House has speakers everywhere... what now?

Our new (18 yr old) home has about 8 pairs of speakers throughout the house all wired to one spot in the living room.  A couple of rooms have volume controls on the walls, but the majority do not.  What is the simplest method to get this up and running?   It would all be sole source music, and the only other thing I can think to mention is that the living room would have to be able to also run surround sound directly from the unit.
 
I'm in the exact same situation. I'm guessing I'm going to have to replace speakers after 18 years, but I haven't got around to hook it up yet and trying it. Mine all have the volume controls which also raise the resistance so you can run more at once and not overload the receiver. The volume controls actually maintain a constant impedance.
 
I've researched a little via google and understand the impedance matching volume controls now.  I would think that I need something that matches the impedance before it heads to the speaker as I have so many zones without volume control.
 
Maybe I should call crutchfield.  I'm sure they understand all this.
 
Two quick questions about the selector setup.  What size of two channel amp would I need?  Secondly, if it matches impedance from the selector am i able to have some speaker pairs with, and some without, a volume controller?
 
Since it's single source and possibly on/off type control, a selector will give you the ability to only hook up a pair or two, I'd suggest a separate power amp and/or multizone control and just put that at the head end. Easier than trying to match impedance at every location.
 
Maybe I should call Crutchfield.  I'm sure they understand all this.
 
I have done this before and the folks at Crutchfield as here are very knowledgeable about this kind of stuff.
 
Originally purchased my LCD TV's from them.  (I wanted matching looks and different size LCD TVs).  It was the first time of implementation and customer service was excellent.
 
In the old house (> 20 years ago) I was splitting up the audio from the media room via switcher and in wall volume controls.
 
One volume control did a crash and burn during a BBQ one day with one guest asking me about why the volume control was burning.
 
Here started with a 16/4-16/2 and cat5e to each room (every room really) with audio speakers. 
 
Initially using the Leviton Chopin system then going to Russound Zoned amplifiers.
 
One neighbor here ran all his speaker / cat5e wires to his media room where his zoned amplifier sit.  Looks nice on the shelf but difficult to get to or checking on the wires.  Many folks here just put their zoned amps in a closet with the rest of the whole house stuff. 
 
The quick and dirty way is to upgrade the volume controls and add a speaker switcher (as Del mentions).
 
The slower and clean way (and more expensive) is to check the infrastructure wiring and either replace it (all or some of it) or make it work with more modern methodologies of sound / audio distribution.
 
Post construction running new cable can be done but it is a bit of a PITA to do.
 
What size of two channel amp would I need?
 
While I utilize Russound Zoned amps still have in place a 100 watt Audiosource amplifier which is going to an 8 port (stereo switcher) and 8 ports are used which is serially, X10 or IR controlled for my text to speech sound in the house.  Works great still today but the company is out of business.  The audio source amplifier does auto source audio switching.
 
mikefromgeorgia said:
Two quick questions about the selector setup.  What size of two channel amp would I need?  Secondly, if it matches impedance from the selector am i able to have some speaker pairs with, and some without, a volume controller?
 
It depends :) How much power at each speaker (or set of speakers) do you need? Make sure to consider the scenario of having all speakers on at the same time (e.g. all 8 zones). It's pretty easy math after that. Let's say you want 25W/speaker... so 50W/zone x 8 zones = 400W.
 
I have a 7-channel AVR (Pioneer, 100W/channel @ 8-ohms) that allows one of the surround zones to be sectioned off as a separate zone (i.e. Zone 2) and is able to utilize a separate source. I have this feed the speaker selector and it's sufficient for my 6-zone setup. Not all of my zones have 2 speakers; those that are not have twin-tweeters so I still get L and R channels.
 
Yes. I have a speaker selector and some zones have volume controls while others do not. Typically, the zones that I don't have volume controls are are basically in the same living space (e.g. adjacent rooms of an open floor plan, such as kitchen and dining room) where I can easily adjust the volume from the source. However, I have volume controls in other locations, such as in the garage or master bathroom.
 
pete_c said:
While I utilize Russound Zoned amps still have in place a 100 watt Audiosource amplifier which is going to an 8 port (stereo switcher) and 8 ports are used which is serially, X10 or IR controlled for my text to speech sound in the house.  Works great still today but the company is out of business.  The audio source amplifier does auto source audio switching.
 
Pete, what company are you referencing that is out of business?
 
The device was called an AB8SS made by a company called HACS.  (Home Automation Control Systems)
 
It was a remote controllable speaker switch and speaker balancing device that used one amp.
 
This is the device that I used with the old Leviton Digital Chopin volume controls.  That said you could use a computer for audio and control the switch and the volume via the computer way back when.
 
Mine is working the same as when first purchased and is RS-232 controlled.
 
I remember having to pay for it then wait.  It almost seemed to be built to order more than having a bunch in stock on hand.
 
You could probably purchase a used one as they were built to last forever.
 
ab8ss.gif
 
Old HACS Website link.
 
HACS.png
 
Ah, OK. I didn't see HACS mentioned in that text I quoted, so I thought you were referring to either AudioSource or Russound... and I knew both were still in business so I wanted to clarify.
 
Yes just called it an 8 port (speaker pairs) stereo switcher.  It just takes the speaker output of the Audiosource amplifier to 8 pairs switchable speakers where as I can turn one on or all on.
 
Trying to remember the name of the unit that's sitting in my garage. Might be an Elan matrix and amp setup. Customer gave it to me new in box with a keypad and I never used it. I should sell it
 
Those in-wall volume controls can actually work pretty well for their time 20 years ago. You will find different taps inside them that can adjust the impedance. Basically you set the tap based on how many pairs you have in the house. Lets say you have 6 pairs of speakers in your house. You set the tap correctly and it presents a constant 48 ohm source, no matter the volume setting.  Do that for all the speakers, put all the 48 ohm outputs in parallel, and you have, wait for it, 8 ohms impedance for your amp.  In each room you can turn the volume up or down and the total will stay at 8.  Not bad for 1990's technology.
 
Now you can buy all sorts of switchers, but really its a bit of overkill unless you really want to automate your audio.  For me, for some Christmas music or party music through the house now-an-then, the volume knobs work well.
 
ano,
 
That obviously assumes they are actually impedance matching controls. Most of the ones that I've seen and installed aren't impedance matching and just remain at 8-ohm, thus need to be wired to independent zones.
 
For me, it's a combination of this, and that about 1/2 of zones don't have volume controls that I also have a speaker selector. The speaker selector does the same thing, where no matter what zones are active, an 8-ohm load is delivered to the amplifier. Most of the time we use the system we want certain zones on... rarely do we have all zones on at the same time. Without the speaker selector we wouldn't be able to turn off the zones that don't have volume controls. Else, we'd have to go around to those that have VC's and turn them down/off.
 
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