Whole House Audio With the Niles ZR4
May 31st, 2010 by Chris MHave you ever dreamed about a whole house audio system where each room could play something different yet still have independent bass/treble control? How about the ability to change the volume or input source without leaving the room? These options are available through the ZR4 multi-zone receiver kit by Niles.
Niles ZR4 Series 2 4 Source, 4 Zone Audio MultiZone Receiver
The kit includes the 4-source 4-zone digital receiver, four (4) weatherproof key pads, three (3) infrared micro flashers, and a learning remote control. The only other items you would need are speaker wire, cat 5 cable, and speakers for each location.
Although it is possible to install this in a finished house, it is much easier to install before the sheetrock is up. Assuming you will also have an Audio/Video receiver in the home as well, you will want to locate the Niles receiver in the same location nearby your CD player, satellite box, and other equipment. Since this is a 4-zone receiver, locate up to four areas around the house where you will want to install speakers and then run a pair of speaker wire and a single line of cat 5 to each room to where the keypad will be installed. From there, run speaker wire to wherever the speakers are located in the room and hook up the keypads.
You can connect three external sources to the ZR4 (CD player, DVD, satellite box, cable box, etc) in addition to the built in radio for four sources. Niles also makes an iPod dock which can be added to the system.
Here are some other highlights:
- 4 Ohm Stable Digital Amplifier
- Remote Control
- Plasma/LCD-Proof IR Sensors
- Compatible with anoptional Niles DBI-1 Doorbell Interface
- Independent bass, treble, and variable loudness controls
- You can turn on the entire house (or a preset number of zones) to listen to the same source
- You can program up to four zones so that turn-on, source selection, and turn-off work in unison.
- Designed to manage source sharing with an independent home theater system.
- Can be controlled by secondary control systems via RS-232 devices and/or discrete infrared commands
The possibilities are endless with the ZR4 as Niles makes other components that can be easily integrated into the system. One can even link 2 ZR4 units together to create an 8 zone system. Whole house audio systems can seem overwhelming, but Niles makes it easy with the ZR4 multi zone receiver.
