Audio Distribution System Recommendations

alamski · Nov 2, 2017

Hi All,

Was hoping if peeps can give me some advice. I have an upcoming installation, 5 bed house new build and the customer has requested for the full works, electrics, tv, sat, data in every room, 16 channel CCTV (possibly home automation) and lastly mentioned about an audio distribution system. Now all except the audio I have done plenty of and do not have an issue with, the audio I am a bit stumped on. Can anyone recommend a good audio distribution system, what its requirement are i.e can i use cat5/6 cable or do I need to use dedicated speaker cable, etc. I have done a quick search and have come across Crestron, which I have seen in previous commercial jobs but not installed so not entirely sure how it all goes together.

Also what sort of price ranges would some of these be in?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Alam

Adam Lench · Nov 4, 2017

With technology nowadays I would tend to go with a wireless system by one of the big players - Sonos, Google, Amazon + Bose all offer wireless multi room systems. If they specifically want a wired system then there are again numerous options. You could make use of the cat5 cabling to distribute the signal although you would loose network on cables used for audio at this point. The sky is the limit nowadays and it all depends on budget. I'd tend to push the wireless option as it sounds like they will have a top end setup once install completed, which should easily handle the Internet + audio signal distribution.
Contact CEDIA, the Custom Electronics Design & Installation Association if you need further advice.
Good luck.

alamski · Nov 4, 2017

Many thanks for response Adam, since the post I have been scouring the net and have found a few solutions, the wireless ones are more in demand due to ease of installation and also how brilliantly they work, Amazon Echo, Sonos, Kramer, control4, Fibaro just to name a few. I haven't been in contact with the customer since then so I have yet to give him an update on my findings. Shall be very interested in seeing what he wants, as this is new grounds for me really looking forward to it as it's something new.

Kind Regards

Alam