Multi Room Music with Vinyl and 5.1 Home Cinema

SD449

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Hi Everyone

I am trying to help my mum and fiancé with their new speaker setup, their wants are as follows;

Rega Playar Turntable
Surround Sound in Living Room
Multi Room Music in Kit hen and Bedroom

Sonos comes to mind to the simpler wire free solution whilst being easy on the eye to keep mum happy

Other option/better seems to be Denon Heos which I assume would be wired in the Living Room. The huge Amp is what puts my mum off and the larger speakers but could look as some smaller ones like KEF (Egg shaped ones if they’re still good)

What do you think? He really has his heart set on the Rega so seems silly to then waste this with a poor speaker system of that applies to Sonos...
 
Your biggest issue is needing a phono input for the turntable. This pushes you into the higher end AV receiver territory. Something like the Yamaha RX-V683 would fit and allow multi-room via MusicCast to suitable Yamaha MusicCast speakers in the other rooms.

If space and speaker size is an issue maybe a sound bar such as the Yamaha YSP-2700 could be used with a suitable phono pre-amp.
 
Your biggest issue is needing a phono input for the turntable. This pushes you into the higher end AV receiver territory. Something like the Yamaha RX-V683 would fit and allow multi-room via MusicCast to suitable Yamaha MusicCast speakers in the other rooms.

If space and speaker size is an issue maybe a sound bar such as the Yamaha YSP-2700 could be used with a suitable phono pre-amp.

Thank you for your reply, I think we looked at the Yamaha RX-V683 in Richer Sounds earlier along with the Denon AVRX2400. The salesperson suggested the Denon Heos speakers would be better suited for the Kitchen/Bedroom areas over the

Would the Turntable still need a Pre-Amp if putting it into the either of the above AV Receivers?

What speakers would you advise to use with the Receivers? I had a very brief look at QA 3000 and 7000 series, also was shown Dali Zensor. How would these compare to Sonos Soundbar with Play 1/5s?
 
The Yamaha has a phono input so you can connect the turntable directly. The Denon does not have a phono input until you move up to the 4400. Not sure why the salesman suggested the Heos over the Yamaha as they are very similar in sound and both do a range of options depending on your budget.

I am not sure how to get your turntable into a Sonos system easily so I would not think this is an option with your requirements.

Your choice of speakers for use with a receiver is endless. I am sure either of those Q speakers would be fine. If real audio fans and size not too much of an issue then look at the Monitor Audio Bronze packages.
 
I am not sure how to get your turntable into a Sonos system easily so I would not think this is an option with your requirements.

I was thinking a small Pre-Amp into a Sonos Connect or into a Sonos Play 5, would that work?
 
The problem is price as a Sonos Connect plus a Playbar with Sub and two Play 1 would cost at least £1800 and may not be easy to operate, as you would always need to resort to the Sonos App in order to listen to a record.

Spending the same on a separate receiver and speaker package would blow the Sonos out of the window and be easier to handle once setup.
 
The problem would still leave the other rooms, looking at the App Store Reviews for Sonos vs Heos vs Musicast reviews out of 5 are 4.5 vs 3 vs 2.5 respectively based on 58619 vs 91 vs 33 reviews.

I appreciate the latter is not a very big sample but could prove the popularity and future support/updates.

I guess you could have the best of both worlds with an Amp/Wired 5.1 system in Lounge, add a Sonos Connect and then have Play 1s in the other rooms.

Also if you went with the Denon/Yamaha Amp rather than a similar Sony/Onkyo you still have the option of Heos/Musicast and could try them first as the smaller speakers are not a huge investment and we're only talking about a couple of extra rooms.
 
If you are an Apple user (iPad, iPhone etc.) then AirPlay speakers can be a better solution providing you don’t want the same music on all speakers (well until AirPlay 2 arrives and we know what products will get updated). At least the Yamaha MusicCast speakers include AirPlay support so gives further options.

It is true if streaming from the internet then the Sonos system is hard to beat. At least the New Sonos One will also support AirPlay (2) in the future. It is a shame the Sonos Connect is so expensive. I am sure if Sonos produced a cheap adapter they would expand their market considerably.
 
Seems to me Yamaha Musicast fits your bill.

Yamaha Network Stereo Receiver

That will start you off . Then you can add any device that will allow streaming in the other rooms. What quality and how much room do you have / want in the other rooms and how far do you want to go. ?
I have ceiling speakers in my kitchen which are great and take up no room but not everyone wants to go that far .
On ebay there are Kef custom install THX speakers for under £500 and I have seen 4 motorised kefs for £825.

You can custom install some nice speakers and just extend/drive it all from your amp and control it all from your phone via musicast.

BRAND NEW & BOXED! KEF R Series THX Certified Custom Install Subwoofer Speaker | eBay

4 x KEF Ci3-80QT Motorised In Ceiling Home Cinema Speakers - USED - COLLECT ONLY | eBay

You have a huge choice. I think it depends if you want the same music in every room or not.
Muso QB if space is tight ?
 
-- As an eBay Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases --
@Nat64 The original poster was looking for a surround system so a stereo only network amplifier is not going to fit the bill. Also no mention was made of custom install speakers. Have you posted this in the wrong place?
 
Your biggest issue is needing a phono input for the turntable. This pushes you into the higher end AV receiver territory. Something like the Yamaha RX-V683 would fit and allow multi-room via MusicCast to suitable Yamaha MusicCast speakers in the other rooms.

The question I would have here is "Does Musiccast multi-room sync work with phono input?"

I ask, because I know that Yamaha's multi-room sync doesn't work with some sources, contrary to their claims. For example, I have an Aventage RX-A850 in my family room. Sometimes when watching TV there, I try to sync the HDMI audio to my kitchen while I cook. That doesn't work at all. The kitchen audio will lag the family room by ~4 seconds. Yes, multiple seconds of delay. Which means two things, to me; 1) Yamaha's multi-room sync protocol has serious bugs and 2) Yamaha never tested it and/or doesn't care.

So I would be really careful before buying a Yamaha if multiroom sync is a priority for you.
 
Sometimes when watching TV there, I try to sync the HDMI audio to my kitchen while I cook. That doesn't work at all. The kitchen audio will lag the family room by ~4 seconds.
This is normal and the same for all similar systems, such as the Heos system. The idea is only to provide audio multi-room not any sort of AV synchronisation. The delay is needed to be allow all the speakers to be in sync and smooth out the inherent network delay issues.

The MusicCast system will allow all inputs to be “Cast” apart from the AirPlay source, as Apple will not allow this (well until AirPlay 2 arrives).

As always it is important to understand what limitations any system has before buying or condemning it.
 
So are you both saying that there is a lag on both/all systems when trying to play the same music in all rooms?

Or is this more of an issue with TV sound?

Also would this cause a similar issue if playing a CD via the UHD player and having its play through all speakers and rooms?
 
This is normal and the same for all similar systems, such as the Heos system. The idea is only to provide audio multi-room not any sort of AV synchronisation. The delay is needed to be allow all the speakers to be in sync and smooth out the inherent network delay issues.

This is completely wrong, at least as regards Yamaha. From Yamaha's MusicCast FAQ... bold type in the answer is mine, for emphasis.

Can an external input into a MusicCast sound bar or AV receiver - such as an HDMI, optical, analog or phono input - be played in multiple rooms?
Yes. External inputs can be selected for playback and shared in linked mode with multiple MusicCast devices. The latest MusicCast Controller app/firmware allows you to quickly and easily switch between prioritizing Audio Sync (default setting) or Lip Sync for external sources connected to a MusicCast sound bar or AV receiver. For typical system configurations, the Audio Sync setting eliminates audio delays between linked MusicCast devices when external sources are used. Even in advanced systems, such as those with multiple sound bars and/or AV receivers, the delay is usually reduced to less than 100ms, which is typically unnoticeable if the devices are located in separate, non-adjacent rooms. This setting is especially helpful for audio-only content - such as CDs, vinyl, etc. - and for situations where lip sync accuracy may not be crucial, such as playing sound of the big game throughout your home for a party.
https://www.yamaha.com/us/musiccast/

I have also spoken to Yamaha Support on this issue, and they concur with their FAQ that it should work. They cannot explain why it doesn't, and refuse to offer any remedy.
 
So are you both saying that there is a lag on both/all systems when trying to play the same music in all rooms?

Speaking only for myself, no. The family room AV receiver sound is sync'd with the television. When I link that AV receiver to any another MusicCast device, the sound in those other rooms is consistently 4 to 5 seconds behind the AV receiver sound. Yamaha claims it should be around 100 milliseconds, so their test protocols leave quite a bit to be desired apparently.

SD449 said:
Or is this more of an issue with TV sound?

Also would this cause a similar issue if playing a CD via the UHD player and having its play through all speakers and rooms?

I am not sure, I will have to test other input sources and see what I find. Honestly, MusicCast multiroom is so broken that I almost never try to use it anymore... I just have to resort to turning up the volume loud enough that I can hear from adjacent rooms.
 

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