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Poor Man's Whole House Audio?

Posted by Cliff on from the music-in-every-room dept.

robtheauditor asks: "I would love to have my music in all the various rooms of our house. I can't afford the thousands for a turnkey system. What are the possibilities for a poor man's whole house audio system? For example, would it be possible to take my PC external audio connector and feed it to a bunch of powered speakers in different rooms? Could I just bring a bunch of 3.5mm plugs wired together in parallel, or would that not work? I was thinking that even if the signal is weak because it is split to 6 different speaker pairs, because the speakers are powered it wouldn't matter. Or will I risk burning out my sound card?"

4 of 102 comments (clear)

  1. Preamp necessary by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 5, Insightful


    Could I just bring a bunch of 3.5mm plugs wired together in parallel, or would that not work? I was thinking that even if the signal is weak because it is split to 6 different speaker pairs, because the speakers are powered it wouldn't matter. Or will I risk burning out my sound card?

    Doesn't matter if the speakers are powered...by the time you split the signal six ways it'll be so attenuated that amplifying it at the destination will also amplify the problems, including distortion and noise in the line (especially if your speaker wires are unshielded). If you want to supply six pairs of speakers, you'll need a very strong starting signal..and your soundcard by itself is probably not up to the challenge. You'll have to preamp the signal before you split it. Shielded speaker wires wouldood idea as well. be a g

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  2. FM Transmitter + Cheap Radios by wcspxyx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seriously. Spend your money on getting a really good FM transmitter. Then any radio you can buy becomes a speaker for the system. No wires to run, no hassles.

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  3. Re:Wireless may work? by unitron · · Score: 2, Insightful
    "Problem would be finding an FM modulator running off AC power..."

    Considering that he would be feeding it from the sound card, and it would therefore be right there at his computer, he could probably steal the small amount of 12 Volt current needed right from the computer's power supply.

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  4. Omnifi DMS1 Digital Media Streamer by really? · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Omnifi DMS1 Digital Media Streamers can be had for as little as US$50, and come with both a wired and wireless NIC. Hook them up to some reasonably priced powered speakers, and you can have each room "wired" for less then US$ 75.

    It's what I recently did for a friend, and he is VERY happy. So is his wife.

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