Monoprice multi-zone audio

Not shipping until the 21st.  A comparable Russound system is like $2k:
 
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=109&cp_id=10918&cs_id=1091801&p_id=10761&seq=1&format=2
 
Looks like it has more features than the Russound also, and you can chain them together to get a 12x12 or 18x18 matrix.  Very cool.  I may order a couple of these.

Very interesting.
 
Shows that it's shipping today, for me.
 
It's a bummer that there's no ethernet control on this thing.

tadr said:

Very interesting.
 
Shows that it's shipping today, for me.
 
It's a bummer that there's no ethernet control on this thing.

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Agree, though it does have a serial input that one would have to write a driver for...
 

The master controller features an RS232 serial input, which lets you program a computer for automated control. A complete list of RS232 commands and codes, including status reporting commands, is included in the manual.

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You can add ethernet with this:
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9476

Ok, I just ordered 2 of them.  I'll let you all know how it works out, they actually look better than the Russound gear I was looking at.  Yesterday, it said they wouldn't ship until 1/21, but now it's saying they will ship today.
 
I also ordered a bunch of pairs of the 4101 wall speakers to replace the 20 year old Infinity stuff with disintegrated foam surrounds.  Some people are saying that these things for $50 sound better than the $400 speakers they replaced.

Would be nice if they sold just the amp without the keypads as well.

az1324 said:

Would be nice if they sold just the amp without the keypads as well.

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You can buy a 12-channel amp from parts-express.com for less money.

signal15 said:

You can buy a 12-channel amp from parts-express.com for less money.

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With built in 6 source matrix, 1 optical input, and pretty comprehensive RS232 control?  It's a good price even if you don't use the keypads, but would be nice to have it at say $550 without them.

Looks like it's more comparable to the CAA66 - like without all the metadata and all that; and at 8ohms it's only 25 watts - but still a nice little entry to the market.  Today I'd probably still go with the Russound but we'll see where this one goes.

I'm not quite sure how it becomes an 18x18 matrix w/ an 18-pin ribbon cable since it would need more connections to pass 18 channels of stereo audio and serial data back and forth.
 
Here is a very similar unit:  http://www.factorelectronics.com/whole-house-audio.php
 
and likely the manufacturer:  http://www.mclelland...213&content=332

az1324 said:

I'm not quite sure how it becomes an 18x18 matrix w/ an 18-pin ribbon cable since it would need more connections to pass 18 channels of stereo audio and serial data back and forth.
 
Here is the manufacturer:  http://www.factorelectronics.com/whole-house-audio.php

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It doesn't.  It becomes a 6x12 or 6x18.
 
This is the same way the Niles ZR6 works (and why I just sold the two I was using).  Actually, the Niles only had 5 usable inputs since input 1 was the FM radio.  You actually have a similar situation here, since input 1 is shared with the paging input (if you plan on using paging).
 
All in all, this may still be a good deal for some, but I question things like:
1.) Robustness of the RS-232 protocol.  I didn't look at it closely, but are there discrete (per-zone) volume, source, etc commands?  One rather large issue I ran into with the Niles units was the lack of ability to set a specific volume over RS232 - you had to increment or decrement until you got to the target volume.
 
2.) Discrete IR commands - I didn't see anything about this in the manual (but I didn't look that closely).

tadr said:

It doesn't.  It becomes a 6x12 or 6x18.
 
This is the same way the Niles ZR6 works (and why I just sold the two I was using).  Actually, the Niles only had 5 usable inputs since input 1 was the FM radio.  You actually have a similar situation here, since input 1 is shared with the paging input (if you plan on using paging).
 
All in all, this may still be a good deal for some, but I question things like:
1.) Robustness of the RS-232 protocol.  I didn't look at it closely, but are there discrete (per-zone) volume, source, etc commands?  One rather large issue I ran into with the Niles units was the lack of ability to set a specific volume over RS232 - you had to increment or decrement until you got to the target volume.
 
2.) Discrete IR commands - I didn't see anything about this in the manual (but I didn't look that closely).

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Yes, there are discrete per-zone volume/source/bass/treble/balance commands.  You can directly set the volume to any level between 0-38.  The other ones are 0-14.  
 
I didn't see anything on IR commands.  Are you talking about programming in codes for things like next track, etc?  From what I can tell, it only repeats IR, it doesn't generate it.  No big deal for me since all of my sources are network controlled.

I did not read that it became a 6x18 - I read 18x18... there's nothing saying they're doing the transferring of channels in purely analog - and they could be sharing the negatives between them all or whatever else...  Just read through the manual, and it's not clear but I'm actually suspecting that tadr is right and that MonoPrice's description is misleading.  Either way - sounds like a good thing that Signal is taking the plunge - hopefully there'll be some good first-hand experience reported back soon.
 
Also looks like this is a better offering than the HTD one - I remember finding a couple distinct holes in that product that kept me away.

After seeing what HACS did with their AB8SS and ESS line, I have often wondered why nobody else made a simple affordable automation-ready impedance-matching audio zone control system.   I am interested.  But I am not smart enough to assess whether the RS-232 protocol is robust enough and feature-rich enough for a Homeseer (or other) plugin.  When my AB8SS bites the dust, I'd like an alternative.

By discrete IR codes he means the ability to send IR commands to zones other than the local zone for the keypad IR receiver you are using.  I doubt there are any and don't think there is an IR receiver on the amp itself either. 
 
The RS232 functions look complete.  You can control individual zones or all zones (per amp).  The only question I had was whether changes from the keypads generate RS232 updates or polling is required.
 
I am sure it is only 6x18.  However it would be useful if you could have a combination of global zones and local zones for each amp.  This might be possible by disconnecting some of the pins on the 18-pin connector.