[G WOLF]

Hello,

Hope you guys can help me out

I have just bought a house which needs a full rewire so I am going to put in data cables at the same time.

My plans are to run:

Front Room
4 x SAT (inc one return)
4 x CAT5
1 x HDMI (from opposite side of room – plug in laptop)
1 x Coax
1 x Telephone
1 x spare – maybe just another CAT5? / or speaker module for surround sound?

Dining Room + Bedrooms
1 x SAT
1 x CAT5
1 x COAX
1 x Telephone

I plan to run all the cables back to the loft to a 19” patch panel cabinet.

I did plan to run HDMI around the house but wasn’t sure if it would be beneficial, do you guys think it would be?

I would also like surround sound in the front room plus multi room speakers so I can listen to music all round the house, mainly from an Ipod, PC, or HIFI. I have looked at Sonos and Squeezebox but these seem to be kind of like a retrofit. I can chase walls out at this stage and put it in any necessary cables plus ceiling speakers. Can anyone recommend any decent systems including ceiling speakers, amps, etc that aren’t too expensive but at the same time aren’t cheap and nasty?

Would it be worthwhile putting a PC/server in the loft to act as the server for the music and then use it as a media PC in the front room?

Can anyone think of anything I have missed or that you would do different?

Thank you.

[gce123]

Just a couple of points.

You don't need to run telephone cable as well since you can use the Cat5 for phones and patch them at the central equipment rack.

Don't run HDMI cables around the house, you will get problems with the length of the cables needed. If you want to pipe HD around the house in future you should use a good quality matrix and HDMI over Cat5e/6 adapters.

Sonos works really well as a 'plug and play' solution and is good value for money. You can use it with ceiling speakers and tuck the SONOS amplifier boxes up into the loft spaces through the ceiling loduspeaker cutouts (you'll need mains points in the loft spaces).

A more sophisticated multi-room system that gives you inwall touch panels and more integration with other equipment would be the NuVo, either the Essentia or Grand Concerto.

Graham

[neilball]

If you are thinking of Sonos then also look at the S5 - a zone amplifier with built-in speakers which was announced this week and should be available from the beginning of November. This gives you a portable unit you can move from room to room if you don't want the expense of dedicate amps and speakers in all rooms. It is fully comaptible with the Sonos controllers (including PC software and iPhone app).

[G WOLF]

Originally Posted by gce123

Just a couple of points.

You don't need to run telephone cable as well since you can use the Cat5 for phones and patch them at the central equipment rack.

Don't run HDMI cables around the house, you will get problems with the length of the cables needed. If you want to pipe HD around the house in future you should use a good quality matrix and HDMI over Cat5e/6 adapters.

Sonos works really well as a 'plug and play' solution and is good value for money. You can use it with ceiling speakers and tuck the SONOS amplifier boxes up into the loft spaces through the ceiling loduspeaker cutouts (you'll need mains points in the loft spaces).

A more sophisticated multi-room system that gives you inwall touch panels and more integration with other equipment would be the NuVo, either the Essentia or Grand Concerto.

Graham

Thanks for your reply Graham.

I would really like a concealed system so all of the speakers are in the wall/ceiling. The NuVo system looks ideal, will have to have a look at some prices. Any better places to purchase it from? Im at the stage where i can run cables under floor boards plus in walls so would be good to get the cables in.

I will forget telephone and HDMI and run CAT5 everywhere.

G.

[G WOLF]

Originally Posted by neilball

If you are thinking of Sonos then also look at the S5 - a zone amplifier with built-in speakers which was announced this week and should be available from the beginning of November. This gives you a portable unit you can move from room to room if you don't want the expense of dedicate amps and speakers in all rooms. It is fully comaptible with the Sonos controllers (including PC software and iPhone app).

Thanks for your reply neilball,

I would like a system that is built in so i dont have to move it about. Can you connect the S5 to ceiling speakers?

Cheers,

G.

[hornydragon]

run at least 2 x cat5 to each screen location and for Nuvo have a look here: Nuvo Essentia G Bundle w/Speakers, iPod Dock and T2 Turner (UK)

[neilball]

Originally Posted by G WOLF

Thanks for your reply neilball,

I would like a system that is built in so i dont have to move it about. Can you connect the S5 to ceiling speakers?

Cheers,

G.

If you want to use separate speakers then you would use the ZP120 zoneplayer if you wanted to use Sonos. If you centralise the zone players you may need to add a zonebridge or two depending on the size of your house to extend the proprietary Sonos wireless range when using Sonos wireless controllers (CR100 & CR200).

[westy]

Originally Posted by G WOLF

Thanks for your reply Graham.

I would really like a concealed system so all of the speakers are in the wall/ceiling. The NuVo system looks ideal, will have to have a look at some prices. Any better places to purchase it from? Im at the stage where i can run cables under floor boards plus in walls so would be good to get the cables in.

I will forget telephone and HDMI and run CAT5 everywhere.

G.

HI,
On a similar theme I would like to cable to every room terminating in a single plate containing 1 x RJ45 plus 1x PABX master module (perhaps keystones?) both wired from a cat 5e cable. Does anyone know of or recommend suitable termination accessories?
Thanks,
Westy (new member)

[hornydragon]

Are you running a PABX system? having data and phone in a single face plate isnt an issue at all