****EVH's house building thread****

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AmTechFox said:
Sweet mary poppins that looks good! :cool:
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I stuck on Wall E last night, turned it up loud, and it was mind blowing.

Not only the audio quality from the 7.1, but the fact that everything is hidden away made it feel like a cinema :D
 
You know there is a mod for the foxsat that allows you to chuck on ftp and other services, it might be quite helpful as you could plug in a cat 6 and stream recorded tv off it to front ends.
 
chaosdestro0 said:
You know there is a mod for the foxsat that allows you to chuck on ftp and other services, it might be quite helpful as you could plug in a cat 6 and stream recorded tv off it to front ends.
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Oooooooo, care to post me in the right direction? :)
 
Did you not want speakers built inside the walls or was it something you didn't think about until the build was finished?

Nice tidy job in the rack and have you added any cooling system for it I know from experience it will get very hot in there.

Last question hows the outside work going?
 
edGfaCTor said:
Did you not want speakers built inside the walls or was it something you didn't think about until the build was finished?

Nice tidy job in the rack and have you added any cooling system for it I know from experience it will get very hot in there.

Last question hows the outside work going?
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1) I was thinking about in-wall speakers long before the walls were built, but I would have lost 4 inches front and rear to accommodate them, so decided against it. Plus, the speakers I wanted were £800 each :eek:

2) No cooling system in the rack. As you can see from the pictures, everything is spaced with a minimum of 1u gap between components, with the exception of the Onkyo, which has 2u above. I've been toying with the idea of a cooling fan linked to the 12V trigger on the amp, so that when in use, the fan will come on but I've had the amp and ALL the kit on for 6hrs or so "stress" testing the system and it didn't get hot.. warm, but no warmer than previous systems I've used.

In fact, I used to install the sound systems for the UKs largest clubs, and we used to put 3 or 4 audio amps together in the racks and never had issues.

The front door is essentially open because of the pattern of the door, which is something I specifically chose (over a closed, glass door) :)

3) Front garden just needs to be turfed and it's all done. Oh, and I've started staining the fence around the side. Shall add pictures when it's done.
 
Quick question for you EVH, re the HDMI over cat6 baluns. Did you test the cheap (~£20) sets available everywhere from the likes of the rainforest and ebay? The reviews on the rainforest seem to suggest that they are OK, but it would be interesting to hear your thoughts as you have no doubt researched this.

HDMI over cat6 solutions seem to vary in price so much, i have ordered a cheap set for when i get home to "test", as i have a similar rack&distribution system due to be going into a house we are in the process of purchasing.

Edit:

Further questions as i have just read some more of your posts and you have opted for almost exactly the same kit as me :eek:

1) The cheapo ebay waterproof ceiling speakers - what are they like? Passable at volume? I was planning on the same items.
2) What did you use to feed the speakers? I have a ton of old cat5e which i will not be using for data in favour of cat6, so i was planning to use that possibly, 2 pairs pos 2 pairs neg?
 
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Jez said:
Quick question for you EVH, re the HDMI over cat6 baluns. Did you test the cheap (~£20) sets available everywhere from the likes of the rainforest and ebay? The reviews on the rainforest seem to suggest that they are OK, but it would be interesting to hear your thoughts as you have no doubt researched this.

HDMI over cat6 solutions seem to vary in price so much, i have ordered a cheap set for when i get home to "test", as i have a similar rack&distribution system due to be going into a house we are in the process of purchasing.

Edit:

Further questions as i have just read some more of your posts and you have opted for almost exactly the same kit as me :eek:

1) The cheapo ebay waterproof ceiling speakers - what are they like? Passable at volume? I was planning on the same items.
2) What did you use to feed the speakers? I have a ton of old cat5e which i will not be using for data in favour of cat6, so i was planning to use that possibly, 2 pairs pos 2 pairs neg?
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I've got a hdbaset system here, for testing.

In effect, it's better than a HDMI over cat6 solution, because it only requires a single cat 5/6/7 to pump full HD. However, the downside is cost. I've been testing 2 different suppliers systems, and each transmitter/receiver is £400-£500.

I've also found that while it works flawlessly with every source in the rack, it just won't play ball with the Onkyo receiver.. throwing a green screen (bad HDMI handshake / HDCP error). HDMI over cat6 gets around this (especially the cheap ones) by terminating the HDCP i.e. stripping the HDCP from the signal, so you get better success rate.. this is why many suppliers are now moving away from that and going hdbaset (the HDMI.org is not best pleased about people messing with copy protection).

I'd still recommend them, however I have a £90 transmitter/receiver set from HDCable.co.uk, so I can't say how the cheap ebay ones perform. I'd say the critical thing with either system is a direct connection. Do NOT put any wallplates or connectors in the way of the cat6 and you'll be fine.

1) No matter how much you spend on speakers, you're always limited in bathrooms / areas with massive "hard" surfaces that reflect sound. This is exactly why I didn't go for the B&W speakers I used everywhere else.

From my testing, they are more than ample when taking a shower / bath / toilet. I haven't cranked them yet, but they are great at low to mid volume.

2) I used Van Damme 2.5mm speaker cable. Bought it from The Media Factory (www.tmfsolutions.co.uk). One of the guys, Joe Ferdnand posts on AVForums and can quote you for any length you require. I bought a massive 500m drum, as I installed it everywhere with an audio source.

I have used Cat 5 on a job, in the past, and it will work, but if you have the option then I'd always go with speaker cable / bell wire over cat 5. If you really want to use the cable then you could just use 2 pairs per terminal, or even 2 cables per speaker (+ve and -ve).
 
Thankyou for your detailed reply, much appreciated :)

EVH said:
Do NOT put any wallplates or connectors in the way of the cat6 and you'll be fine.
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I notice that you are running through a structured system though? Are you finding that it is giving you issues? I was really rather hoping to structure the house properly as you have.
 
Jez said:
Thankyou for your detailed reply, much appreciated :)

I notice that you are running through a structured system though? Are you finding that it is giving you issues? I was really rather hoping to structure the house properly as you have.
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No problem. Fire me an email if you require any other help :)

As for my system.. yes, it does work, but at the same time it may not work if I did it again, purely because nearly every source I've read on the subject recommends direct connections. I guess my termination was good? :confused:

FYI: every break in the cable increases resistance by as much as 10-20%. I couldn't get the system to work at 1080P using the patch panel and the wallplate in the chain, (which is why my balun is plugged directly to the feeds behind the rack - this does 1080P no problem), but 1080i was fine over the 2 breaks.

If I were to do it again, I'd leave 5-10cm of extra cable at each run, so you can directly terminate it while you test, then if you need to put a socket on, you have the extra to play with.
 
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