Home Audio 2.1 Real-World Whole House Audio and Tweaking

I can't help it..... I'm a tweaker. I can't leave things alone. In the last Blog-Post on Home Audio, I talked about finally getting out my other Griffin TuneDock from the closet and putting it to use in the downstairs system that's hooked up to the 5 pairs of in-ceiling speakers. Don't get me wrong, it was great! I've used it a lot and other people have been suitably impressed by the set-up. Then, my over-active thought processes got started and I decided that in the main system upstairs, I didn't like having to turn on the monitor just to use the iPod. I wanted something simpler that just connected the iPod directly to the system AND that it would be even better if that dock worked directly with my Onkyo/Integra equipment. ...... which then started a drawn out search for just the right one. Apparently, Onkyo made a number of them and the majority weren't simple. They were elaborate affairs that were often designed to work through Onkyo's own multi-zone systems. 

However; my labors eventually bore fruit in the form of the DS-A2X iPod Dock. All it does is to connect to the iPod, take it's signal and send it as a simple line-level source to a receiver..... any receiver. You don't have to connect it to a monitor to see it's menu. It has no menu. You just interact directly with the iPod or use the supplied remote to do the same thing. Given that the main system upstairs rarely, if ever will be used to distribute audio, I didn't need it's functions to be routed through a 48" TV! 

Then, that simplicity hit me. I didn't need my home audio to be more powerful and feature-ladened.... I wanted it to be simple and to only do what it needed to, not everything possible!

Although, most people (men pretty much) dream of having this in their house, experience and fiscal reality have gotten me to the point where I have a better grasp of needs vs. wants. My reality is this: 

• I have 9 zones of audio that are equipped with speakers. 
• Two of those zones are actually set up for discreet home theaters with preexisting speakers. Therefore, those 2 can be eliminated as they are run by the home theater systems in that location.
• Of the 7 other zones, 5 are located in what could be considered "public space", meaning areas of the house where non-family would typically wander when a gathering occurs.
• All of these above 5 zones are downstairs and wired to the same location which is the downstairs living room. 
• The two upstairs zones are: the Master Bedroom and Master Bathroom and they are wired to the upstairs Game Room/Home Theater. 

So, what can I conclude from all this?

An earlier form of me would have come up with some version of this solution.....

 Requiring something akin to this equipment.....

However, the more grown up me came up with something different:

• I really had 2 zones..... not 9.
• An upstair, largely for family movie watching.
• And a downstairs, that can serve as a home theater, but often a space where guest will typically congregate when we have people over. 
• It would be nice if the 2 talked to each other (actually, only the bottom to the top), but it really wasn't necessary.
• The 2 peripheral zones upstairs only come into play really when the family is using it as a home theater (eg. run to the bathroom during a movie), so the functionality of them ever needing to interact with the system downstairs is virtually zero.

So, here is what has come into being as our whole house A/V system:

• Downstairs- A simple surround system based off of an inexpensive Onkyo TX-SR303 receiver that serves that purpose. The "living room" areas that it resides in have the B&W LM-1 speakers mounted on the walls and a B&W ASW-300 sub.  It also serves as a source selector for all the 5 other zones downstairs as well. Each of these zones are run through the Niles RSL-6 speakers selector and QSC GX-3 amp that I discussed in the last post.
• Upstairs- This is the home of our main home theater which is run by an Integra DTR-6.3 receiver powering KEF "Uni-Q" main & center channel speakers and another set of B&W LM-1s in the surround channels, plus a B&W ASW-675 sub. Through the tape-loop (just like downstairs), the receiver sends a line-level signal to an old Sony STR-AV770 which powers the 2 remaining zones. As you can imagine, it probably won't be powered on much and if that receiver hadn't cost $25, I probably wouldn't bother with it at all!

Does this mean that I'm done!?! No more audio in this Blog space? Oh, there'll be a few things I'm sure. Just of the top of my head, I can see myself examining adding another sub in the main system to even out the bass up there. I might even go with a set of separates in it as well since I have a partially working Rotel RSP-1098 Pre-amp processor and a Rotel RB-976 Amp out in the garage. Plus I've always kind of seen the Dual 510 turntable as a temporary solution for my vinyl needs. So, you see, there are potentially some so big changes, but I wouldn't say any of it is eminent. These days, I'm just happily enjoying our fully working whole-house audio system as it is!