Project 1:- Recommended Multi-Room Audio Equipment

[alexburn]

Theoretical multiroom project number 1 (8 rooms):-

So I am aware of the multi-room audio streamers such as Sonos and Creative etc, but I am interested to know about some other recommended equipment for multi-source / multi-room distributions.

Consider the following setup... the aim is to provide each room with any available source from the living room or its local source.

Please do not worry about control of equipment... this is something that I do not want to factor in at the moment but will consider later. If video needs to be factored in, then consider a simple UHF distribution... but I am only interested in audio here.

Rooms (all installed with 2+ ceiling speakers):-

• Living Room (zone 1)
• Dining Room (zone 2)
• Kitchen (zone 3)
• Bedroom 1 (zone 4)
• Bedroom 2 (zone 5)
• Bedroom 3 (zone 6)
• Bathroom (zone 7)
• Outside (zone 8)

Equipment in Living Room:-

• Sky+ (HD)
• IPod Docking Station
• CD/DVD/Blu-Ray Player
• All the above into 2 zone AV Receiver with AM/FM Radio

Each room has 1 item of equipment considered 'local source'.

The attached diagram should give a good reference (not to scale).

Cabling is not an issue so please avoid wireless systems.

If you need to ask any questions or would like me to clarify anything, then please feel free to ask.

Ideally, cost should be a major factor in considering what equipment to specify... this is considered to be a budget end configuration and final price would be a major consideration. I know this wont be "cheap"!

This is not an actual project, but rather an insight into the different ideas of what people may suggest are the best ways of handling the project.

I already have my solution which I will be happy to post once I've had some coniguration & equipment suggestions.

Have fun!

[cram]

Mate - what's the point of this thread? There's no budget, you say it's not an actual project, you've touched on a couple of multi-room systems and you say you've got a solution anyway. And you've posted it in a forum on Home Cinema DIY but you're not interested in video.

[alexburn]

Firstly, I wasn't sure which forum to categorise this in, so I chose a DIY forum.
Secondly, although this isn't an existing project, it is a project I am in the design stages of that may or may not materialise.
Thirdly, budget is irrelevant at the moment because there is no project (yet)!
Finally, Although I have a possible solution in mind, I am not an AV professional and my experience is limited- isn't that the point of a forum? To find advice???

The point of the thread is mentioned above- to help plan and configure a multiroom project that will hopefully materialise once details like this are figured out! I gotta start somewhere... I assumed an AV forum might be the place to start!

[cram]

Budget is always relevant - unless you have an unlimited one.

Why don't you post your solution and ask people to comment on it?

If you are after a single vendor multi-room solution then sonos is pretty good.

Having said that there's nothing to stop you adopting different solutions in different rooms. I have two rooms with PCs hooked up to amps (one where both the Amp and the PC are hidden in the garage but wired into speakers in the lounge). Another with an old Roku Soundbridge and two others where Ipods are used in docks. With the exception of the Ipods that use their own hard drives everything is pulled off a thecus NAS box.

[newbie1]

Hi Alex

Check out this multiroom example with 8 rooms Examples -. The pdf has the layout (in German) then the parts list (in English).

Not cheap but it works extremely well. I especially like the having the keypad and display controls on walls and each room can have its own local source. Since this example was made they have produced a multimedia module that means you can replace the server with NAS and also provides Internet radio.

Have fun planning

[alexburn]

Thanks for that suggestion... looks quite good.

So far the options I have looked at are:-
Bose Link (Lifestyle)
Opus 500
Revox M51

Any new suggestions or comments on the above?