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Thank for your guidance, the central station is in a closet we located. So where can we shop for these AVR systems?
I understand if we can hone in on system, we can have someone install it , someone with knowledge and wants to work on the side.
Having bought numerous audio components, I will strongly vouch for accessories4less. They have the best deals on audio equipment, period. Look at the AVRs listed there - and look for an AVR that supports multiple zones (it should have speaker outputs for Zone 1 and Zone 2 in the back - not just "pre-out" for Zone 2 but actual speaker outputs. My personal favorite is Marantz which I feel has the most musical sound of all entry level AVRs. But Denon, Yamaha, and Onkyo are all decent options as well.
And try to get an AVR with as high output wattage as possible. If your whole house is wired up with in-ceiling speakers and in-wall speakers, it means the speaker wire runs would be really long (50-100 feet or more). At these lengths, the speaker wire also adds its own impedance along with the speaker, which makes it much harder for the amplifier (AVR) to drive the speakers.
By the way, installation is actually quite straight-forward in most modern AVRs.
They have inputs (usually HDMI) which would be your cable box, your Roku or Apple TV, your Playstation etc. If you have a CD player or a Blu-ray / DVD player, that would be an input as well.
The AVR is the controller that allows you to switch between these inputs. It then sends the video portion via HDMI out - to your TV. So there will be one HDMI out. It will also extract different channels of audio, will amplify this audio so it can drive speakers, and this amplified audio output will be sent to each of your speakers. So, in your cabinet, you would probably see a bunch of speaker wires, each pair of speaker wire (red and black or + and -) will drive an individual in-wall speaker. So you just need to hook up the wires to the appropriate speaker outputs in the back of the AVR (usually in the bottom right).
Most AVRs also come with "room correction" or "room eq" or "room equalization". There will be a mic with a long cord. You need to switch on the "room eq" mode in your AVR and then move to different parts of the room with your mic (especially the parts of your room where you will be listening to the sound, such as your couch, chairs etc). Your AVR will then play short bursts of sound through your in-wall speakers. Your AVR's mic will pick up the sound and will feed it back to the AVR - and the AVR will use it to "tweak" the output of the sound so your room is uniformly covered with good quality sound.
The reason why I mentioned this is because doing this "room equalization" step is crucial to ensure you are getting good quality sound. So if you get someone to do it, make sure they do this step as well. But honestly, it is not too hard to do. In Marantz (what i have), the AVR itself has a step by step wizard that guides you though the entire process. And all you have to do is to move around the room with the mic in your hand.
Having bought numerous audio components, I will strongly vouch for accessories4less. They have the best deals on audio equipment, period.
I'll second this recommendation, and add one for buying any wires and connectors at Monoprice. DO NOT pay outrageous prices for things like Monster Cables. A $6 HDMI cable works exactly the same as a $60 cable.
Find the original master station. If you are lucky, the wires are labeled. If not, solder up an adapter and plug each set of wires into the headphone jack of a portable radio to map where the music goes. Label the wires. Buy a surround sound amplifier and connect the wires. Done. They may have taken the subwoofer with them. You might take the cover off one of the speakers and find out what model it is. You can order a replacement subwoofer if you have to. Just be systematic. You will do fine. A pro could probably to the whole thing in an hour or two.
they are in several rooms, and even outside on the patio....
Sounds like it was a whole home system if there are speakers in multiple rooms. Befriend a techie neighbor and he will probably drool at the opportunity to consult for you for little more than a case of beer and frequent invitations to enjoy the sound.
Then a multi-channel receiver- am/fm, tape, cd, aux. output goes to the speaker selector- and your basically set. Obviously, this is the Reader's Digest version. But hopefully you get the gest.
Now I haven't done home audio in years so here us what I remember
You most likely have a combination of
Surround sound for the living/family room and a whole house with backyard speakers
Ok the way the systems are wired
Head in refers to the location where the main components of the entertainment system are located. The DVD/VCR media player, EQ, the amplifier and the main receiver.
At the head in you will find
The wires that lead to your surround sound speakers
Front left and right
Rear left and right
Subwoofer.
Sometimes you might find a middle left and right if the house was wired for 7 speaker surround.
Now. If your receiver has A and B channel you can have both surround and whole house hooked up. Normally you can't play both at once but it depends on the receiver capabilities./wiring At the head in you might find a few other sets of wires. These wires will be for the whole house speakers. They usually go to a volume control then from there to the speakers in that room. Usually the master bed/bath and yard speakers. These get hooked up in series and usually require a amp.
Now there are ways to use infrared controls and have the components hidden in a closet but this gets more advanced. If you have the typical round knob volume controls it's just a basic install.
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