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Thread: Help - Home audio amplifier recommendation? |
    
New member Username: Briang
Post Number: 1
Registered: Jan-06
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| Posted on Friday, January 27, 2006 - 03:41 am: |
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Hi-
I'm moving into a house that has been pre-wired for whole-home audio. I'm hoping that someone will be able to recommend the components (especially the amp) I'll need to configure my home theater and audio systems.
Here's the set-up for the house:
* Speaker wire runs from a head-end in the media/family room to:
--speaker pairs in 4 rooms (8 speakers) (kitchen, dining room, patio, and living room)
--5:1 home theater speakers in the media/family room where the tv will be (right, left, center, right-surround, left-surround, subwoofer)
* The wire runs to the 4 remote rooms pass through a volume controller in each room. We also ran CAT5 to each VC location
I know I need help selecting an amp, but I probably also need help with other equipment that is needed to make this set-up work. I want the set-up to be able to do the following:
* watch tv using the 5:1 speakers while there is no music/sound coming through the speakers in the other rooms
* listen to the same song simultaneously in the 4 remote rooms while the tv is on in the family/media room (e.g., we're having a party and the kids are watching tv while the rest of us are in the other rooms listening to the same song)
* listen to the same song throughout the house (including some of the home theater speakers) while the TV is off
* listen to the TV audio in the 4 remote rooms
* my music collection will sit on a music server that I can route into the amp as an audio source
I know very little about amps, but I think I need a multi-source/multi-zone (2 zones) unit. I'm concerned that most multi-source/multi-zone units will buckle (I'm sure there's a better technical term) under the pressure of having to power 13 speakers simultaneously.
Does anyone have a recommendation for an amp or collection of components that will do what I want? I'm willing to pay what it takes to get something that works, but I'd like to keep the price down. I'm hoping that there is a solution that works, but is less expensive than a whole-home audio system like the one put out by Nuvo.
Any advice would be much appreciated!
Thank you! |
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Bronze Member Username: Mrbeefy
Post Number: 19
Registered: Jan-06
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| Posted on Friday, January 27, 2006 - 10:58 pm: |
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Sounds like you will need a pre amp and number of power amps, and just one dedicated to your 5.1.
Do you know what gauge of speakers wire you ran? |
New member Username: Briang
Post Number: 2
Registered: Jan-06
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| Posted on Thursday, February 02, 2006 - 12:58 pm: |
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Thanks for helping! Sorry for the slow reply. I was offline the past couple days while we moved into the house.
The wire is 14AWG.
Thanks again! |
Bronze Member Username: Paulfolbrecht
Post Number: 37
Registered: Dec-05
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| Posted on Saturday, February 04, 2006 - 01:47 pm: |
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Next question is how much money do you want to spend? Your options run from under $2000 to close to infinity. |
New member Username: Briang
Post Number: 3
Registered: Jan-06
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| Posted on Sunday, February 05, 2006 - 12:58 am: |
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I was thinking ~$2k (maybe less if there is a good option), but I might go a little higher (e.g., $2500) if there were a big advantage to doing so. "Close to infinity" isn't an option for me :-(
Again, thanks for any advice you can offer! |
Bronze Member Username: Paulfolbrecht
Post Number: 39
Registered: Dec-05
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| Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2006 - 10:46 am: |
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Do have dealers in the area for Rotel, NAD, Arcam? This is all good solid-state equipment that should work nicely for you.
I might recommended a pair of Rotels 1066 6ch amps. I happen to own own for center/surrounds. They can do 60W/ch into 6ch or 70W into 5. This is plenty of power for any speakers of reasonable sensitivity. They are beefy and sound good. I do not push mine at all, though.
Two of these would set you back $1400 and, with one in 5 and one in 6ch mode, would leave you with two more channels - perhaps a more powerful stereo amp for your main/front speakers.
I don't have time right now to think thru all your other requirements, sorry. :-} You might well be better served by receivers instead of separates, though. I don't really have any experience with the Japanese multi-channel receivers but you would definitely spend less money going that route.
Paul
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