How am I gonig to do this :)

royalj7

Active Member
I have a client that wants an entry level multizone audio system with Sirius radio being the primary source. They would like to listen to differnt channels in the differnt zones at the same time. I know of one product that does this (Antex SRX-3) , but it's out of the budget for an entry level system. Anyone have experience with a similar setup? Anyone use 2 or more single sat. radio tuners? Thanks folks!

--Jamie
 
Wouldn't any low-end multi-room solution with IR distribution work (you mentioned low end). If there was a controller in each zone with an eye, a hand held remote could be used to change channels (up/down) by relaying the signals to where the multiple satellite radio recievers are and the multi-zone equipment (possibly some additional routing as primary areas may want the controller present which just means routing IR a bit, maybe someone has some experience with a cleaner approach).

You could take it up a notch and work in touchscreens if appropriate (I think cinemar has some satellite specific options there) which could link into the IR control on the back end. This way you can use any multi-room setup as direct integration with satellite will add cost.

Someone here recommended HTD, and the prices seem reasonable, might want to take a look:

www.htd.com

I have no experience with the above, but my house has a Harman Kardon multi-zone system (pre a-bus) which has the IR eyes in each room (I have not extended it as I mention above though as it is not suited either since it is not true-zones).

An option. Hope this helps.
 
Hey Mike,

I think you are recommending using an individual sat radio tuner for each zone? That is one path I'm looking at, but do you know if each tuner has to have it's own antenna? I would like to aviod having 4 antennas on the roof if possible. I'm going to take a look at the HTD products, thanks.

--Jamie
 
From what I understood, I thought you wanted to be able to listen to different channels in different zones. This way, if you had as many sat tuners as you wanted you could 'assign' them to a zone. I forgot to mention you would need some kind of zoned IR setup. I have a four-zone xantech setup at the moment that I have been happy with.

As an alternative if you had different models that used different IR commands you could avoid the zoned IR and assignment of tuners to a zone (then just need a source select).

The other thing to take a look at is the multi-zone russound a-bus setup. I have been eyeing this for awhile, but havent quite went through all the ways I'd want to use it to validate it (I avoided the one source system as if you have a bunch of rooms you want to select what you want).

Also search for m-audio delta 410 here as there was an article on how that sound card was used to drive 4 different sources using a computer based mp3 collection.
 
Some stupid questions (and I have more where these came from):

Do you need a Sirius subscription for each receiver if you have four?
Does the Antex SRX-3 require more than one subsription?
 
As far as Sirius goes the basic subscription is $12.95 per month and $5 per month for each additional radio. As far as a whole house audio, take a look at Sonos. I don't know if it fits your needs but worth a look. Sonos is Here
 
rocco said:
Some stupid questions (and I have more where these came from):

Do you need a Sirius subscription for each receiver if you have four?
Does the Antex SRX-3 require more than one subsription?
I'm assuming the SRX-3 requires 3 subscriptions but have no experience. What I was referring to would require multiple subscriptions as it would be multiple recievers (but I assumed that was the objective).

Sonos is a nice unit, a little on the expensive side (although I mainly wanted the controller). I loved the controller though. If you have a scenario that they target though it could be a nice fit.

On that note, didn't one of the online music providers have plan for unlimited music at a monthly price? Rhapsody was one. Might be cheaper if that fits your needs (haven't used it though) as you get one subscription and you could theoretically (again not sure on limitations with their approach) use it to drive multiple zones (like the m-audio delta card).
 
Hey guys.

The SRX-3 does require three subscriptions, one at full price, two at the discount. Welp, found out from the home owner that they wouldn't might multiple antennas on the roof (small to start off with) so I think I'm going to go with two or three single recievers and interface them with a whole house audio controler. Just got to decide one which one :)

Thanks for the help!

--Jamie
 
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