I think all of your options have been laid out above, if you take the time to read them.
First option, put in new Abus hardware, you’ll probably get another 5 to 10 years out of it.
Second option, twist the cat fives together and use as speaker wire to the keypad location, and put Sonos amplifiers back at the head end for each room.
Option two gives you app control and more music with volume control at the client’s fingertips.
There is no truth anymore. Only assertions. The internet world has no interest in truth, only vindication for preconceived assumptions.
Hey Damon- just wondering g what your solution ended up being to this problem?
From Post 27:
On April 10, 2018 at 00:05, Bounce AV said...
Thank you to everyone who helped by posting on this thread. I listened to the advice and decided to stay with Abus. A good decision in the end. Cheers Damo
A builder here in the Phoenix area offered the OnQ A-Bus system is thousands of homes about 10-12 years ago. They are now all dying, with no replacement parts. Most of my clients have opted to replace the various technologies in that system - cameras, doorbells, etc - with new technology rather than a new A-Bus system.
I have retrofitted many homes with Ring doorbells, replacement camera systems or wireless Eufy cameras, etc. and am now replacing the distributed audio with small digital amps in the OnQ box. Arylic makes a wonderful, inexpensive amp that can be managed with their terrific app. I pull out the OnQ guts, build a mounting board to fit the box, put on as many amps as they have zones, install an ethernet switch to connect the amps to the Wifi system in the house (more reliable that way) then build a quick adapter for inside the box and behind the wall controller (replacing the control with a blank faceplate), essentially converting the Cat-5 into speaker cables. I measured an increase in resistance of about 0.4 to 0.6 ohms depending on the length of the Cat-5 run.
While I would not recommend this for folks who want rave-level volume from their in-ceiling speakers, this setup works beautifully for low to moderate listening levels that most of my clients want. In a few cases I have run new speaker cable from the wall plate to the OnQ box because it was quick and easy enough, but it is very cost effective and adequate to simply make adapters and hook up an appropriate amp. It also leaves the original wiring intact in case someone wants to convert back to A-Bus.
I have retrofitted many homes with Ring doorbells, replacement camera systems or wireless Eufy cameras, etc. and am now replacing the distributed audio with small digital amps in the OnQ box. Arylic makes a wonderful, inexpensive amp that can be managed with their terrific app.
Never heard of Arylic before. Looked them up and it seems to be the same cheap products as a lot of these indy brands go with (they are everywhere on Amazon, eBay, etc.). Also note it is the same rebranded app all of those devices use - and I would never call it a terrific app. It works but it is not terrific!
But... I seen they offer a tool called ACPWorkbench. Which looks to work similar to miniDSP black boxes. They even have the licensing fees (although 2x the price of miniDSP & doesn't look as polished). So that is pretty cool to have that built in. Also Arylic seems to have a broader selection of devices & parts to get the job done. I might order some of their stuff to try out; for those really cheap fix it jobs, for those type of cheap clients.
What would be good is if someone had an inexpensive amp with Airplay 2 built in, Say $300/amp. Does that exist?
Those cheap amps like above have Airplay built in. But at those price points, you are not getting a lot of power or sound quality. But they do work.
The usual suspects SONOS, MusicCast, etc. also have Airplay built in, with better power, sound quality, and a much better app. But go north of that price point.
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