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[sparx]

I will be building a new house this year, and would like to do the A/V right in this house.
Today I have my PC connected to my amplifier, and that's is it. So I can play music in the living room.

I should say I am a novice in this.

I would like to be able to play different music in different rooms at the same time, but also to be able to watch photos and film from the PC on my TV.

My budget is limited, so I would like your recommendations for what type of eg. amplifier I should get, recommendable ceiling speakers etc. What kind of cabling, etc.

I also plan on putting up an small touchscreen running MC in theather view or running Meedio with MC plugin.

Any help or advice appreciated.

[benn600]

I would say ethernet all over at the very least.  I prefer hard wired vs. wireless in most cases.  Run CAT6 so you can use gigabit in the future (or now).  Other than that, I couldn't imagine running SPDIF around the house nor could I imagine analog audio.  Other than a proprietary system, ethernet is your best bet.

I was thinking this through.  I decided you would, at the VERY least, want 4 ports in every room.  Two on two separate brackets on different walls.  Best yet would be another bracket with 2 more or even more...That would come out to 48 or more which is a rackmount switch.  To do that right, get a rack and add a switch.  My setup consists of switches all over the house so upgrading to gigabit would be very costly--I'd have to upgrade a lot of switches.  In some cases, you would want 4 ports.  The issue is that if you use one port and then have a secondary device, then you're full... having 4 on each mount would be amazing.

That's my idea on the subject.  Ethernet is king at the moment.  I enjoy looking at anything with an ethernet port.

I really want an ethernet thermostat for the heating/cooling system but they are over $200.  I will definitely consider one of those soon if I can find one.  Think of the possibilities...not only do you have a huge monitor to configure the device vs. a little screen, but it can have a lot more capabilities.

Addition: Our thermostat has times to configure but they are few and far between.  They don't line up with our schedules.  If I could customize it down to the minute or 5-minute period, we could save energy by not heating or cooling when we're all gone.  Then you've got ethernet media players (which is what you want), ethernet cameras and security systems, ethernet for internet for devices from weather to news, sports, entertainment, everything.  I'm sure new devices will be coming out soon, too.

[johnnyboy]

if u have a limited budget you dont want a rack mountable switch - the charge a huge premium for these as they are considered enterprise level.
you can much easier just get a load of 8 port switches and just combining these together. 8 port is the last size before they decide you are enterprise and give you a large premium to go with your switch.

The other added benefit of this is that you can fit ports in all the rooms and the wires but you can just add extra switches and patch in the other sockets as and when you need them. This will help cut down on the initial cost of setting it all up.

www.mini-itx.com has some cheap touch screens as do other sites if you search around a bit.
As long as all your rooms are ethernetted then that should get you most of what you want.

The other thing to consider obviously is if you want to have 5.1 sound in any rooms you'll want to run all the audio wiring under the floor or over the roof.

Your best bet when building the house is to design it so that later if you want/need to, you can easily add in new wires (whether with an easily liftable floor panel or roof panel or by maybe sinking some tubing into the walls that you can push wires down later.

As for a good receiver - I've been looking at Onkyo ones which are meant to be a good balance of price and spec.

[benn600]

I have no idea how you're going to get 5.1 to multiple rooms.  Most receivers are lucky to do stereo to other rooms--and I'm talking $1K receivers.

My friend just bought a 24 port rackmount switch for what I thought was a very reasonable price.  I think if you get the lower end switches, you can get a great deal.  I would just want all the ports in one unit if possible.  Otherwise, Linksys makes a 16 port switch for like $70!  Cheap!!

Unfortunately, ethernet will be preparing for the future but there isn't really a great solution yet to streaming music.  We're hoping MC can add some zone support that will allow other computers (or small ethernet devices!!! to pickup sound).  Why would you need 5.1 in multiple rooms?  I doubt you need to listen to a movie in another room.  Besides, the ultimate solution is multiple TVs with 5.1 but you want to be able to watch your movie independently--all served from your NAS.

It's a tough issue but I'm interested in it and will follow other people's opinions.  I wouldn't mind getting audio throughout our whole house.  We have very decent speakers in every room and most have a computer, too, or at least an old computer available if needed to just relay audio.  It would be great when building a house to have all wall mounted speakers all throughout the house but I would want to get very high end wall speakers because many are low end, cheap, pieces of junk.  When I get speakers, I want clarity with the ability to turn it loud for those times you want it!  Most are capable of a lot these days and I am concerned with hurting my ears, so this is less of an issue with that in mind.