Playing music in four different rooms

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
11
81
Need some help helping a buddy with an application of his. He's starting up a game-type business which requires every room to have its own background music. The BGM can be looped. There are 4 rooms.

What is the simplest and cheapest way to do this effectively? Obviously, one MP3 player per room, hooked up to an amp to passive speakers, or hooked up to active speakers directly, could do it. Is there a better solution that would include more flexibility, reliability, functionality, etc.?

A short-term goal is also to have one of the four rooms enabled with interactive sound. For example, tripping a photoelectric sensor might cause a sound to play over the room speakers. What would be the best way to accommodate this sort of interactivity?

FWIW, the business is an escape-from-locked-room type of adventure.