Whole House Audio - Cheap and Simple

Streamers:
Audiocast - amzn.to/2EyyQhu
Muzo - amzn.to/2Yq3EbG
Nexum Tunebox - amzn.to/32iaC3r
Bluetooth B06 - amzn.to/3lc8gf5
Amp:
Dayton 12 channel - amzn.to/3j1psSC
Ebay seatch for "12 channel amplifier", preferably digital (class d).
Elan d1200 is what I use.
Amp/Controller combo:
www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=10761
Controllers:
Old HTD lync, Russound, Phast, Savant
If technically skilled, can find older composite matrix switches with serial interfaces, and code up your own app to communicate over that.
Every wonder how to get a whole house audio system setup in your house. Think you need to spend thousands on Sonos amps? Find out how to get the same results on a budget.

[@sirishkr]

@Rindos Rides, thank you for a terrific video. I have been searching high and low for a more thoughtful (and cost effective) way to build out whole house and yard audio, and yours is the best guide I could find in all of the internet - after many, many hours of searching. Thank you, sir!

[@logantaggart]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. We’re building a house and I’m looking to do whole home audio. The more research I do the more I see that with sonos your not paying for the sound quality of the speakers. You’re paying for the user interface and networking capabilities. It is crazy expensive but they do make it very convenient to separate or group zones. I’m planning to have a media room with surround sound and sonos would make it super easy for the surround sound system to integrate into the whole home audio. A lot to think about.

[@seanhinton5511]

This is seriously so helpful. 🎉

[@1eevahn]

Impressive setup, Im having a heck of a time with guests or my wife casting to the smart tv, instead of roku, then inputs getting confused. Sonos might be expensive, but it's a dummy proof interface, and having to use a universal remote, and toggling among apps is challenging

[@soromidee]

This information went over my head the first time I watched it, but I am watching again and this is so powerful. I was looking at he lync 12 V3 system, but I have been looking how to cut down the budget, I am not sure how you got your deal on the HTD but please if you come across it again or want to sell yours please please please hook me up.

[@shadyplay1860]

Nice setup. I have just blown a NIles MRC-6430 controlled by an Elan controller. I want to go independent of the Elan controller for a 6 zone setup and have 4 inputs interchangeable in every zone. What are my best options for this? Is it possible for you to do another diagram showing your finished system with multiple inputs and what the app is actually controlling?

[@1234588001]

hi nice video i have a nad power amp i used 6 speakers all linked to each other is that ok

[@jimpetersen8180]

Awesome video. A lot to think about. I’m remodeling a house (down to the studs). I will only have 5-6 zones but would want to have each zone to have the flexibility to play from different sources or all from 1 at the same time. Example Dolby atmos movie in the living room, music in the pool room and a football game on the patio. Patio football game throughout the house. I was gonna go all Sonos but we’re talking $6k +. If I’m going to Hardwire speakers, now is the time. How would you configure my system?

[@RindosRides]

Since you want atmos in the mix, you can't do Sonos. It only has atmos in the soundbar. Your best bet is running an hdmi cable from your tv to your closet where all your wiring will terminate. You'll want a controller, an avr with preouts, and a 12 channel amp. You'll hook the avr to your TV with the hdmi cable, and probably use eARC to stream the audio from your tv over that hdmi. Then hook the preouts of your AVR to the inputs in the controller, and wire all your speakers to your 12 channel amp. That way you can have the avr outputs get mapped to any speaker. The avr will also support some kind of streaming services and multizone outputs so you probably can get around needing separate streamers.

[@kunalkishan9411]

I am in the same boat- what system did you end up going with?

[@jayjay1457]

Where did you find the used HTd equipment

[@hutiewatchme]

@RindosRides, Great video but I have a question. I want to wire my house with multiple speakers and zones. Some of the bedrooms don't necessarily need two speakers, one would suffice. But what I want is to have multiple zones, say 10 or so. I want them to be able to play different sources as the same time. So if I'm upstairs I want to listen to hip hop, if my wife is downstairs she wants to listen to country, if my friends are out on the patio they want to listen to alternative or the TV over the outdoor speakers. But then if we have a party, I want ALL speakers to play the same music (source) so the house feels engulfed in music. Just curious what kind of setup I would need and what app would allow me to make those changes easily on the fly. (I can change what source goes where and so can my wife in the kitchen sort of thing) Thanks in advance!

[@RindosRides]

The amp outputs to two speakers in a stereo pair, so if you just do 1 speaker, the zone on the amp still will be sending it's input to both speakers in that pair. So best to keep each area you want with it's own music playing having 2 speakers. Since you want 10 zones, it's probably most economical to get a matrix switch so you don't need to manage and buy 10 streamers. The matrix switch will be like the lync app I show.

[@Kerr1st]

Perfect Video for where I am right now.... need to drive 11 zones, 50 speakers. Does the Elan require "dealer" software to configure ? (Is it purely DIY?) Thank you again! I was struggling with this. i.e. do I get 11 old Apple TVs Fosi(or some cheap pre and power amps... etc) $250-350 for 12 zones (16 zone is $499 completely tested, +warranty) =no brainer Awesome!

[@RindosRides]

The power amp is all good to go without any dealer config. The volume adjustments are done on the front screen and thats it. The value is unbeatable!

[@fowlfeathershuntclub5787]

Episode amplifiers on eBay are a great source.

[@arjunakodisinghe1668]

Thanks for the information. Is it possible to stream a KZbin video (audio only obviously) through this system? Basically, can you cast the audio through this system while playing KZbin on your phone? Sorry if this is a stupid question. I’m a newbie.

[@RindosRides]

Pretty much any of these streamers support Apple Airplay, so that is what you would use for KZbin if you have an Apple device. Otherwise with Android you would need something that supports casting, or to root your device to allow Airplay clone apps.

[@arjunakodisinghe1668]

@@RindosRides Thanks for the quick response!

[@portlandlocalchurch8168]

I recently did a whole house audio project , used a single amplifier for everything.(monoprice 6 zone & 6 source amplifier) turned out great.. used a Bluetooth audio reciever (Denon DN-200BR) as one of the sources .. just connect my phone via Bluetooth connection and play it through the home speakers anywhere in the house..

[@danielmugisha6044]

Please share links to products you refer to! Streamers, Controllers, and Amps that you recommend.

[@RindosRides]

Added to description

[@danielmugisha6044]

Rindos Rides Thank you

[@GeorgeMulak]

Hold the camera still. Light it so we can see what you are pointing at. Please?

[@hakasan478]

Hi! Thank you for the great video, but I still have a question. I have large project with 4 zones. 14 Speakers in Zone 1 ; 6 Speakers in Zone 2 ; 6 Speakers in Zone 3 and finally 9 speakers in Zone 4. For example if I will take 4 streamers, connect them with Monoprice 6 Zone Home Audio Multizone Controller and Amplifier, and then will connect to the 4 amplifiers. Each amplifier for each zone. Will it work? And if it will work, maybe you would suggest some other hardware to use? Or maybe I need a different solution for my needs? Braking my head now on this. Would appreciate your advise ALOT!

[@RindosRides]

You want all the speakers playing the same source in each zone correct? Are they wired up already? The monoprice 6x6 is not good for your need. Youd need 35 channels of power, so something like 3x12 channel power amp. They typically have 2 buses, so you can have two different zones on 1 amp. 1 streamer to each of the zones, and since the 14 speaker zone cant fit on 1 amp you would need an extra streamer (5 total) so that you could pair the first 12 channels with the remaining 2. That said if you havent wired everything, you may want to look at using a 70V system where you daisy chain speakers together. Also you could get creative and tie 4 speakers together (2 series pairs in parallel) this could save you from needing extra amp channels, at the cost of sucking more power from those channels.

[@hakasan478]

@@RindosRides Thank you for reply! I want to use monoprice 6x6 only as a controller. The idea is to use the outputs of the monoprice 6x6 as inputs to the amplifiers in each zone. So the plan is to have 4 amplifiers, 1 amplifier for one zone. Do you think it will work for me? Also a nut cracker, that I need to connect a microphone to the monoprice 6x6, to be able to broadcast the audio from the microphone to all the 4 zones simultaneously. Will really appreciate your advice here! Speakers are not wired up yet, as I`m trying to sort out what hardware do I need to use for this project.

[@RindosRides]

@@hakasan478 I see, a matrix switch would be very useful if you wanted all 4 zones using the same source. And the 6x6 will be sufficient. A number of phone audio casting apps allow you to use the phone mic as input. So if this is for a casual setup you could simply do that. Could also do a bluetooth mic to a streamer with bluetooth. No need for 1 amp per zone, just get whatever is the best price and adds up to your needed 35 channels.

[@hakasan478]

@@RindosRides Thank you! Looking for a suitable matrix switch at the moment. The trick is that I need to be able to listen to the different content in my 4 zones. And also I need to be able to broadcast an audio from a single microphone to the all 4 zones simultaneously. Preferably the input routing to the zone outputs should be controlled from a windows PC. Planning to use 25 watts 8 ohms Speakers, probably some of them will be connected in parallel. Maybe you have some particular hardware in mind (matrix switch, amp) for the 35 speakers that I could use? Really appreciate Your help here!

[@homar31160]

dis you recoment the elan d1200 amp,, have you share the experience isong this amp.. thanks , i can get one for 250 and want to know if this work well on your system

[@RindosRides]

Its a very good amp. The only thing about it uses DIP switches to selects the output of each zone, and they get loose over time. I have had no issues with it and am using all 12 zones

[@nickkrystynak8116]

Can you add like a gaming pc or games consoles to a whole home av system?

[@RindosRides]

Yes, they would act like any other input. The main downside being that these are also devices with video output. So you would need to also have whole house video (pricey) or have a short enough distance to run a cable from your audio gear to your PC or gaming console. The easier thing to do is add a bluetooth receiver to your whole house audio and pair that with your pc or console. I personally have my TV set to use bluetooth for audio out so that whatever device I plug into my TV has its audio sent to my whole house system. However, some TVs have a really bad bluetooth output, the Samsung q80t I had would send the left and right audio channels only of a surround sound signal, instead of converting the audio to stereo before sending it out. The LG C1 I use now has no issue.

[@johnhaynie5223]

Volume control question. Do you not have to ever adjust the volume on your power amplifier? Just set it/forget it, and use the volume controls on your app? Or are you using a remote or something to adjust that.

[@RindosRides]

Set and forget it to max on the amplifier. Volume is controlled by the streamer. The Lync also provides a volume adjuster, but I don't use it and have it setup as passthrough.

[@droptopbm6543]

Did you ever do the “ streamer review”?

[@RindosRides]

I didn't. I wanted to rig up a real test bench where I compare the digital signal of the input to that of the output (wonder why no audio "reviewers" do this already) but didn't buy the stuff to do that. For a short summary, I couldn't hear a difference. I have been using the muzo (its original usb power supply went bad but after using a spare from a phone its been great)

[@matteohardwick1499]

I'm new to sound, I am looking at a house with 30 rooms I want to put speakers in and firstly I wonder how many speakers a room (the rooms are quite large) so if I did 4 speakers a room I want to know how I could connect everything together but I want it to be able to wirelessly control it from my phone and I want to have it set up so I can control whatever rooms I want independently and I would also like to be able to connect my TV to the speakers in my living room and have sound play on just those speakers, I have been looking at it for a while and I am just quite confused I wondered if you could help with it

[@RindosRides]

You would want a matrix switch for all those rooms, so depending on your budget something like the HTD lync system. The speakers are going to be mono or stereo for the rooms which is why most people do a pair. I have pairs in 400 sqft spaces and they are plenty loud, its just about placing them in an optimal location. With the lync you can control the volume, power, source of each zone. But you have to then control the source with another app.

[@matteohardwick1499]

@@RindosRides Thanks, I have looked at a few other things as well which look quite good

[@user-tm7ly3ud9d]

How did you integrate the avr into the htd lync system? I’m building a house and would like to sometimes play 5.1 from an Apple TV and other times play 2 channel from streaming music to any zone in the house

[@RindosRides]

You would need an AVR with pre-outs. From there you would hook each pre-out from the AVR to an input of the lync. The center is a little interesting as it is only 1 wire. You then would use the lync app to assign those amp outputs to the speaker you want them to play out of, just as if they were a normal source. In this setup the AVR input would need to be controlled from its own AVR app or remote.

[@jasona4881]

I have a surround sound setup in my living room and a pair of in ceiling speakers in the kitchen. How would one incorporate this with the surround sound? Would the living room zone 1 and kitchen be zone 2?

[@RindosRides]

If you are trying to power your ceiling speakers from your surround sound receiver then yes, they would be zone 2 on your amp.

[@jasona4881]

@@RindosRides then I would take the surround sound with receiver plugged into Whole home audio amplifier as an input so the speakers throughout the house can play what is coming from receiver?

[@NDH2013]

What cable are you using to connect the Audi0max 5 to your amp?

[@RindosRides]

I use a Monoprice 3.5mm to RCA cable from the audiocast to the amp

[@user-it3fx3nm4i]

How would you set it up if you wanted to control through Apple HomeKit or HomeBridge?

[@RindosRides]

Why would you? Just control the zones with the lync app, airplay to your streamer

[@user-it3fx3nm4i]

Aiming for full smart home integration through a common platform. @@RindosRides

[@thestreamingfactory1943]

Great content! Are you able to control the 20 zones you have from the lync app? Does it just see the 12 or will it pick up the 20 you use? Thank you

[@RindosRides]

The lync app only shows 12 zones that the HTD 12 outputs

[@kunalkishan9411]

@@RindosRides How do you like your HTD system? I am looking to purchase one also. Would love some feeback

[@RindosRides]

@@kunalkishan9411 Haven't had any problems with it. The only negative thing I can say is the lync controller puts out some decent heat when unused. I think it's because it has built in amps to do volume control, and for some reason they stay on even when I use the passthrough mode. Maybe they fixed that in the newer model though. Functionally doesn't affect anything, just some wasted power.

[@kunalkishan9411]

@@RindosRides thank you for the feedback! did you end up going with their speakers also? Happy with the performance?

[@RindosRides]

@@kunalkishan9411 My main speakers are Focal floor standing ones, then my in ceiling are Klipsch cdt-5800. I like them a lot

[@Jonathan-gu6tm]

Need some help. Bought a similar set up used, Lync 12 channel and two Elan D1200. Did you configure the D1200 with stereo "direct in"? Also, 3 channels on the D1200 are showing error on home screen--have you dealt with that at all? Will amp still work with the exception of those three channels? Thank you in advance!

[@RindosRides]

Yeah direct in is what you will want. For the one in error you may get lucky by clicking those dip switches back and forth for those channels. Otherwise you'll just have to use the other channels that are not in error state

[@Jonathan-gu6tm]

@@RindosRides Thank you!

[@jwill9877]

Explain how an echo dot in each room you want music doesnt top this system? I'm talking about using it just to get the feed to the room. It literally replaces hardwiring a room old school style and gives you the flexibility of how far you want to build each particular room. Some rooms only need the dot but others can have a full system. Not only that it gives you the ability for much more beyond music alone. On top of that it's constantly updated and adapted. I think the reason the second hand equipment you are recommending us is so cheap because it cannot compete with "smart" wifi hubs pushed by big tech at the fraction of the cost of old styles

[@RindosRides]

If you just want some background noise and dont mind placing a dot and its cables in the middle of your room it is an option. There are many portable speakers that fit that bill. The streamers I talk about are cheaper than a dot, so if the goal is just getting the stream into a space they would do the job for less. The reason you can get power amps cheap second hand is because most people don't have their house wired for distributed audio, and those that do typically don't know how to wire it up. The other consumer of power amps being those with high end systems that use separates, and those people typically just look for the most expensive gear out there. A dot does not replace hardwiring a room, a sonos does. And a sonos costs a fortune per room.

[@jwill9877]

@@RindosRides I was thinking something with a cleaner look in each room like a vail amp and a couple ceiling speakers. With this I can do so much more than just listen to music at a fraction of the cost. Can the system you explained be fully integrated into a smart home?

[@RindosRides]

@@jwill9877 So $300 for a 2x30watt amplifier with likely proprietary connectors that you would still need to run wires from to speakers instead of $160 for 12x100 watt of high grade power? I don't know where you are taking this. Yes you can integrate smart systems with what I describe. Literally you can use anything as a source for a power amp. Its literally exactly what you are talking about, a source (dot) + an amp(vail) + speakers.

[@Alikhan78611]

Hi, I am a complete noob at the audio stuff. I just bought an older house that has 4 speakers in the living room area and 4 in the bedroom their wires are in the respective rooms instead of one central place! My goal is to have music stream from an ipad/phone and have the ability to either play on all 8 speakers or have the option to play in either room. What will be the best budget friendly solution? btw I don't have any other components and next to the speaker wires there is a coaxial cable in both rooms, that is not in use. TIA!!

[@RindosRides]

Since the wires are in different rooms, you would need two amplifiers. You could use any 2 cheap AVRs with airplay built it, but you could only pair to one at a time that way. You could add two cheap streamers and pair them together to play on both. That will probably be the cheapest option. You could also look for 2 cheap AVRs that have multiroom support built in, like Heos. With that you wouldn't need the streamers, but the Heos AVRs are a bit harder to find cheap.

[@Alikhan78611]

@@RindosRides thanks man, any recommendations for cheap but decent AVRs with airplay? And what streamers would you recommend to go with them? Thanks!

[@aifesehifestos8987]

No matter how i try to buy the htd products The price always get upto 4,000 How did you get it for that price 🤔?

[@bonniehiggins3511]

I have purchased these three devices and I need help setting them up/ connecting them. 1Mii B06Pro Long Range Bluetooth Receiver, Elan d1200 And a 12 Channel controller TCC TC905 can anyone help?

[@RindosRides]

Only thing I saw sounding like your tc905 is a 2x5 speaker selector switch. You could maybe use it if you found some adapter to turn RCA into regular wires (pr just chopped up some RCAs) but that switcher is not what you want. It doesnt appear to have any way to control it except manually, which will be inconvenient. How many independent zones do you have?

[@sathyaarun4695]

dang...how u got that thing for $100 ???

[@ST3ADYxKICKS]

I’ve been looking at local marketplaces and ebay and i am not finding anything “cheap” like you found or if they are it’s a controller that needs a dealer to program... any ideas? Has the used market changed?

[@RindosRides]

Ebay is pretty bad with its search function. But if you search elan amplifier you will see quite a few still for cheap. Mostly 6 channel amps.

[@ST3ADYxKICKS]

@@RindosRides I checked local Craigslist every once and a while for the past 2 months and scored an htd dma-1275 and mc-66 for $600

[@RindosRides]

@@ST3ADYxKICKS Very nice, the ICEpower modules in that amp are as good as it gets!

[@thomasmoore1208]

with this set up do you have to have the receiver? doesnt the lync do the same thing ?

[@RindosRides]

The receiver is if you need surround sound. The lync system just matrixes 2 channel inputs and outputs together.

[@thomasmoore1208]

@@RindosRides sorry i dont understand that totally. im going to run this set up threw my whole house. what does the receiver do ?

[@RindosRides]

@@thomasmoore1208 The lync has a controller that lets you plug in stereo inputs and with their app set them to any stereo output. It also lets you control volume in the lync app. The lync system also comes with a separate power amplifier which hooks to your speakers and gives them power. Since the system is only has these analog inputs and outputs, you cannot do anything digital (surround sound) with them. You need a separate surround sound processor to decode the digital and output an analog signal. A receiver is typically the cheapest and easiest digital decoder

[@ethanaerni8938]

Htd is $4000