So, I took over some clients who were wired years ago by a company no longer in business. I've been maintaining and putting band-aids in where I could to buy some time for the clients. These homes are wired cat-5 to the keypads/local sources and then speaker wire to the in-wall's/in-ceilings (No speaker wires from the headend to the KP's). So far, I upgraded a smaller home that didn't want expandability or sophistication to a Russound A Bus controller with its keypads and its fine. But now I have a large home that may want more out of the system. There is no way to run any wires so I need to use what's there. I've got at least 16 zones of audio and probably only 4 current local sources. It'd be nice to have some sort of iPod app control as well but I'm not banking on finding a solution unless it's a system that can 2-way with another control company.

Does anyone know of another option besides the Russound A-Bus? Any company that makes in wall cat5 to speaker amps or convertors? Anything?

Edit: I see that Aton makes a DH44 but may have 3rd party control issues so its not elegant but could do the job.

Your options are limited to A-Bus or something like this:

http://www.tiohome.com/

I have not used them yet, but I made a note to replace any A-Bus systems I ran into with it. It has limited streaming capabilities, but will stream from a phone to the DA system. It incorporates some automation- lights (their own), HVAC (Nest) and DA. It can also integrat with CC's and 12v triggers with a module.

B.T.W. The ATon DH44 has been discontinued for some time.

FYI on TIO,
They show IOS app compatibility but it is only with ipad. We had the same client situation as the OP but not having an iphone app was a deal breaker for our client. We have been told it is in the works but that was at the beginning of the year. It does look promising though and we will likely try it when an iphone app can control it.

TIO is from that same company a while back Colorado Vnet and was a couple of names before that. It has failed, reborn, failed, reborn, failed, reborn many times. I would not recommend going that route.


Keep the A-BUS, add a SONOS or HEOS for $349 as the source. Now they have 2-way feedback and control for the system. Done.

jesterselv,

I'm not sure what you mean by "local sources". Is this an A-Bus style system with amplified keypads or are the keypads simply control? If the keypads are just control and there are standard amplifiers for the speakers, a distributed system, such as Sonos, will handle the job.

If the amplifiers are in the keypads, you may need to be creative in order to reuse the speaker wires. For a distributed system, such as Sonos, there is no need for the amplifiers to be in the same room as the speakers and the keypads are mostly obsolete baggage. In order to reuse wires, I'll place the amplifiers in a closet or cabinet above the room. The trick is to find a closet, bed, cabinet, etc. over the same joist space as the existing ceiling speakers, then pull the speaker wires through the floor. Or, there may be an opportunity to hide an amplifier in a closet or cabinet on the back side of the wall from an existing keypad.

A couple of solutions.

1. A-Bus system is probably the easiest and least expensive solution and add whatever sources are needed.

2. Convert the system to 70 volt. Use the cat5, 4 wires for positive, 4 for negative. Attach both speakers in parallel at the keypad to the Cat5. You can use a volume knob or just replace the keypad with a plate or drywall over it. Replace the speakers with 70V models or add a transformer to each one. Add as many amps as you need for the number of zones needed. Use a preamp or Sonos Connect (if you use Sonos) into each amp for volume control.

Sounds like someone is trying to take over all those old Russound Abus jobs I did. :-)

Odd, I had a long reply but it never posted. So I'll elaborate.

B1G-AL, I checked them out after you mentioned them. But then ErikS and Brad's input made me think twice. Buzz, local sources are local cable box's and a 3.5mm jack that backfed audio. The keypads were amplified.

At this point I've realized that the integrity of the cat-5 should be considered compromised and the system is of flawed design initially. I've spoken with the powers that be and will be fishing appropriate wires and ultimately toss in a Crestron Pyng system. Thank you for the options, suggestions and words of advice. I really appreciate it.

Good move. You are doing right by your clients.