By Bob Gatton
Wouldn’t it be great to live in a home where there was background music throughout the home, or different music in different rooms coming from a central source? Or you could be watching a movie in the family room and decide to watch the last part of it from your bedroom. You could pause the movie in the family room, and then start playing it again in the bedroom. Until recently this was available, but only for the most expensive homes. While not cheap, the cost of adding this to a house has decreased significantly in the last few years.
What is whole house audio and video? Simply put, whole house audio is having multiple pairs of speakers (stereo) in several rooms or locations in the home. Each of these rooms or areas is called a zone. Video is basically the same concept, except in the zones where you want to watch video, you will need a television, and in one or more zones you will probably want to install at least five speakers and a subwoofer for surround sound.
The first decision to make is whether the system will be a single source or multiple source system.
Single source. All zones will have the same music or video. The volume can be independently changed in each zone, or muted, but everyone in the home will hear, or watch, the same thing at the same time. This can be acceptable for audio, but rarely do multiple members of the family want to watch the same program, in multiple locations at the same time. The Superbowl and other major sporting events are the only occasions where I can image this happening.
Multi source. Each zone may choose a source independently. For instance, jazz could be playing in the living room, a group could be watching a movie in another room, and someone else could be listening to the ball game on the patio.
The next step is deciding what sources you want to listen to or watch. In a single source system, this can be as simple as the AM/FM tuner in a receiver and a DVD/CD player, but most customers will want a greater variety of listening and viewing options. These can include:
- Satellite radio from XM or Sirius
- Satellite and cable television
- DVD/CD changers that are controlled by another device to find and play a DVD or CD on demand. Most can even find a particular song on a CD or a scene on a DVD. Many of these controllers also have hard disc drives built into them for MP3 storage.
Escient has some great examples of this type of system; one of theirs has a retail price of $999.
- Dedicated AV storage systems. These use multiple large capacity hard disc drives to store both audio and movies. These can have truly amazing capabilities, but can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Kaleidascape makes some of the best.
- Home theater computers, sometimes called HTPCs, with MP3s and video stored on them. These have been getting much more popular over the last few years. In addition to serving as a source for music and movies in multiple rooms, they also can allow Internet access on displays throughout the home. I usually prefer systems such as Escient and Kaleidascape, however; they are not susceptible to some to the problems that can plague PCs.
Once it has been decided that some type of whole-house audio or video will be included in the home, work closely with your custom installer to coordinate the design, pre-wire, installation, and programming and especially teaching the owner how the system works.
There are many companies that make AV distribution equipment. The one that has the right product for your installation depends on the scope of the installation. Between you and your integrator, you'll find exactly what you need— and you'll look like an electronics genius to your customers.
Bob Gatton is a Knoxville, Tenn.-based home-theater and -electronics consultant and writer.
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