Nuvo or Russound

phenix

Member
I have a HAI Automation system. Which would be a better choice for Whole House Audio. Nuvo or Russound???
 
That's a loaded question and impossible to answer as is. It all depends on what you are looking for and your budget. HAI supports both of them as well as others. They also have their own HiFi line which is made by Nuvo I believe.
 
I researched both heavily, which hopefully you'll do too before you buy, and I hope I don't come oever as too biased, but I chose the nuvo. one of the big things for me was the keypads, I just liked the look and feel of the nuvo keypads better (your results may vary) and also the fact that nuvo's keypads have more buttons... also one of the big deals for me was that the nuvo has higher watts per zone.. which however, that point is moot if you add a amplifier to each zone.

also I have a matrix switcher for video, so the cav's ability to switch video did nothing for me, however that may be something you want and or need.

one thing the cav / cam have on the nuvo right now is that its more heavily supported software wise (everyone's got a plugin for it) while the nuvo is still catching up (I believe so far only cqc and main lobby and casatunes support it for pc music playback -- I'm hoping someone writes a jrmc module for it soon) ...

also (semi biased as I can't speak for russound's tech support someone else can chime in with their experiences) I have to say kilowatt (yeah that's what he likes to be called) over at nuvo tech support has been the absolute easiest person I've ever had to deal with tech support wise, and that says a lot to me about the company.. not to mention their product..

in the end, as always test both systems at your local a/v store if possible, read both manuals of both products.. and I can't comment too much on the hi-fi system but definetly look into whether its compatible with other systems and programs like the cav and concerto are (you know in case you ever come over to the other side and get an elk m1), because there might not be drivers for it in case you want to make your own music server to push music through it later...

as always ask away if you have any more questions!
 
Ya I kind of knew I was going to get that response. As soon as I hit the "post" button I figured it was kind of a general question.


So let me explain the A/V setup I think I'm going to try and achieve.
I'm building a 3200 sqft house. I would like to have about a 12 zone whole house audio system. I want to make it so all the A/V equipment is in a utility room in the basement. Now that part is easy enough. I think. From what I understand I just run cat5e or 6 from keypad locations to the a/v hub area and speaker wire (probably 14/2 or 14/4) from there to speaker locations. And I think if i do that I can pretty much insert either Russound or Nuvo System. Please let me know if I'm mistaken on this.

My dilemma come in more with the distribution of the digital cable and the video signal from the cameras around the outside of the house. I was hoping to have the Digital cable boxes in the a/v hub area in the basement. So the Cable remote would send the signal that would be picked up by a IR Receiver (placed near or on the TVs). That signal would travel down the cat5e or 6 to the Digital Cable box in the basement then the audo from the box would go to the Russound or Nuvo to be distributed and now here's the problem. How do i get the Digital cable with HD Channels and the Signal from the Outdoor Cameras back up to the tv. Without having to sell and arm to do it??? If someone could explain this to me i just might be there best friend. :angry: I was hoping to use the component video but you can't do runs that long.
 
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