A request for an opinion

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Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

Okay, here's what I'm doing and I'm all ears for anyone's thoughts as I
am a complete newbie. I'm installing premise wiring in my new home
which will be framed by the end of the week. I'm installing Bose 191
speakers in the ceiling of my master bedroom and my office, as well as
Bose 251 outdoor speakers on my patio; all powered by a single Bose
SA-3 amplifier that will be located in the media center of my great
room. In my structured wiring cabinet will be a Niles Speaker
Distribution Hub (VCS Hub 8) and in each room with speakers will be a
Niles VCS100R Speaker Volume Control with Selectable Impedance
Magnification. The SA3 amp will be connected via BoseLink to a
Lifestyle 38 Home Theater system located in the great room, such that I
can play music at any or all of the speakers through the SA3 amp and
control the volume with the Speaker Volume Controls in each room. Now,
this configuration allows me to play anything I can connect or play
from the Lifestyle 38 system. However, let's say I want to connect the
TV in the master bedroom to an amplifier and push that to my master
bedroom speakers? From what I read, one solution is to connect my
speakers to an A/B audio switch so that I can switch from the SA3 amp
in the media center to the amplifier connected to the television in the
bedroom. Does this make sense? Further, I am told that I should wire
the speakers connected to the SA3 amplifier (a total of 3 pairs) in
'series' versus parallel. Does this also sound right? I'd appreciate
any input either here or to andrewpaez@verizon.net . Thanks.

 

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Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

<andrewpaez@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:1124071936.158004.59330@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Okay, here's what I'm doing and I'm all ears for anyone's thoughts as I
> am a complete newbie. I'm installing premise wiring in my new home
> which will be framed by the end of the week. I'm installing Bose 191
> speakers in the ceiling of my master bedroom and my office, as well as
> Bose 251 outdoor speakers on my patio; all powered by a single Bose
> SA-3 amplifier that will be located in the media center of my great
> room. In my structured wiring cabinet will be a Niles Speaker
> Distribution Hub (VCS Hub 8) and in each room with speakers will be a
> Niles VCS100R Speaker Volume Control with Selectable Impedance
> Magnification. The SA3 amp will be connected via BoseLink to a
> Lifestyle 38 Home Theater system located in the great room, such that I
> can play music at any or all of the speakers through the SA3 amp and
> control the volume with the Speaker Volume Controls in each room. Now,
> this configuration allows me to play anything I can connect or play
> from the Lifestyle 38 system. However, let's say I want to connect the
> TV in the master bedroom to an amplifier and push that to my master
> bedroom speakers? From what I read, one solution is to connect my
> speakers to an A/B audio switch so that I can switch from the SA3 amp
> in the media center to the amplifier connected to the television in the
> bedroom. Does this make sense?

This could cause some difficulty with the impedance matching volume
controls, but you might be able to "get away with" a/b switching between the
speaker feed from the volume control and the speaker feed from your TV
amplifier.

> Further, I am told that I should wire
> the speakers connected to the SA3 amplifier (a total of 3 pairs) in
> 'series' versus parallel. Does this also sound right?

Not if you are going to be using the Niles Speaker Distribution Hub with
Selectable Impedance Magnification (impedance matching). You should wire it
according to the instructions given here:
http/www.nilesaudio.com/pdffiles/manuals/Volume_Controls/VCS_HUB8.pdf

> I'd appreciate
> any input either here or to andrewpaez@verizon.net . Thanks.
>

 

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Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

I probably should have included this also:
http/www.nilesaudio.com/pdffiles/manuals/Volume_Controls/WVC100-WVC100E.pdf

You need to follow the instructions as closely as possible, or the system
will not work as desired, and some very expensive damage could result.

 

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Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

<andrewpaez@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:1124071936.158004.59330@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Okay, here's what I'm doing and I'm all ears for anyone's thoughts as I
> am a complete newbie. I'm installing premise wiring in my new home
> which will be framed by the end of the week. I'm installing Bose 191
> speakers in the ceiling of my master bedroom and my office, as well as
> Bose 251 outdoor speakers on my patio; all powered by a single Bose
> SA-3 amplifier that will be located in the media center of my great
> room. In my structured wiring cabinet will be a Niles Speaker
> Distribution Hub (VCS Hub 8) and in each room with speakers will be a
> Niles VCS100R Speaker Volume Control with Selectable Impedance
> Magnification. The SA3 amp will be connected via BoseLink to a
> Lifestyle 38 Home Theater system located in the great room, such that I
> can play music at any or all of the speakers through the SA3 amp and
> control the volume with the Speaker Volume Controls in each room. Now,
> this configuration allows me to play anything I can connect or play
> from the Lifestyle 38 system. However, let's say I want to connect the
> TV in the master bedroom to an amplifier and push that to my master
> bedroom speakers? From what I read, one solution is to connect my
> speakers to an A/B audio switch so that I can switch from the SA3 amp
> in the media center to the amplifier connected to the television in the
> bedroom. Does this make sense? Further, I am told that I should wire
> the speakers connected to the SA3 amplifier (a total of 3 pairs) in
> 'series' versus parallel. Does this also sound right? I'd appreciate
> any input either here or to andrewpaez@verizon.net . Thanks.
>

I did something similar when I built my home 10 years ago. I wired my home
with 14 gauge Vampire speaker wire and used Niles for speaker selection and
volume control. Two things I would suggest, use good speaker wire and do
not let the electrician run your speaker wires parallel to your electrical
wires. The electrician will be tempted to do this because it is the easy
way out. Just drag them along with the power through the drilled holes.
The speaker wires need to cross the electrical wires at 90 degrees unless
that is impossible. Otherwise, when you finally get the house built and all
your stuff hooked up, you could wind up with 60 cycle hum and finding where
it originates would be a nightmare.

I'm driving 5 pairs of speakers and have had no problems. I can't speak to
your desire to use some of the speakers with two different amplifiers. I
drive mine with one. The TV in the master BR is not part of my home
entertainment system.

Good luck,
Bill

 

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Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

<andrewpaez@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:1124071936.158004.59330@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Okay, here's what I'm doing and I'm all ears for anyone's thoughts as I
> am a complete newbie. I'm installing premise wiring in my new home
> which will be framed by the end of the week. I'm installing Bose 191
> speakers in the ceiling of my master bedroom and my office, as well as
> Bose 251 outdoor speakers on my patio; all powered by a single Bose
> SA-3 amplifier that will be located in the media center of my great
> room. In my structured wiring cabinet will be a Niles Speaker
> Distribution Hub (VCS Hub 8) and in each room with speakers will be a
> Niles VCS100R Speaker Volume Control with Selectable Impedance
> Magnification. The SA3 amp will be connected via BoseLink to a
> Lifestyle 38 Home Theater system located in the great room, such that I
> can play music at any or all of the speakers through the SA3 amp and
> control the volume with the Speaker Volume Controls in each room. Now,
> this configuration allows me to play anything I can connect or play
> from the Lifestyle 38 system. However, let's say I want to connect the
> TV in the master bedroom to an amplifier and push that to my master
> bedroom speakers?

It seems a complicated and expensive way to proceed to me; you end up with
only one choice of sound in all rooms, because you have only a single
amplifier.

Of course you might regard that as an advantage. And there is the advantage
that with no amplifier for each set of speakers, you don't need mains power.

But I think if I were doing it, I'd distribute balanced line-level signals
rather than speaker-level signals, install an amplifier for each set of
speakers, and use that to control their volume. It would also provide for
local source selection - the amplifier in each room could either select the
distributed audio, or a local source (eg computer). The amplifier in each
room would also provide for heaphone/earphone use in each room.

To provide the multiple line-level signals, I'd experiment first to see if
the central amplifier's tape-out could drive all the desired lines (via a
balanvced line driver.). If not I'd build or buy a line-level signal
distributor, which takes one pair of inputs and produced multiple outputs.
That's a pretty easy thing to build ... not much more than power supply,
connectors, and $2 in op-amps for each desired output .

Tim

 

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Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

Tim Martin wrote:
> But I think if I were doing it, I'd distribute balanced line-level signals
> rather than speaker-level signals, install an amplifier for each set of
> speakers, and use that to control their volume.

Or, if you're worried about noise, I suppose you could distribute at
speaker-level but then attenuate down to line-level at the destination
before re-amplifying...

My current solution, since I don't need _different_ signals in different
places, is a single system and remote control