Speaker System through the house

[drbrock]

Hey guys,
This question is for a friend of mine. He just bought a dream home and he has existing speaker system through the house. There is nothing installed outside of the speaker wire and speakers.

Is there an easy way to connect all the speakers together and have the ability to run different zones from an Ipad or Android App? Ipad would be the best since they are an apple family.

I was thinking of an HTPC that would run their needs but I really have no idea how to do something like this. He had a guy come quote his house out and they were going to charge him 8k to do it. That seems to be way too much. He is not an audiophile or need anything extremely high end. He just wants something that works.

I think his budget is more like 1500-2000.

Thanks for all the help

 

[Chapbass]

When you start getting into a bunch of rooms, listening zones, etc...then it starts becoming MUCH more complicated then a single source -> receiver -> speakers (or something similar).

Being honest, I don't have the time or energy at the moment to type something up, but I would also ask over at avsforum as there are a lot of professional and semi-pro installers that hang out there.

 

[drbrock]

Thanks I will look them up. Since asking for a workup it too much, which I understand why. Is 1500 reasonable for something like that?

 

[Kaido]

#1 - Sonos: (optional with built-in amplifiers)

http://www.sonos.com/

#2 - Apple: (more of a DIY option)

* Airport Express: http://www.apple.com/airport-express/
* Airfoil & Airfoil Remote: http://rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/remote/
* Mac: You need this to be your music server

Plus you'll need an amplifier, here's a couple options:

* Single amplifier - http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=310-301
* Whole-house amplifier - http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=300-815

 

[Kaido]

Thanks I will look them up. Since asking for a workup it too much, which I understand why. Is 1500 reasonable for something like that?

Most likely will be far more than that. You need two things per room, in addition to the speakers & wiring:

1. Amplifier
2. Source

You can buy single amplifiers (I've done multi-room installations with the $20 Lepai amps with great results) or a "whole-house" amplifier that does 6 or 12 zones. After that, unless you want the same song played in every room, you will need a system that can send different audio to different rooms. This is where it gets complicated & expensive, because you need a system that can receive wireless signals from your iPad/Android and then send different songs to different speakers. Sonos makes it really easy by combining an amplifier with a wireless receiver, but that is $500 per room:

http://www.sonos.com/shop/products/connectamp

With Apple, you can go the DIY route with an Airport Express device ($100 per room), an amplifier of your choice (Dayton's 6-zone amplifier above is $450), and the Airfoil Remote system. Then just have a computer running the audio & control everything from there.

More features = more $$$

 

[drbrock]

Thanks a ton Kaido I will route what you said to my friend.

 

[Kaido]

Thanks a ton Kaido I will route what you said to my friend.

Be sure to ask him some questions:

1. How much control does he want? Different songs to different rooms simultaneously? Is one song to many rooms okay?

2. What sources does he want to play from? Just an iTunes or iPad library? Or online sources like Spotify too?

3. How much is he willing to spend?

Basically, Sonos is the best system on the market imo. It uses wireless mesh networking, it's very easy to setup, it's regularly updated, it has a million sources, and you can patch in extras (like if you want Apple Airplay, you can jack in an Airport Express unit). So pretty much a hassle-free experience, but you pay for it to the tune of $350 for a streaming box for $500 for a streaming box with a built-in amplifier. The nice thing, though, is that you can hook up the $500 unit to a room's speakers and you're "done". No fiddling around, no crazy wiring or source connections, just a dirt-simple system that "just works".

The Airfoil method isn't bad, but it does limit you to one source (your Mac), but it does have a pretty good variety of supported sources. It's also a truckload cheaper - a Lepai amp is $20, an Aiport Express is $100, you use your existing Mac computer (you can use a Windows computer, but it currently only gives enhanced support for iTunes), an Airfoil license ($25 for the desktop app, $5 for the iPad app, $30 total), so you're looking at a Mac + $30 of software, your iPad as a remote control, and about $120 per room (given existing speakers & wiring), which is a truckload cheaper than a Sonos setup, but requires a computer to be on & running and limits you to just one source a time.

So, there's a million options. Then you can get into higher-end stuff like Creston whole-house audio control and so on. The important thing is to define what he wants and what he's willing to spend to get it. Sonos is pretty much the most plug-n-play you can get, but a house with 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a family room (6 rooms) can add up to $3,000 for an amplified Sonos receiver setup (which is still fairly economical as you'll see if you really start digging into whole-house audio systems - the whole-house amps alone can sometimes cost that much).

 

[richardycc]

Sonos is very popular, because they just work and very easy to install. Another Sonos competitor, NuVo Technologies, Soundandvisionmag did a review on their system. check it out.
http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/ar...o-technologies-wireless-audio-system?page=0,0

 

[whoiswes]

I have always been interested in this and have been dabbling with building a Raspberry PI based streamer with built in amp, one for each room.

Put something like this: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=300-385 in a small case with a raspberry Pi, then install something like SqueezePlug on it. Viola, instant all-in-one streamer/amp that can be controlled via any uPNP app.

This might be worth exploring, depending on how much tinkering you/your friend like to do.

 

[Midwayman]

Do you know how they are wired? Typically a whole house setup is going to be wired into zones where all the speakers play together. Do the wires come to a single space, or do you have terminals all over the house like the are separate systems? Recommendations are going to vary a ton based on the wiring.

 

[Kaido]

I have always been interested in this and have been dabbling with building a Raspberry PI based streamer with built in amp, one for each room.

Put something like this: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=300-385 in a small case with a raspberry Pi, then install something like SqueezePlug on it. Viola, instant all-in-one streamer/amp that can be controlled via any uPNP app.

This might be worth exploring, depending on how much tinkering you/your friend like to do.

Same here. My only gripe is the economics. A Raspberry Pi is about $44, plus a memory card, USB cable for power, USB to AC adapter, Ethernet cable or wireless card, etc. (I think kits start at about $79 for everything) vs. a $99 Apple Airport Express that gets business-backed support & regular updates for compatibility. You can load up the Pi with RaspXBMC with Airplay and do streaming from Windows, Mac, Android, or iOS device for a bit of a cost savings, or just get an Airport Express and have plug & play functionality (plus digital audio output, plus you can use it as an extra WAP for more wifi coverage in your house).

I haven't settled on anything in particular at my place. If Sonos ever integrated Airplay functionality into their receivers, I think that would be the best way to go, but right now the only way to add it on is through an Airport Express with an analog cable, and it's more of a hack without the full control you should really be getting from an integrated system.

 

[purbeast0]

this is actually pretty basic to do. it also depends if he wants to have multiple zones playing at once or not. some receivers will let you output to more than 1 zone at once, some won't. also, depending on that, you may need more juice to power all the speakers simultaneously and need to add additional amps.

i use roomie remote to control my HT and i know it can be used just as easily for using the zone features of the receivers. it's an ios product only and i have no complaints about it at all.

and if i could afford to build my dream house, my budget would be MUCH MUCH more than $2k

 

[Kaido]

this is actually pretty basic to do. it also depends if he wants to have multiple zones playing at once or not. some receivers will let you output to more than 1 zone at once, some won't. also, depending on that, you may need more juice to power all the speakers simultaneously and need to add additional amps.

i use roomie remote to control my HT and i know it can be used just as easily for using the zone features of the receivers. it's an ios product only and i have no complaints about it at all.

and if i could afford to build my dream house, my budget would be MUCH MUCH more than $2k

Yeah, that's pretty much the big cost factor - different sources to different rooms simultaneously. If only Sonos would integrate Airplay...sigh.