Hi Steve,
Thanks for taking the time to reply I appreciate it. I fully understand where you're coming from with regards budget and getting carried away With the finishing luxurys rather than the actual build. I'm not just spending time on the AV but every part of the build from ground level up, in fact the last few evenings I've been designing a staircase on 3d software.
If you flick back to my original post I'm actually trying to get information on what cables / infrastructure I should initially feed through the building, so in the future, money permitting I can easily add more AV into the house with minimal disruption.
I have the initial house drawings ready and they will be going back to the local authority in the next month for approval (the build plot already has planning for an house that's too big for us). if you send me your email address I'll forward you a PDF copy of the plans to have a look over.
With regards the lighting system I was advised (by more than one installer at the shows) "either put it in at the initial build or don't bother at all", that's why I was curious about the cost and ease of install. I didn't want to build and kit out the house and then find out later that it would have been relatively easy and cost effective to put something in from the start.
After reading some of your previous post I will try to 'design in' Cable ways to help in the future should changes be required. With the new build it will be a solid fill cavity foam, so no cavity space can be used to route cables, hence the suggestion of chiselling and sinking pipes, I honestly don't know any other way of running a duct up the wall without chiselling it out ?!?!