Need a little advice before I purchase

[shinzo]

Hi,

I was hoping you could offer a little advice before I set off and purchase a basketful of parts.

I am in the process of starting a kitchen/dining room re-design and looking to use a squeezebox touch to stream audio into this new room, approx. 5m x 9m.

I had considered a VBA in an adjacent room (connected via ethernet to my router). And was going to mount the SBT in the kitchen (on the wall somehow) connected to the VBA via wifi. Is this a good idea? or whilst I'm channelling and re-plastering the walls should I connect it via ethernet cable directly from the router?

And finally, I was looking at this type of in wall mounted amplifier with either ceiling mounted or wall mounted speakers.

link: http://www.visiontechconnect.com/store/p22-vision-tc2-amp2-techconnect-tc2-amp-module.cfm

Can anyone recommend this type of setup, or would it be best to consider other type of amp. Or even would it be best to use powered speakers like the AudioEngine A5's which I have read about on here, quite a lot?

Sorry for all the questions, but just as I get close to figuring out in my head what I need, I read something else and get a whole new set of questions.

Thanks in advance,

Miles

[garym]

If walls are open, always add Ethernet cable back to router if easy. A5 probably too big but a2 would work. I have both. I use good quality ceiling speakers in my kitchen. Lots of tiny amp choices you can hide with auto on/off.

Oops a5 ok given size of space. Maybe well positioned wall mounted speakers with hidden amp is your best choice. Or ceiling in kitchen area ANd wall mounted in den area.

[tcutting]

I'll second the suggestion to wire ethernet if you can. We recently re-did our kitchen, and I have 5 CAT5 drops now in the kitchen (one for our phone, as that is where we have our wireless phone basestation/answering machine; one for the Boom which is what we use in the kitchen; an active ethernet port at a small desk and a second in our island in case we want to run a laptop wired vs. wireless; finally a cat5 cable which is pulled to behind our wall-mounted TV in case we need it (thinking about putting a Revue there, for example). Prior to running wired, our Boom would have drop outs when we operated our microwave, so this avoids that (plus we have a new microwave, so that problem may have gone away anyway). Bottom line, if practical, run wired ethernet as that eliminates many of the problems people have.

[aubuti]

Two things to consider if you're thinking about self-amplified speakers are (1) getting power to the speaker(s), and (2) running the line-level cable from the Touch to the speaker. Neither are rocket science, but they're easy to underappreciate. For the power, you just need to look good about hiding that extra wire for the power, while also complying with building codes about running electrical lines in walls. For the line-level cable, keep the run as short as possible, and be sure not to run parallel to any AC lines for any distance or else you run the chance of picking up a 50Hz hum on your speakers (or 60Hz, depending on where you live).

[shinzo]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies and info.

I have pulled the trigger on the SBT, whilst I figure out the amp & speaker set up.

Just need to understand the ethernet cable route from the router (in the lounge) to the kitchen. Trouble is the Kitchen/diner is the last part of the house to be decorated and I am reluctant to start carving up rooms that have already been done.

Thanks,

Miles

[toby10]

Start off with WiFi, may work fine. Then run ethernet later when it is convenient.