Home Office media kit – spec me/advice please

oneilldo

oneilldo

oneilldo

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I would appreciate any advice on the following…

I’m shortly (next 1-2months) going to be kitting out a home office/log cabin which will also be used as a gaming/cinema/bar room. Budget nothing is set in stone but I think generally I’ll struggle to justify a big uplift in cost unless warranted. Nothing is ordered yet but I currently have the following stuff that will be going in. TV (Samsung UE65KS8000), XBOX, PS4 and Switch. The TV and consoles are the 4K variants so AVR etc. will need to support this and HDR etc. Everything else down to speaker wire needs purchasing.

It doesn’t need to be massively loud in there and I am trying to keep it decluttered so will be looking to install ceiling speakers. Main room/area will be something like 5.5m by 3.5m, I’m going to store the kit in a partitioned area in a network rack. I’m thinking maybe 4 ceiling speakers? I know Lucid on here recommends the BluCube BCK-65 and they look to be well reviewed so I might go with them.

Usage will be 60% music, 20% Games and 20% TV/Films.

I might have the TV on whilst music is playing so if the TV goes through AVR I need to be able to override audio output of AVR to other sources. I might also want to connect a PC etc. to the AMP/AVR.

In addition as the AVR/AMP is in a separate area ideally I want to be able to control this via WIFI etc, so I can change inputs from the garden etc. Could run an IR extender to the office room to control from there? Or a multi remote?

The TV will be hung on a partitioned wall so I could potentially put in a wall speaker for a centre speaker, the size of TV and requirement for a door means I might struggle to put in side speakers.

I’m going to be running CAT6 to share internet etc. and in addition I want to run speaker wire from the office to a BBQ area in the garden. I’m keen to go down the SONOS route but am happy for both the office and garden to play from the same SONOS. I might get a google home/alexa and a few HUE light strips as well.

My thoughts so far are a SONOS connect and some form of AMP/AVR to switch music between office/garden. I am happy for them both to be supplied by the same SONOS unit but I won’t want the Garden on unless I am in it. So it needs to be able to play in the office, play in the garden or play in both.

So any ideas on kit…

Ceiling speakers – which ones and how many?

Garden speakers for BBQ area – area not that big so 1-2 should be fine.

AVR/AMP

Speaker cable – is it all much the same, I assume I need different for the garden

SONOS Connect

Can you accomplish viable surround sound with 4 speakers?

Thanks for any help.
 
Thanks for the advice, Not sure if I was clear but
The usage is the actual room usage so whilst that is the majority of usage it will be basically whilst working listening to SONOS which will be from an app on my phone the SONOS connect. This has an optical out so I assume I can just connect this to the optical in on the AVR/AMP. I wouldn't really say it needs to sound really good, its more about sounding better than the TV's in built speakers and coping with requirements for accessibility/switching between garden and office for speakers etc.

I only use a SONOS one in the house so far and as long as it sounds a bit better than that its fine. I could put a centre in the wall.
Whilst I appreciate floor standers would sound better I am keen to keep the room as empty/minimalist as possible (will have PC monitors on wall and narrow desks etc.)

Thankss
 
Hi All,

Thanks for the advice all.
Lucid - You are right it does seem mad that SONOS don't do an outside version of the sonos one I am sure that they would sell loads. I'll look into the 251's foru outdoors. In terms of mounting I think it will be a large fence/frame post as no solid walls are in that area of the garden.
I'm happy for both the cabin and the garden to be streaming the same source. With the separate zones it sounds like I could control the volume independently via the AVR app.
I just didn't want someone to increase the volumne a bit outside via the sonos app and then for it too be far too loud in the cabin.
The TV has one HDMI ARC connection so hopefully that should be an option. Ideally want to use ceiling speakers rather than in walls as I want to keep the dividing wall as narrow as possible - not sure if you could beef up a 100-120mm dividing wall. If I can it might be an option. However saying that some small front satellites might be an option. I intended to have a narrow furniture unit below the TV and could potentially hide a SUB elsewhere. hmm. Then stick with ceiling speakers for the rears. What small satellites would you recommend for TV/Games and music?

Think next steps is a bit more reading then I might go and have a chat at Richersounds or equivalent to get some ideas of AVR's etc.
 
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Thanks Lucid. I think the Mass 5.1's and then two rear BCK65 seems the best.
Just to confirm if I get an AVR with 2 zones I could have a movie on using HDMI ARC for 5.1 surround sound in the cabin and also have sonos playing in the garden at the same time?
 
Thanks both, Looks like I am set. Z1 will be cabin using HDMI ARC and Z2 will be BBQ. Ideally SONOS will be optical if this works for both.
Now just to decide on a suitable AVR and speaker wire.
 
Thanks guys. I’ll be honest I’m out of my depth but two seperate zones sounds like it will suit my needs fine. As I said I’m coming from a. Single sonos one in the living room so i imagine this will sound a lot better. The bose outside speakers as well. Thanks for your help and if I get round to it when it’s done I’ll post some pics up.
One final query any recommended AVRs say £300-500 so I don’t push the budget much more (unless necessary).
 
Thanks I’ll have a look at the Yamaha’s. The sonos does have stereo output and optical so should suffice. Something else that can happen is that if using multiroom with Sonos Connect it can be slightly out of sync if using digital due to the delay processing in the AVR. However as this will be external and as I won’t be synching with the house it shouldn’t be an issue. I suppose I might get something similar using zone 1 and zone 2 at the same time
 
So silly question but do I need specific speaker cables. I am going to order the 2xBCK65 ceiling speakers today and want to get some speaker cable as well. The speaker cable is going in the roof and will be lying against a

Do I need low smoke stuff? or would something like Cambridge Audio SYMPHONY 400 speaker cable suffice. I will get the same for the Mass 5.1 speakers (only using sub, centre and front two).

Thanks
 
Cheers Lucid, I'll just go for the Fisual S-Flex for internal. Any advice on the external (I will be going for the Bose 251 speakers)

Thanks
 
So one speaker will probably be a ~10 meter length and the other a ~12-15 meter length (depending where I decide to mount it).
Speakers are 100watts.

Would something like QED QX16/2 Outdoor 2 Core Black Speaker Cable suffice, its 2mm cross section?.
 
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