Re: Audio Video Distribution Questions

["wkearney99" <wkearney99@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I am planning to use a Russound CAV6.6 to distribute different sources
> (audio and video) to different rooms in a house. We are planning to run
> 2 Cat5e and 1 RG6 to each room. Do I need to have to purchase separate
> RF modulators for each zone to convert the rca jacks coming out of the
> CAV6.6 to coax or is there a better way? (The homeowner does not want
> to place in-wall speakers in every room and wants to use the TV's
> built-in speakers). What brand of RF modulator would you recommend?

If the TVs take video and audio inputs then just run that from the CAV66.
Bearing in mind that you'll need to lower the speaker level signals to line
level, russound sells units to do that.  The only tricky part would be
volume control, the keypad would have to be left at a given volume level
into order to have the live level converter pick it up and feed it to the
TV.  Not a big deal though, the homeowner would just have to get used to it.

You'd still need the line level converters with an RF modulator.  The only
time you'd need to use an RF modulator would be for a TV that doesn't have
video inputs.

One other trick to consider if you've got more than one video device is to
use multiple channels over RF.  I feed a DirecTV Tivo, DVD player and a VCR
into RF channels and the pass that around the house.  All the TVs get the RF
(in addition to the CAV66 on video) so I can easily watch whatever's on the
other devices independently of CAV66 control.  This makes it easy to listen
to the radio over the in-ceiling speakers while also watching the TV, or
flip between Tivo video via CAV66 and RF over-the-air stations.  But then
most folks probably won't want to bother with this much flexibility as it
/can/ get a little confusing to go flipping around TV stations and the video
inputs.

So if you've got TVs that take video and l/r audio directly then you don't
need a modulator at all.

-Bill Kearney