Rack options to run EA-3 Controller

[JD86]

We purchased a new home that was suppose to have a functioning Control4 set up. Currently are running a EA3 controller with nothing else supporting it. All the wiring is there to our ceiling speakers and tvs throughout the house. I was looking into getting either C4 Amp108 8 zone, with some sort of matrix switch or the Control4 zone matrix amp 8 zone. Purchased a pakedge router as well.

We want to run the speakers in each room separately, lights switches (which are currently installed), family room tv we want to be able to use the ceiling speakers for surround sound, and our automatic blinds.

 

Any help on which direction i should go would be much appreciated 

[eggzlot]

55 minutes ago, JD86 said:

We purchased a new home that was suppose to have a functioning Control4 set up. Currently are running a EA3 controller with nothing else supporting it. All the wiring is there to our ceiling speakers and tvs throughout the house. I was looking into getting either C4 Amp108 8 zone, with some sort of matrix switch or the Control4 zone matrix amp 8 zone. Purchased a pakedge router as well.

We want to run the speakers in each room separately, lights switches (which are currently installed), family room tv we want to be able to use the ceiling speakers for surround sound, and our automatic blinds.

 

Any help on which direction i should go would be much appreciated 

how many rooms?  Are the streaming services from Control4 sufficient or do you need other services and want to look at Sonos, Heos, Bluesound, VSSL, etc?  

Simplest option is to get separate amp and audio matrix.  Triad/Control4 and Snap/Episode makes stuff that if you are using a dealer you can source through them easily.  If you are looking at used on eBay it could be hit or miss as some older C4 amps are known to have power issues.  Just an FYI.

[msgreenf]

i would not buy an amp 108 - that is EOL tech.  Get Triad hardware

[zaphod]

The Amp108s had lots of issues as well.  If you want to save money get a used c4-16amp3-b. It still works perfectly well - the main downside is no digital inputs.  The Triad is a better option but will cost a few $k more.  The Episode Response Amp also would work - it is a matrix amp.

[JD86]

19 hours ago, eggzlot said:

how many rooms?  Are the streaming services from Control4 sufficient or do you need other services and want to look at Sonos, Heos, Bluesound, VSSL, etc?  

Simplest option is to get separate amp and audio matrix.  Triad/Control4 and Snap/Episode makes stuff that if you are using a dealer you can source through them easily.  If you are looking at used on eBay it could be hit or miss as some older C4 amps are known to have power issues.  Just an FYI.

how does the sonos amp work with control4? do you still need the audio matrix?

 

we have speakers in the main living room, dining room and kitchen that is all open so it would be nice to have that run all individually so we can shut certain sections off. Master bed room and bathroom we want separate zones as well. I was leaning towards a Control4 C4-AMP1 8 channel matrix and I like the features sonos provides.

[JD86]

How does a Sonos amp work with control4? and what else is needed to support 

[msgreenf]

You want a Sonos Port. 

[C4loso]

Obviously you are new to C4, so let’s start here. You said you have a ea3 in the rack. 
Q1. what exactly is the ea3 controlling?

Q2. What are your future plans? What else do you want to control? If you are unsure of what you want it’s probably a good idea to go visit a showroom to see what it’s capable of or some YouTube videos. Best thing you can do for yourself is figure out exactly what you want your system to do and create a plan to achieve it and not try to acquire this and that without a plan as some stuff will not work together properly.

Q3. How do you play your music, local sources, tidal, Apple Music, Spotify etc? 

the reason I ask these questions is to better answer your question. For multiple zones of audio in which you want different music in each you need and amplifier and an audio matrix (2 seperate units - you have multiple different triad amps and triad matrix’s to suit your need). Before C4 used to have a matrix amplifier (1 unit) but as stated above it’s now end of life. There are other matrix amplifiers that integrate well with C4 like Episode Response Matrix Amplifier or Anthem MDX.

A Sonos amplifier will power up a zone of audio, but you’ll need multiple to power up multiple zones. For me the integration with control4 is meh. A Sonos port is a player or music source which you output the audio into a audio matrix to have it play in your other zones in C4. 

[JD86]

On 6/15/2021 at 6:30 PM, Maps001 said:

Obviously you are new to C4, so let’s start here. You said you have a ea3 in the rack. 
Q1. what exactly is the ea3 controlling?

Q2. What are your future plans? What else do you want to control? If you are unsure of what you want it’s probably a good idea to go visit a showroom to see what it’s capable of or some YouTube videos. Best thing you can do for yourself is figure out exactly what you want your system to do and create a plan to achieve it and not try to acquire this and that without a plan as some stuff will not work together properly.

Q3. How do you play your music, local sources, tidal, Apple Music, Spotify etc? 

the reason I ask these questions is to better answer your question. For multiple zones of audio in which you want different music in each you need and amplifier and an audio matrix (2 seperate units - you have multiple different triad amps and triad matrix’s to suit your need). Before C4 used to have a matrix amplifier (1 unit) but as stated above it’s now end of life. There are other matrix amplifiers that integrate well with C4 like Episode Response Matrix Amplifier or Anthem MDX.

A Sonos amplifier will power up a zone of audio, but you’ll need multiple to power up multiple zones. For me the integration with control4 is meh. A Sonos port is a player or music source which you output the audio into a audio matrix to have it play in your other zones in C4. 

q1- as of right now our ea3 is controlling the thermostats, lights, and the speakers. when i stream music from tuneIn radio it plays throughout the house. Our main goal is for is to get the speakers on separate zones. family room we want as one zone so we can have surround sound from the tv and music.

main goal is to run our thermostats lights music blinds and tvs with the possibility to expand down the road. first time having a "smart home" so want to start with the basics 

[C4loso]

On 6/18/2021 at 3:26 AM, JD86 said:

q1- as of right now our ea3 is controlling the thermostats, lights, and the speakers. when i stream music from tuneIn radio it plays throughout the house. Our main goal is for is to get the speakers on separate zones. family room we want as one zone so we can have surround sound from the tv and music.

main goal is to run our thermostats lights music blinds and tvs with the possibility to expand down the road. first time having a "smart home" so want to start with the basics 

Hahaha I think you’ve already passed the basic smart home stage. Last question what amp do you have and how many zones of audio do you currently have. 

from the sounds of it to create multiple zones you need Triad Audio Matrix. But in order to have the audio from your tv come out in your ceiling speakers maybe a little bit tricky. Not only that but you may introduce audio sync issues as the audio has to come from your tv then routed to the matrix and back to the speakers. 
 

 

[JD86]

On 6/20/2021 at 12:31 AM, Maps001 said:

Hahaha I think you’ve already passed the basic smart home stage. Last question what amp do you have and how many zones of audio do you currently have. 

from the sounds of it to create multiple zones you need Triad Audio Matrix. But in order to have the audio from your tv come out in your ceiling speakers maybe a little bit tricky. Not only that but you may introduce audio sync issues as the audio has to come from your tv then routed to the matrix and back to the speakers. 
 

 

lol maybe i have passed the very basic smart home stage. Right now we have a pioneer receiver/amp that is basically running everything on one zone, we have ceiling speakers in the kitchen dinning room family room master and master bath and everything plays together.

The tv isn't as big of a concern if we can't run it through the surround sound at the moment. 

[zaphod]

I have kind of a hybrid setup in part of my house.  In my bedroom I have a Pioneer AVR and also a C4 - 4 zone matrix amp.  The AVR drives a 5.1 speaker system in the Bedrooom for surround sound.  The 4 zone amp drives a ceiling speaker in the bedroom plus ceiling speakers in the bathroom and closet.  The ceiling speakers are setup as a different room in C4.

I do occasionally have sync issues with video sources which I can minimize by adjusting a delay on the AVR.  That is because I am having to extract the analog stereo audio from sources like a Roku from the HDMI and feed that into the 4 zone amp.  But for music I can use all zones and everything is in sync, even the speakers fed by the AVR.

[DanITman]

On 6/14/2021 at 6:13 PM, zaphod said:

The Amp108s had lots of issues as well.  If you want to save money get a used c4-16amp3-b. It still works perfectly well - the main downside is no digital inputs.  The Triad is a better option but will cost a few $k more.  The Episode Response Amp also would work - it is a matrix amp.

What problems does the AMP 108s have.  I'm running it now without issue. 

[Cyknight]

42 minutes ago, DanITman said:

What problems does the AMP 108s have.  I'm running it now without issue. 

:ongevity/power supply. If you're running it in sensing or relay controlled they seem to last quite well, but in cases where they're set to always on...not so much (we actually haven't had to replace all that many, but we always use relay control, but the overall numbers are not great)

[DanITman]

2 hours ago, Cyknight said:

:ongevity/power supply. If you're running it in sensing or relay controlled they seem to last quite well, but in cases where they're set to always on...not so much (we actually haven't had to replace all that many, but we always use relay control, but the overall numbers are not great)

Interesting...that is the mode that I'm running it in.  I have a four sonos ports connected to it.  I'm treating it as a dumb amp.

[DanITman]

What is the track record on the dumb amps (4zone and 8zone) from Control4.  I had a 4 zone dumb amp from them and it didn't last that long. 

[Cyknight]

3 hours ago, DanITman said:

What is the track record on the dumb amps (4zone and 8zone) from Control4.  I had a 4 zone dumb amp from them and it didn't last that long. 

Couldn't tell you specifically - we've had to replace a fair number out of more than I can count, but that is already more than the old matrix amps in totals let alone relatively speaking. Add how commonly  hear others about them failing.... it's not great to put it mildly.

[tcwalker5]

2 hours ago, DanITman said:

What is the track record on the dumb amps (4zone and 8zone) from Control4.

I had 2 8-zone amps fail in 3 years.  So I would not say good.