OVERVIEW
Of all the electronic amenities available to a new home, none are quite as enjoyable as a whole-house music system. Distributing tunes from one stereo system to speakers in far corners of a house is nothing new. Handy homeowners have been stringing wire from their stereo receivers to new speakers for years. But there is a limit to how many speakers a standard stereo amplifier can support. Plus, you may have to hoof it back to the stereo system to adjust the volume or switch from a CD player to a DSS receiver. As long as your home is unfinished, invest in a whole-house music system that's convenient to use and safely transports songs without blowing up an amp.
There are basically two types of whole-house music systems from which to choose: a system that distributes the same song to every speaker, or a more intelligent system that lets each family member listens' to a different music source (such as a CD player and tuner) simultaneously from different rooms.
PLANNING ISSUES
What You Need to Consider
Prewiring
it's hard to say where you might listen to music, especially if your home has yet to be built. Certainly, the family room, dining room, kitchen and living room make sense. By all means make sure your audio installer runs speaker and control wiring to those rooms. In other rooms, such as the master bedroom, the guest rooms and the unfinished basement, you may feel less certain about installing speakers. The good news is, you don't have to, but do make sure that the installer still routes wiring to those rooms, and documents their locations. Should you convert the bonus room into a den, for example, you can easily add a pair of speakers and a volume control -- if there's enough wire waiting for you behind the walls.
Zoning Out
Initially, you may be wowed by a whole-house music system's ability to serve each room independently, but to preserve music quality and keep your budget in line, it's probably better that adjacent rooms (like a kitchen and a breakfast nook, or a bedroom and a bath) receive the same song. Grouping rooms together is called "zoning." This is much like having "zones" for your heating and cooling system.
Speakers
Speakers come in a wide variety of styles and shapes. As long as your home is unfinished, use speakers that can be mounted into the walls and ceilings. Improvements in the designs of in-wall and in-ceiling models make them an eye-pleasing alternative to box speakers, with no sacrifice in sound.
Room to Grow
You wouldn't buy a PC with insufficient memory to support new programs, the same thinking goes behind selecting a whole-house music system. It must be expandable, i.e., able to handle new music sources (a second CD player or a hard disk recorder, for example) with no difficulty. Some whole-house music processors can be upgraded via software.
Add-Ons
Infrared Remote Control
There are times when you might not want to go to a keypad to change the music. Here's where a handheld remote control can come in handy. Some whole-house music systems come with their own handheld remote controls, others come with keypads that can be taught to understand the commands of your existing remote control.
Audio/Video Switcher
In some rooms, such as the home theater/media room, you will probably want the same speakers that spill music into the room to also take care of the movie soundtrack. To smoothly switch from music to movies requires an inexpensive audio/video switcher.
Audio Hard Drive
This device enables you to store thousands of your favorite songs on a hard drive.
