Hi,

I am planning on building a 6 zone AV system, and looking for a bit of advice on control equipment.

1 x Windows 7 Media Centre
5 x Extenders (Linksys)
1 Zone Lighting Control
Ceiling speakers in every zone

I want to distribute the Video signals over CAT5, but i'd like to use a matrix even though each source is not going to be switched to different zones, simply because it's messy in the rack using baluns, although a lot cheaper, unless someone can suggest something else?

Do I use a multi-room amp for 5 stereo zones, and a Home Cinema amp for the 5.1 SS zone?

I want to control the system using a mixture of touch screen remotes and handheld remotes, Crestron etc is out of my price range, can anyone suggest a good control system, I need it to be able to control the amps, the TV's/Projector through RS232 or IP and the extenders/MCE, also control of 1 zone of lighting.

I have been looking at the Mirage Media Control from http://www.autonomichome.com/

I would like to use this software on the remote, it seems that RTI remotes support it, but i'm not sure what else I would need?

Thanks,
Jack