Ponydoc--David suggested several months ago when I was in your boat (total newbie) that I check out www.htd.com for their controller / amps (to connect the audio source--like stereo, CD player, iPod, etc.--to the speakers). I liked what I saw and bought from them. It's a couple of weeks away from being installed, so I can't comment on how I like it, etc., but it has great reviews on the website. Please see an earlier post I started on "whole house audio"; I asked a lot of the same kind of questions you probably have. I just ordered the Squeezebox Duet. I didn't want to miss the sale, but also didn't want it too soon--we won't be moved in for about 4 more weeks. I hope I can at least try it out before the return policy ends.

Sonos is more of a wireless thing if I remember correctly - with the potential problems. I'd check out cocoontech and avsforum. There are plenty of Sonos proponents over there. I feel like it might be good for you but was tough(expensive) on a larger system. Might have more power draw being wireless/More batteries to deal with. Then there is the possible interference in an apartment setting. I think it uses wi-fi but my research was well over a year ago. HTD is a kepypad/multi channel amp. Conventional wiring. Commonly compared to Russound and Niles etc.

Yeppers, from what I have seen dvr's now will do everything you want. The lowest price one I can find is a tivo. One of the kewlest things is the tivo has a wireless usb network adapter(cost extra thou) that plugs into your comp and no wires to the tivo box, but your connected and can download, program etc. best of luck chris

For anything that needs to be hardwired, RUN CONDUIT. Stnadards are always changing as technology evolves, and what works now may be obsolete in 10, 15, or 20 years. Realize that wireless is better to day than a few years ago, and will likely improve in future years too. But it's best to still hardwire some things. I still prefer hardwired speakers. In my own house, when I built I ran conduit for everything and have all my speakers hardwired. Like a previous poster, I have two 400-CD jukeboxes in my main area that can pipe music anywhere...to any room, outdoors to the pool, etc. A while ago I went over to Sonos for music. It allows my teenagers to listen to what music they want in their rooms, it allows me to listen to what music I want where I am, or my wife where she is...you can pipe different music to different rooms. Easy. It also allows you to play the same source in each room, with it synched up perfectly. The "synch" aspect may not sound important, but we have a couple of friends who have Apple wireless for "whole house" and when they simulcast music to each room, the synching can be off just a tad. Even a tenth or a quarter of a second and it sounds weird. Sonos has control apps so you can run the system with complete control from either a Sonos controller, or from a iPhone or iTouch. It's pretty slick. I prefer the Sonos over my old Niles, and that's a bold statement on my part. Sonos also allows you access to pay sources like Rhapsody and Pandora, plus internet radio. Initially I wasn't interested in that, but we signed up for Rhapsody this summer. It's pretty slick, and at $12 a month it's less than what my kids were paying for iTunes downloads. Several time this summer we'd have friends over and we'd be out at the pool, the conversation would turn to music and if I didn't have that particular song/artist on CD, I'd use my itouch or Sonos controller to call up Rhapsody and play the obscure song or artist that we were talking about. I live in CT, my in-laws were visiting from Wisconsin and my mother-in-law mentioned polka. I called up internet radio and in about 20 seconds I had the radio station from Appleton WI that they listen to back home playing polka out by the pool here in CT. It's pretty cool. Fluff to a certain extent, but the capability is there to listen to what you want when you want, with ease. And without having to do it from your computer. With Sonos, you need a "box" for each area that you want to play independent music in. Figure about $400 per box. Their S5 box is an all-in-one, it looks like a small boom box. They have other stations (ZP100) that plug into an existing stereo or theater setup and you play through those speakers. They have a third type (ZP120) that has a powered amp and you can plug your own speakers into that box. There are other options available too that may suit your needs better than Sonos. I just thought I'd toss Sonos out as an...