Browse Forums Home Theatre & Automation 1 Mar 07, 2008 11:53 am Hi,
I've been a long time lurker on these forums and have found them most informative (if a little addictive). I am starting to look into the AV setup we would like to have in our new house. Essentially we are going to have 3 zones for entertainment. These will be the lounge room, the home theatre (this room is multi purpose as a formal lounge as well) and the deck. See pic below (hope it attaches). Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The plan at this stage is to have a drop down screen, projector and in wall/ceiling speakers in the media room. In the Lounge room we will have a 50” plasma and all the AV equipment in our entertainment unit with in ceiling speakers for the rear. We will need to run cabling between the 2 rooms. So our wishes are that we are able to watch FTA, DVD's, PS3/BluRay, PVR (and possibly Foxtel down the track) in the home theatre and lounge. We would also like to be able to listen to music in all of these areas (not necessarily all at the same time). So the question is, what equipment do I require for this to happen? I gather I will require one receiver for the lounge and one for the theatre. One of these receivers will have a second zone to run the deck speakers. Is it possible to have a single PS3, PVR, DVD player that can be connected to both the Plasma and projector rather than having to double up on all equipment? How will all these devices connect to the display devices? This is all too complicated for my brain to compute. Thanks in anticipation of your resonses. Stu Re: My brain hurts...trying to work out home entertainment setup 3Mar 07, 2008 12:06 pm Some receivers are cabable of running zone 2 with video - this could save you doubling up on some gear..... Im sure Rod or Matt will have some great suggestions for your situation... Built Porter Davis "Dromana" 2007. Re: My brain hurts...trying to work out home entertainment setup 4Mar 08, 2008 10:49 am Hi Stu.
Firstly, for anyone reading this, running a surround setup in one room and a simple stereo solution in another room, all from one receiver/amp is relatively easy. But, Stu, basically if you want to run 2 multi-channel (5.1/7.1) surround setups you will need 2 surround amps/receivers. There are no A/V receivers (not that I'm aware of, not in the <$6000 range anyway) that will power 2 lots of 5.1 (or 7.1) speakers on it's own. Sharing components between 2 full surround systems is, if doable, very complicated and can depend on many variables - mostly to do with the individual components themselves. I'll start by putting it this way. If you were able to buy a DVD/Blu-Ray player, PVR, PS3, and whatever else you wanted to run, and they ALL CAME WITH 2 x HDMI OUTPUTS then you could send their audio and video signals to 2 separate A/V receivers' HDMI inputs (actually, there are now HDMI splitter cables available - quality ???? - stay tuned for a report...). If not HDMI then whatever - you need to be able to get 2 lots of output signal from each component to the same types of inputs in your 2 A/V receivers. Then you will also need to run some IR repeating stuff to make sure you can control said components where ever they sit. You will then also need to run HDMI (or whatever - I'm going with the idea that you don't currently own any equipment that you plan on using in this system) cables from the output(s) of your A/V receivers (for video) to each of your display devices, and therefore each of your display devices (thats the plasma and projector for everyone playing at home) will have to have at least 2 HDMI inputs - which these days should be no issue. So your A/V receivers will also each have to have 2 HDMI OUTPUTS! (or again, maybe splitters....). In the end, it honestly may be cheaper and easier to simply by a DVD/Blu-Ray Player and PVR for each room (the extra cost of the extra components is balanced by the fact that you won't need to run as many HDMI cables (they can be expensive), no IR repeating system required, and you might not have to spend as much on the A/V receivers if you don't want to either). Re: My brain hurts...trying to work out home entertainment setup 5Mar 08, 2008 4:25 pm Hi Studog, we've asked the same questions. I originally wanted an all in one set-up but after discussing our options with Matt & Rod, ended up going with 2 seperate systems.
We elected to go with the dedicated theatre which will be a stand-alone 7.1 set-up with projector. The 5.1 set up in our family room area will cover the in-ceiling speakers in that room as well as those in the alfresco area. Hey i suppose it depends on how much money you want to spend??? We already had existing equipment which we wanted to keep and just need to invest in a new 7.1 amp and blu-ray player/PS3. Let us know what you end up deciding to do??? Re: My brain hurts...trying to work out home entertainment setup 6Mar 11, 2008 9:35 am Thanks for the inof Rod. I knew I would get a straight forward and useful answer.
I guess I will have to start to think about what we really want from this setup. I was really hoping that I would be able to have the single PVR to record etc. and then be able to watch i either location. May still be possible but will need to look into things a bit more. btw, do you know of or have any contacts with home theatre installers in Brisbane? I have received a quote from one lot, but need to get a couple of others for comparison. Also, do you have any opinions on the benefits of an RF universal remote with RF recever/IR repeater over a IR unversal remote with IR repeaters? Stu I had a similar issue with my fridge not too long ago. It wasn't the same model, but the symptoms were pretty much the same: the compressor would start and then stop… 3 7529 Block of two storey townhouses requires painting on the roof. A brick parapet wall separates each unit and extends above the tiled roof. The parapet walls require sealing… 0 3501 |