Lincoln's AmpliPro
Last month, I decided to take a decidedly analog approach to upgrading my space to personally use the project I’ve dedicated nearly 3 years to. Armed with nothing but a Leatherman multi-tool, some drills, hundreds of feet of 14/4 speaker wire, an AmpliPro, and a dream of whole-house audio nirvana, I set out to transform my humble abode into something more audible, filled with chaotic toddler dance parties and late night chill sessions.
The Blueprint
My plan was simple: infuse every room with crystal-clear audio. But this wasn’t just about slapping some tin cans on strings. Oh no, this was about creating a symphonic masterpiece, with each room playing its part in the grand orchestra of my domestic life.
The Sonic Palette
| Room | Speaker | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Bathrooms | Polk Audio RC6s in-ceiling dual voice coil speakers  |
Moisture-resistant, so I can rock out in the shower without a hint of guilt. Who knows, they might even survive the collateral damage of a bathtub tidal wave. |
| Bedrooms | Monitor Audio C265 in-ceiling speakers  |
With a frequency response of 60-30,000 Hz, these bad boys could reproduce everything from the deepest bass drops to the high-pitched whine of a modem handshake. |
| Dining Room | NEUMI BS5 bookshelf speakers  |
Disguised as innocent tomes, these literary loudspeakers stood ready to blast the latest audiobook or dinner party playlist. |
| Living Room | Monitor Audio W265 in-wall speakers  |
Mounted on each side of the TV they will be capable of handling both TV audio and whole-house symphonies. |
The Installation
Not content with mere speaker placement, I decided to future-proof my attic-dwelling tweeters and woofers. Enter the speaker baffles – sonic space suits designed to protect against the harsh environment of blown-in insulation and boost bass response. Just a heads up: they typically need to be 1 to 2 inches larger in diameter than the speakers you bought.
The TV output was linked into the AmplPro RCAs with 60ft of CAT6 and a pair of nearly magic, audio baluns.
The heart of this operation? My AmpliPro unit, which I nestled in the smart home command center beneath the stairs. It sits in a 16U open rack, flanked by networking gear and a Power Strip Surge Protector with more switches than I could possibly need, for now at least.
One of my prouder moments was utilizing a 1.5-inch PVC conduit I had installed during a previous remodel, thanks to the foresight of Jason. This conduit, running from basement to attic, became the perfect pathway for routing speaker wires throughout the house. For easy access, I added another conduit run from there to the command center located beneath the stairs. Then it was time to pull some wire and crawl around in the attic like a cat. In between one of my 7 attic wire pulls, I gifted myself with a purchase of a fancy M12 cable stapler to tame all of the 14/4 attic runs. At the end, the command center got 7 14/4 runs and some extra CAT 6 for good measure.
Wiring this beast was an exercise in patience and steady hands. I lovingly twisted, inserted, and torqued down each speaker wire into euro block connectors.
This is no mere house anymore; it’s a fully-jacked, hard-wired temple of sound, ready to pump beats, podcasts, and the soothing tones of the day’s news into every nook and cranny.
The Future
As I sit back, basking in the glow of blue and green LED status lights and the warm embrace of perfectly balanced audio, my thoughts turn to the future. HomeAssistant integration looms on the horizon, promising a day when automations will handle my family’s audio cravings as easily as I conjure python scripts.
But why stop at simple automations? I plan to scatter NFC card readers throughout the house, transforming each room into a high-tech jukebox. Picture this: a stack of NFC cards, each encoded with a different song or playlist, waiting to be tapped against readers by my kids’ tiny hands. My children will become mini-DJs, curating soundscapes with a flick of the wrist.
The Expansion
But here’s the rub: I’ve hit a wall. My current AmpliPro setup, with its six zones, is maxed out. My bedroom’s speaker wire is left hangining, unterminated next to my AmpliPro and the house hungers for more – the basement calls, the future patio beckons, and the garage dreams of power chords louder than the sound of my Makita impact driver.
Enter the AmpliPro Zone Expander, the next piece in this audio puzzle. It’s not just an add-on; it’s a key to unlock new realms of sound. With this upgrade, my wife and I’s bedroom will crackle to life, and more will follow. The basement will thrum with low frequencies, the patio will become an oasis of open-air melodies, and the garage will transform into a sanctum of Range Against the Machine and 90’s punk rock (or maybe just NPR while I’m changing oil).
This is just the beginning. In the ever-expanding universe of home automation, my AmpliPro installation stands as a beachhead – a first step towards a fully immersive, audio-augmented reality. It’s a world where the lines between the digital and physical blur to the beat of whatever playlist my silly brain, or my kids’, deem appropriate for the mood.
As zones multiply and speakers proliferate, my home edges closer to becoming a fully realized dream. It’s not just a house anymore; it’s a symphony of circuits and sound waves, a testament to the power of DIY spirit and a lot crawling aroung in the attic.
Stay tuned, dear readers. The future is loud, it’s expandable, and it’s coming to every room in my house – and then to the room after that, and the one after that. In this house, silence is not just golden; it’s obsolete.