mvt Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Hello I recently bought a home with a Control 4 system and frankly I have no idea what I have. I consider myself somewhat tech savvy, I have some general ideas what the system does. The system appears to be about 10 years old, installed around 2007-2007. My mysteries... - In the pictures below there were 2 motorola cable boxes. Previous owner before they left had to take those boxes back to cable company. I don't have them - interface on screen is pretty dated. Can anything be updated? Or is this stuff pretty much out of date? - I have screens that were left behind. There's a router and network cords. Does the video leave the cable box HDMI, get converted to digital and get transmitted via RJ11/cat5 cable? ( I haven't looked at the back of the TVs) How would I connect a new TV? - what does the pad on the wall do? I can't get it to do anything - installer is out of business, supposedly sold to a company about 2 hours away Help is greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic30101 Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Unfortunately that is a dinosaur. Need a pic of the back of the tv's but I would be surprised if it wasn't all component video. Adding any new gear will require a dealer. Did the previous owner give you any login info for the app? Is there any lighting in the system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvt Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 No login info. Doesn't appear to have any lights, switches are normal on walls. There are wall switches with volume controls. If it's all component video I'm wondering why there's a switch and a router. When I turn on the screen on the monitors I get a control 4 menu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic30101 Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Most of the control4 gear communicates over the local network so a strong network is crucial for reliability. Those in wall mini touch screens with the volume knob also are connected to the network. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shivam Paw Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 You need to find a dealer and ask them to come around and see what they can do with it. They’d want to replace everything but seeing as there is likely going to be a lot of wiring in place it’s possible it could mainly be an equipment swap and setup depending on what you wanted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekki70 Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 where are you from Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knowitall Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 What you got there is an expensive rabbit hole. See you on the other side! amy dealer should come out and review / provide free estimate to get you up and running or C4 can help you get setup with one @Derrick Cain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvt Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 36 minutes ago, knowitall said: What you got there is an expensive rabbit hole. See you on the other side! amy dealer should come out and review / provide free estimate to get you up and running or C4 can help you get setup with one @Derrick Cain i hear ya, looks ancient in tech terms The screens are old, decent resolution but just weird no HDMI ports, can't plug in my amazon fire, etc. Is there a way with this system to keep the audio/background music only? I could see myself ripping out the screens, replacing just with a cable box in those rooms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic30101 Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 1 hour ago, mvt said: i hear ya, looks ancient in tech terms The screens are old, decent resolution but just weird no HDMI ports, can't plug in my amazon fire, etc. Is there a way with this system to keep the audio/background music only? I could see myself ripping out the screens, replacing just with a cable box in those rooms. Yes, have a dealer check things out and get the system registered and you can contact someone on here to make changes remotely as well. The native streaming options are extremely limited for a system running an OS Version that old. I would upgrade to an EA3 and either pull those in wall mini panels out all together and replace with new control4 panels or iPad. I think you will still be able to use the gen1 audio matrix and amp. Then you can either use native streaming of the new EA3, add a sonos connect, add some echo dots/chromecasts. As far as the video side we will need more info and pics of what is out in the rooms to help make recommendations on what your options are. Those handhelds will need to be updated if you decide to have control4 do your video zones which I would lean towards too since there are likely speakers in your video zones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lippavisual Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 From your pics, looks like you have an Audio Authority component video matrix switcher. It uses CAT5E/6 to extend the video and/or audio to your TV locations. If you want an overhaul of that system to HDMI, that's going to be a pretty costly upgrade you would have to consider. Cost will certainly depend on how many ins/outs you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 But that being said, component is fine for 1080 content so you could put the video matrix upgrade off for a while - first upgrade your core C4 controllers, remotes, screens, etc. You should then have a working system capable of doing distributed HD video and audio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvt Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 Can someone walk me through the evolution of controllers/remotes/screens, models through the years. My goals would be this: spend the least amount of money now to get a system which can use streaming services like pandora, netflix, and amazon prime video. Gradually upgrade to newest over time. New is good but maybe there's a unit 2 years old I could buy used which would do the same trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic30101 Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 the last 3 generations are: 1. HC200, 300, 500, 1000. 2. Then HC250 and 800 which came in 2012. Typical remote was the SR150 and 250. And touch screens were TSWMC5 and 7. There was a wifi portable version as well. If you want one of those controllers make sure to get one that ends in BL-1 which will come with the intercom and site license so you can connect your phone/tablet for control. 3. EA series which were 2016 to current. The new remote is the SR260 which has a larger screen, you can change the color of the text, 3 custom hard buttons for whatever programing you may want. And the new touch screens are T3s. You could get an HC800-BL-1 from ebay and a couple SR250 or 260 remotes as long as you can find a dealer that will set it all up and it will run the most current firmware 2.10.1 and give you access to all the latest and greatest. BUT, you will be buying a new controller at some point if you want to keep running the current OS because its date is coming to be left behind. So as long as you go into it knowing that will happen you will be ok. And like @zaphod said you COULD keep that component switcher running for a while longer but all devices you may want to use that have hdmi only will need to be connected to converters which in my opinion add a failure point and usually do not give very good picture quality. But baby steps, I do understand your position and in purchasing a new house you likely have other things to buy as well. Those in wall mini touch screens can also be changed out to either a control4 panel or an ipad dock or something like that. I would not go purchasing a TSWM7 on ebay at this point, they run flash for the graphical interface and I dont think they are a good investment moving forward. A HC800 or any EA series processor will allow you to do pandora, tunein, xm, airplay, spotify connect, etc. As far as video swap out some of the distributed sources for firetv/appletv/nvidia shield/roku players with component video converters i suppose, but you may run into DRM issues if the converter is not very good and the player will shut down the HDMI port because you are circumventing the copyright protection in the connection. Get a dealer to walk you through the options, you may be able to haul the audio back on spare cabling from the tvs to the audio distribution and connect a few needed HDMI set top boxes to the back of the tv. That way you still get the audio to play through the rooms speakers in the interim while you chose the best course of action to deal with how you want to tackle your video needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvt Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 If I replace with the EA can any of the old stuff be re-used or is that effectively starting the entire replacement project? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheaterExtreme Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 On 3/1/2018 at 8:31 AM, knowitall said: What you got there is an expensive rabbit hole. See you on the other side! amy dealer should come out and review / provide free estimate to get you up and running or C4 can help you get setup with one @Derrick Cain LOL!!!! Aint that the TRUTH!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvt Posted March 26, 2018 Author Share Posted March 26, 2018 Update. Arm and leg to upgrade, got a quote, I'm pouring money into other areas in the house (that don't depreciate!) so I'm putting this aside. Can I pick you guys' brain on a few things - in wall speakers. They really don't sound that great, they're about 10 years old. What's the average life expectancy? Put it this way, playing music on my Echo sounds better - distributed video via component The 10 year old plasmas are 720p, decent, can live with or, since Cat 5 is already there, tempted to buy a smart tv and stream. Which causes me to feel the entire C4 set up is worthless. What's the easiest way to get the ability to stream pandora on a system like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic30101 Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 24 minutes ago, mvt said: What's the easiest way to get the ability to stream pandora on a system like this? Connect an echo dot/Chromecast audio to the audio matrix and select that and use groups to remotely control the one in the equipment area Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvt Posted May 2, 2018 Author Share Posted May 2, 2018 Hello I've since moved in to the house. There are volume and power switches around the house. I can't figure out why sometimes the switches are lit in blue, others yellow or red. Any idea why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcovach Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 Those LED's can be custom programmed to be any of the available colors for a lot of different reasons. That can be found out using the Composer HE software that is available to you for purchase from a dealer. Sometimes LED's are programmed to change color based on what audio source is playing, or if an audio zone is on or off, or if a lighting scene is active or not. There are a lot of options. If you want them changed, consider led colors for scenarios that make sense to you. A remote dealer could make the adjustments. I'm available if you don't have a dealer to work with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mujtaba.khokhar Posted May 4, 2018 Share Posted May 4, 2018 Hello I've since moved in to the house. There are volume and power switches around the house. I can't figure out why sometimes the switches are lit in blue, others yellow or red. Any idea why?If you pm me I can log in with composer pro and see what’s going of for and give you some more insight Muj Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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