Setting up new home cinema and audio

[saintmarsy]

I'm currently planning a renovation of my home and I'm looking at ways to introduce a home surround system and audio system during or prior to the building work - Apologies in advance for the ramblings but any advice would be appreciated

As much as in my head I know what I want, the more I read about how to do it the more confused I'm getting. The main renovation will be to create a large kitchen/dining/living/patio area

I've got an area that I've earmarked as a communications area (Broadband / AV receiver / Sky box & anything else that's necessary)

I was intending to put a switch box in the communications area and run cat 5/6 to areas that will have TV or home working (I need good internet for work)

Room 1 - Living room
I'm looking at wiring up a 5.1 surround sound system - I will be putting 4 ceiling speakers up - 2 in the living area and 2 in the kitchen

I want to use the 2 in the living room as the rear speakers for the surround sound - the reason for this is for aesthetics and keeping my wife happy - I will add a sound bar/sub woofer and attach the front speakers on the walls

Q - Behind the TV would I feed wires for HDMI & Cat 5/6 from the comms cupboard (Along with power)

I'm guessing the wires from the sound bar and speakers would be wired directly to the AV receiver?

Q. Could anyone advise on a good AV receiver that will do the job?

Kitchen
I'd like the 2 speakers in the kitchen to be able to work independently for music - or with the 2 speakers in the living room - Q. Can you use speakers for both surround sound and audio?

Patio
I'd like to add 2 speakers onto the garden patio - Again I'd preferably like to have this work independently or alongside the kitchen speakers

Cellar
I'm planning on adding a projector in my cellar next year and was planning on preparing wiring for this - Q. Would I need to use a different AV receiver for sound?

Q. Would I be able to link up my amazon echo to play music via the receiver

Q. I will be adding sky, does this link directly into the receiver, if so how does it work with changing channels?

I'd love any advice - Thanks in advance

 

[tom_nieto]

As much as in my head I know what I want, the more I read about how to do it the more confused I'm getting. The main renovation will be to create a large kitchen/dining/living/patio area

I've got an area that I've earmarked as a communications area (Broadband / AV receiver / Sky box & anything else that's necessary)

I was intending to put a switch box in the communications area and run cat 5/6 to areas that will have TV or home working (I need good internet for work)

Room 1 - Living room
I'm looking at wiring up a 5.1 surround sound system - I will be putting 4 ceiling speakers up - 2 in the living area and 2 in the kitchen

I want to use the 2 in the living room as the rear speakers for the surround sound - the reason for this is for aesthetics and keeping my wife happy - I will add a sound bar/sub woofer and attach the front speakers on the walls

Q - Behind the TV would I feed wires for HDMI & Cat 5/6 from the comms cupboard (Along with power)

I'm guessing the wires from the sound bar and speakers would be wired directly to the AV receiver?

Q. Could anyone advise on a good AV receiver that will do the job?

Kitchen
I'd like the 2 speakers in the kitchen to be able to work independently for music - or with the 2 speakers in the living room - Q. Can you use speakers for both surround sound and audio?

Patio
I'd like to add 2 speakers onto the garden patio - Again I'd preferably like to have this work independently or alongside the kitchen speakers

Cellar
I'm planning on adding a projector in my cellar next year and was planning on preparing wiring for this - Q. Would I need to use a different AV receiver for sound?

Q. Would I be able to link up my amazon echo to play music via the receiver

Q. I will be adding sky, does this link directly into the receiver, if so how does it work with changing channels?

I'd love any advice - Thanks in advance

The first bit should be straightforward with an AV amp with more than one zone. You’ll need 3 zones for what you want. I think you should be able to customise individual speakers for the functions that you want them to perform with a decent enough amp.

The sound bar and speakers are wired directly to the AV receiver.

Cellar would probably benefit from a separate setup, but nothing is impossible - it might be cheaper to buy two separate amps rather than one which can do all of the above.

Amazon echo can be linked. I use Bluetooth to my Onkyo amp.

Sky would continue to function as it does currently. No need to change what you’re doing with channel hopping.

It’s good that you’ve got a technology hub planned. It’ll make the wiring a bit more straightforward.

I’d run 3 or 4 Ethernet cables to each TV point if you’re planning video over Ethernet. Even if you don’t terminate them all it’s not much more hassle to run extra cables when you’re renovating.