# Music to the rest of the House Advice



## gregt848 (Jul 25, 2006)

Hello,
First time posting in this topic, but not the site. Wanted to see what everyone recommended and if anyone else has done something similar. I want to know the best reasonable way to get the music on my computer to various locations throughout the house. I want to be able to sit outside and listen to the music from the CPU, then when in the living room I feel the same way and want to hear those tunes, and even when working if the garage I often wish I had that music there too. Running, snaking wires is not a problem I have done it many times in the house and can get through the house relatively quick. I am basically wonder just how to get it to play in three or four different locations. Not trying to spend a ton of money but will spend what I need. Any advice or input and help is always greatly apprieciated.
Thanks in advance,
Greg


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## DIYtestdummy (Jan 16, 2008)

Without spending a lot of money, get an iPod. Or you could get a multichannel receiver/amplifier and match the output resistance of the PC, then snake wires throughout the house...


When I get in those moods, the house is flooded with music. Workshed has the boombox in it. Jeep has 4WD and a killer system installed by yours truely - I can park next to the pool too!


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## Bob in St. Louis (Jul 4, 2008)

Hey Greg,
Have you found a solution yet? It's been awhile.
I can help, but if you're all 'hooked up' already, I'll save some keystrokes instead. lol

Bob


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## YerDugliness (Jun 2, 2008)

gregt848 said:


> Hello,
> I am basically wonder just how to get it to play in three or four different locations. Not trying to spend a ton of money but will spend what I need. Greg


I'd suggest some sort of speaker switching box, such as those made my Niles. There are models for more speaker sets than you are considering, and they have circuitry to adjust the impedance when playing more than one set of speakers so that you don't take a chance on blowing your tweeters as the amp goes into distortion from too little impedance (or, for that matter, your amps self-destruct!!).

You'll need all those wires with this setup, but it's my recommendation b/c I've never really warmed up to those wireless speaker systems or headphones.

I'd say "Good luck", but you won't need it--this shouldn't be too difficult a job for someone as handy as you.

Dugly


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## gregt848 (Jul 25, 2006)

Hey Bob,
I haven't actually done it yet, but I got a ton of advice from a home theater forum. I wonder if your way is similar?


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## YerDugliness (Jun 2, 2008)

gregt848 said:


> Hey Bob,
> I haven't actually done it yet, but I got a ton of advice from a home theater forum. I wonder if your way is similar?


If you haven't discovered it yet, I'd like to suggest you check out:

http://www.avsforum.com

Huge forum, lots of different topics, great advice from a very helpful bunch of fellows! The best advice on this sort of topic is found in the HTIB forum.......

Dugly


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## Bob in St. Louis (Jul 4, 2008)

Hey Greg,

What I had in mind is called a "SqueezeBox". You've most likely heard of it if you've been on some forums. Although, if you've been hanging around home theater forums, those fellas have some pretty radical ideas for "whole house music". :laughing: Dedicated audio forums also have good information. I can advise you on the SqueezeBox in particular, or can guide you to some good audio forums if you'd like.
{I can talk about my SqueezeBox all day long. Wonderful machine} :yes:


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## bigchomp (Aug 28, 2008)

The Squeezebox is a great product. Another thought is an Airport Express from Apple, assuming you are using iTunes. Let's you wirelessly stream your music via "AirTunes" to a receiver or powered speaker system...


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## sestivers (Aug 10, 2007)

I have an older model of this:









The sound quality is not wonderful, but it's normally good enough for me. This is definitely the easiest way to go.


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## C_J_GO (Nov 30, 2008)

I have a setup very similar to what you want. I did mine during the construction phase, so pulling wires and mounting boxes was no problem at all for me.

I have a PC sitting in my basement (one that I can remote into and change the song if needed), and it outputs through the sound card to a 2 channel Sony reciever (around 130 bucks at Best Buy). With this reciever, I have 2 sets of speakers I can run (A and B), so essentailly I have 4 outputs to speakers with A and B selected to the on position (I actually made pigtails and run 5 outputs, running 10 speakers so far). From the reciever I ran 16 gauge speaker wire to rotary volume controls in the walls. Each rotary volume control has 2 outputs and I ran those to the speakers. So I can control the volume in each room. I have had all the speakers on at once and hads them cranked and the reciever did not overload...so I was HAPPY!!

All in all with 10 speakers, a reciever, and 5 volume controls I spent ~500 bucks (wire was free to me, and I already had the PC).

Reciever
http://store.advantage123.com/sny-strde197-b.html

Volume Controls
http://www.thetwistergroup.com/store/customer/product.php?productid=VMT100I%20H27150&source=fr

In-Ceiling Speakers
http://store.wholesaleav.com/yans83inspsy.html


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## AndrewF (Dec 29, 2008)

You can run multiple AirTunes (AirPort) from Apple with Itunes.

You could invest in a system called Sonos for each zone/room.

I use Itunes for now via a laptop, but hope to invest in something like Sonos...I've seen it in action and it is sweet.


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## gcfl (Jan 24, 2009)

I have done just what you are talking about. I installed a Zon sound system and set the squeeze box up as one of the input sources (just like a radio, cd player, etc.) I have great sound everywhere and all the time. This job was done on a new construction so it coulde get pretty involved on an existing home. I will say, however, that the Squeeze box duet is an awsome product and easy to set up itself!


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## Greg C (Jan 18, 2009)

How many people live in the house? How many areas do you want music in? Is there a chance that you would want jazz in the back yard, while your wife wants rock in the kitchen? How big are the rooms, and your back yard? Do you want to be able to control sources and playlists while you are barbecuing on the deck? To do a whole house system right to fit your needs requires alot of knowledge. It's not just being able to pull wires from here to there. We have a list of such questions we ask our clients when we design a system for them.


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