right, i'm stuck.

[cjarmstrong]

ok guys, ive been pondering various different lighting and multi room systems for a while now, and i am ready to make some decisions, or am I ! I have gutted a house so am able to install anything with relative ease. for lighting I think i have decided on a rako system, but for audio/video im a bit stuck, i would like to have a 3 room system and have allocated £1500.

Someone told me that i should go down the windows media centre route, but there are so many options that i am stuck.

any advice appreciated, cheers.

[johnpuri]

I'm in the same situation, so anything we find out, perhaps we can help each other out?

Please see this for more info..Is there a way to get HD whole House AV?

Cheers and good luck.

John

[cjarmstrong]

john i think just going down the audio route is maybe a good idea, are you going to put cat 6 cable in ? I need to make some decisions before my plaster board goes up, i wonder if anything stood out at cedia.

[johnpuri]

Hi,

What is Cat6 cable?

I've been advised to run 3 or 4 runs of Cat 5 from the control unit to each room where video will be required, so that when the necessary hardware becomes available for HD, it can just be connected - although I don't understand the reason for doing this!
John

[cjarmstrong]

dont know hit the wrong key!

[johnpuri]

Fair enough....!

[vex]

For your budget look at ABUS systems, they are available from the likes of Jamo, Russound, Opus and Systemlline.

They feed line level audio to either active keypads or active speakers which will select the source you want to use and then amplify it for the speakers.

Wiring is Cat5e to between the hub and the active keybad/speaker and then speaker cable from the keypad to the speakers.

For video systems I would agree that running 3,4 or even 5 Cat5e's to your main viewing locations will give you the best flexibility for the future although I would also run a coax to the same locations to allow basic viewing and any future owner of the property to watch tv without the cost of pushing it over the Cat5e.

HTH.

Chris

[cjarmstrong]

cheers chris, i do like the look of the opus octopus system, it also seems pretty straight forward to install, at the moment i use a harmony 885 remote to control all of my a/v system, would i be able to use this remote with the opus system?

the wall panel functionality seems basic but am i right in thinking I can get more functionality in different zones with a remote?

Also can i have wall outlets to plug in additional equip i.e ipod in the bathroom for example? and if so would that be available throughout the system?

thanks.