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October 23, 2007
Whole House Audio - Would you use it?
When I am working with builders and consumers during the construction planning stage I am often asked to design an audio system for the home. This usually involves a central point of music storage and distribution to multiple rooms.
With a well designed system different people in the home can listen to different music in different rooms. The sources can be CDs, satellite radio, AM/FM radio, streaming audio off the internet and IPods. One company offers a system that even matches the music to your mood - Moodseer.
This sounds really cool, but would you use it? In my home I have most of the equipment and wiring necessary for this type of system, but have only connected speakers on my deck. I do use the deck speakers from time to time, but not that often.
If you are a home builder, is this becoming a more common request from customers?
If you own this type of system, do you like it? Use it often?
Your comments are appreciated.
Posted by Bob Gatton at October 23, 2007 7:26 AM
Comments
We have a whole house audio system installed and I'd say we use it often. We have 2 speakers by the pool, 2 on the deck, 2 in the kitchen, 2 in the living room, and one in the hall, one in the walkout basement. We use the system every time we are outside in the pool in the summer, and each time we have guests over. We usually run off the ipod, but are considering sirius radio as well.
Posted by: Jeanne Gallagher at October 30, 2007 9:09 PM
No, it seems pointless to people like me, and can be easily installed by audio buffs, who would be likely to compare the house prices including and excluding the system.
Posted by: John at October 30, 2007 11:21 PM
I ran about 1.5 miles of wire (speaker, RG6, cat5e, AV cables) through the walls while our house was being built. While I don't regret it, so far we use only the speaker wire for the main home theater room (5.1) and an additional set of speakers on the back porch. Been in the house 1.5 years. I think once I get the money to purchase a multi-channel amp and put it in a central spot (all wires run to the basement), I'll hook up more speakers, specifically to the garage and front porch.
Posted by: Chris at October 31, 2007 9:41 AM
We have a system that allows me to have speakers in all areas of the house, hooked up to the same music or audio book etc. I love it, because I can work around the house and continue to listen wherever I am, inclucing the back yard. Part of the system is wired, but several of the speakers are wireless. We like the wireless ones a lot because they can be moved from one area to another easily. Being able to listen to different things in different rooms, would be ok too, but I don't think we would use it as much. With ipods etc, my husband and I could easily listen to different things without wiring the house to do so.
Posted by: Anne Dimit-Buckley at October 31, 2007 7:16 PM
