roads Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 I am considering installing a Control4 system in my house but am not clear from the forums whether I should rely on Control4 for music distribution or go with a more proven system like Sonos and then use Extravegetables to try to cobble things together. Does anyone experienced out there have any advice for a newbie? My house was built in 1907 so I want to go wireless with everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wappinghigh Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 Hi and welcome. I run a 9 zone Sonos and 3 zone C4 set up very successfully using the extra veg. driver. Search my posts....as for which is better- well other forum members well know my views, and I won't be tempted to head down that road again I will add one thing though. I have a similar aged house. If you can get subfloor or other access, I'd put in some cat6 runs. All my zones are wired (Sonos and C4). So the 'distribution' is Ethernet. The 'control' is wireless. This set up works flawlessly for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 If you already have the investment in SONOS or prefer it to C4's methods, then use it with the driver like wappinghigh does. I wouldn't say that EV's driver is "cobbling" things together. I would personally avoid wifi speakerpoints. I haven't had much luck with them without going wifi crazy.*spelling* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roads Posted July 8, 2010 Author Share Posted July 8, 2010 thecodeman - when you say avoid Wifi speakerpoints do you mean the Control4 variety or just generally avoid Wifi? It seems like I have three options for wireless music distribution with Control4. Control4 itself, Sonos, and Airport Expresses connected to amps (though not sure about the integration of Airport Expresses/iTunes with Control4). All have their positives and negatives I suppose. Do you or anyone in the forum have a preferred method for wireless music distribution if a client does not want to rip up their house to deploy Cat5? Or do you think Cat5 runs in a 100 year old house like mine are easier than I think? If its relatively easy I will definitely consider it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wappinghigh Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 if a client does not want to rip up their house to deploy Cat5? Or do you think Cat5 runs in a 100 year old house like mine are easier than I think? If its relatively easy I will definitely consider it.I wouldn't hesitate to add wired Cat6 Ethernet and even future proof by adding fibre...see GoGo Delicious's posts on this. If there is any luck: being an old house it won't be built on a slab, and electricians can pull some cable. If it's all wireless, several zones- no matter what platform you decide to use might stuggle. As it is I have some 30 pieces of gear hanging off my network...some wireless (ipads, iPhones, wireless remotes etc. ) the distribution network ie the Zoneplayers and C4controllers, and main iMac and NAS are all hardwired. There are 3 wifi networks, Sonos, C4's Zigbee pro, and an Apple network. There are no wireless clashes, but pushing music files and video distribution as well by wireless might push things a bit. So my advice from practical experience is wire where you can. It takes the load off the wifi for other uses... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgbrown Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 ^ further to Cody's post. The writing is on the wall for the speaker point. Read the fine print on 2.0. It does not support AAC decoding. The current box is likely going EOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akg4y Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 What they need is speaker outs from the in-wall touchpanels so that you can connect in ceiling speakers easily to the C4 system just by running the ceiling wires down to wherever an in wall touch is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazybuppie Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Just run the RCA outs from the touchpanel to a small inwall amp and it would work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Just run the RCA outs from the touchpanel to a small inwall amp and it would work.+1 they are already there, just line level outs requiring powered speakers or amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roads Posted July 10, 2010 Author Share Posted July 10, 2010 Are most people out there who use Control4 for music running dedicated Cat5/6 or are people having success with wireless distribution? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 All my speakers home run to the amp with speaker wire.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tilimil Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 So I never saw any solid answers to the original question in this thread. Why would you choose Sonos over C4 if you were starting from scratch? My questions/thoughts are:1. I want to use speakers in the ceiling. Is this an option with Sonos? 2. How do the interfaces compare? Looks like Sonos has a pretty slick interface.3. I don't want to add another device (zoneplayer) to each room if I can avoid it.4. Don't really care about higher quality audio than MP3.5. PC/MAC control with Sonos is nice. Cant do this with Control4 can I?6. How does inet streaming compare? Seems like the Webradio and sure-to-be-coming Pandora app will fill my needs with C4. Sonos is already way ahead here right?Thanks for the feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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