 100.00 I am sure you can find one on E-bay) Use impedance matching Volume controls and it will work. Need to share the CD player, not perfect but Y connectors will work. Need control from those areas, Some sort of universal remote aimed at an R/F repeater.

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Re: Are you sure.
Jul 13, 2005 5:02AM PDT

Hello,

I'm positive about how to run the wires/cables for a multi-zone audio distribution system. I may have not explained it clear enough. I am a certified LIN (Leviton Integrated Network) installer. I'll try to clear up any confusion.

The Leviton 1 x 6 passive audio module (as most all) requires a stereo source to send the stereo signal to all the seperate zones.

This individual will need two 14/2 or 16/2 cables/speaker wire (depending on the connections at the wall and receiver), one for the left speaker and one for the right speaker. These will be connected to the front left and right speaker out connections on the receiver he/she chooses to use. Then each will be connected to the left and right connection on the module.

From the audio module they will need a 14/4 speaker wire (red/white, green/black) to be run to each individual impedance matching volume control switch for each zone they wish to send audio to. The impedance matching volume control switches are essential to preventing any damage to the receiver. They help maintain the correct power needed for driving all the speakers.

From each volume control switch they will need to run
1 - 14/2 (or 16/2, 18/2) speaker wire to a left speaker
1 - 14/2 (or 16/2, 18/2) speaker wire to a right speaker.

This will need to be repeated for each zone up to 6 zones.

This individual already has the speaker wire installed in the walls and wanted to know how to distribute the sound to the other 4 zones.

I also suggested this individual save the 5.1 surround sound receiver for only the home theater room and not use it for any of the other zones.

I then suggested using his/her other receiver for feeding the other zones.

And yes, if they need to control their audio equipment from each zone, all they need to install is a IR Repeater System.

This will require a 1 x 9 Bridged Telephone Module. They will need to run Cat5e cable from the location of the equipment needed to be controlled (which will be terminated with a QuickPort Cat5e network connector) to the location of the module. The Cat5e cable/wire will be connected directly to the module. This will need to be done for each piece of equipment that needs to be controlled.

Back at the equipment location, they will need to connect a emitter each piece of equipment they want to control and plugged into the Cat5e QuickPort port at the wall plate by the equipment.

From the module they will need to run Cat5e to the location of each IR Target that will be used for receiving IR signals from a remote.

I hope this helps clarify things. If you have any other questions or comments let me know.

Take Care,

Shawn Mosqueda
WireSmart LLC
www.wiresmart.com
shawn@wiresmart.com

How To Build A Home Theater PC ebook coming soon! Includes 2 years of FREE
revised editions that come out every 6 months. visit www.wiresmart.com

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Couple more points
Jul 13, 2005 10:09AM PDT

Sorry about questioning the first person that responded, but he wasn't checking his answer. If you were not sure, he would have you going out and asking for 14/2 audio cables which would get you some odd looks from people.

If you wanted to only use what you already have with what has been run, I would suggest not.

In your post you state that all speaker wires are home run back to the equipment rack, do they go to a connection point where a volume control will be located in the area where the speakers are? It may sound like an odd question but I have seen many people including builders that have wired homes with speaker wires going directly back to an equipment location. This would mean using a speaker (room) selector box that has volume controls in it. Niles audio I believe still makes these as does Russound and I am sure many others.

As for the leviton solution that was presented, much like my solution he would need you to have another stereo receiver, preferably something with 50 - 100w per channel. All the 1 X 6 is, is a connection point, for about $5.00 you can just get a terminal strip. If you use Impedance matching volume controls, you don't need to worry about the receiver, just run speaker wires out from it to the terminal strip, then hook up all the speaker wires going to the rooms, keeping R+/R- and L+/L- in the correct places. One thing to remember, do not raise the volume levels on the receiver too high, some volume controls may start to sound like they are buzzing or vibrating, keep the receiver levels at half or below and let the volume controls raise the levels in the rooms.

Now, if you have wired so that volume controls can be put in each area and you want another possible solution. Look up Nexus audio www.nexusaudiosystems.com they have keypads that run on the speaker wires, now you have volume and actual control of your system. Very slick, sounds great, easy to operate. (of course I'm a dealer of theirs)

Otherwise, our Leviton friend needs you to run more wires, you don't say if thats a possibility, so I will assume it's not. And stand by my inexpensive method. Radio shack (or whatever they are calling themselves now) have wireless I/R RF systems. You point a remote at a pyramid shaped thing (which needs power)it converts the signal to RF (radio frequency) and another pyramid shaped thing which is sitting facing the equipment (power needed again)receives the signal, converts it back to I/R, and talks to the gear (tuner, cd or other)now you can change radio or cd's from these other areas. IT can take a little testing to get the pyramids in the right places for best results, but I used to use them alot many years ago for satellites.

Hope this has helped.

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Good points...but controlling volume may be an issue.
Jul 13, 2005 11:00AM PDT

Hello,

Sirroundsound has brought up some good points. The Leviton method I discribed does require having wire run to each zone's volume control then to each pair of speakers.

However, as he pointed out, if the wires are run directly from each speaker in each zone to the entertainment center, then his method will be the best way to go.

Although if all wires are homerun from the speakers to the entertainment center location, then you will not be able to control the volume of each zone independent of the others. All of them will have the exact same volume level unless you wish to have a volume control for each zone located at the entertainment center, which would require you to walk to the entertainment center to adjust the volume everytime.

Take Care,

Shawn Mosqueda
WireSmart LLC
www.wiresmart.com
shawn@wiresmart.com

How To Build A Home Theater PC ebook coming soon! Comes with 2 years of FREE revised editions that are available every six months. visit www.wiresmart.com