Streaming System Advice for 3 Rooms

Renners

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I'm coming for advice as I'm well out of my depth. I am currently finishing the design of a kitchen/diner extension and this finally allows me to look at AV for the kitchen/diner as well as living room and snug/movie room. I've not really looked into this type of kit for about 8 years and a lot has changed. I've done quite a bit of research (forums, reviews and in-store), but find that posts on this forum often have some really good advice - so hear I go...

I want a system that allows multi-room music between at least my living room and kitchen/diner - and am undecided on the movie room. A focus on streaming as I have no vinyl and can easily add a CD player to most kit I've looked into, and Alexa integration if possible.

Rooms
Kitchen/diner
- roughly 5.5m x 5.5m, 12 degree shallow pitched roof with 3 large skylights and sliding doors across the rear
Snug/movie - 3.3m x 3.6m, between kitchen and living room (door to kitchen, solid wall on living room side)
Living Room - 3.9m x 3.6m, front bay window

My current thoughts are to focus the best sound in the living room, movie focus in the snug, and social/audio in the snug/kitchen.

Equipment - Option 1 (Naim)
Kitchen
- Naim Unity Atom with 4x Monitor Audio C280 IDC in-ceiling speakers
Snug - 65" LG C1 tv with Naim Mu-so
Living - Naim Unity Star with KEF R3 or Dynaudio Special 40's

Equipment - Option 2 (BlueOS)
Kitchen
- BlueSound PowerNode with 4x Monitor Audio C280 IDC in-ceiling speakers
Snug - 65" LG C1 tv with BlueSound Pulse Soundbar+ with 2x BlueSound Pulse Flex
Living - NAD M10 with KEF R3 or Dynaudio Special 40's

I would be very grateful for any advice on the above, suggestions on equipment/pairings or highlighting any pitfalls (for example, is it worth just dropping the multi-room to get a Sony HT-A7000 or Sonos Arc soundbar). If anything needs more description then please do ask.

Thanks in advance
 
You obviously have a bit too spend and know good gear. I suggest if you can at all fit regular speakers don't use ceiling speakers.
 
They're all more on the lifestyle/minimalist side of the fence, compared to traditional 2ch Hifi separates approach.
So with that said then Bluesound's a good eco system, certainly the Powernode in the Kitchen and M10 in the living room are solid choices for the intended use. However I'm not sure on the movie setup, neither of those choices to me would have the impact and presence required for movies - I suppose certainly I'd expect to want to include the Bluesound sub on the later option.
For movies, I actually would rather a really solid 2.1 setup over having rears for the sake of it, sub is really integral to movie viewing I feel.

As an alternative to using a single vendors platform for multi-room, perhaps consider Airplay 2 - as this decouples you from being tied in. You're then free to select some other options that might be a better fit.

There's a million ways to skin this cat, but with a focus on modern/minimal, perhaps:
Living - KEF LS60 (not heard as very new, but meant to be great, and unquestionably modern and minimalist)
Snug - Lyngdorf TTDAi-1120 + SVS 3000 Micro + what ever 2ch speakers you fancy. The amp connects over HDMI, and probably the most sophisticated way to integrate a sub(s). Granted it's not got surrounds, but as I said I'd far sooner have solid 2.1 setup. Any option with surrounds, IMO ends up down the AVR route and a 5.1 package - I get the impression that's going to a little OTT!
Kitchen - could stick with the Powernode + MA ceiling speakers. But I think I'd be inclined to use something more akin to the NAIM Mu-So in this location.

All that could be streamed to in sync, via Airplay 2. But for what it's worth, I wanted sync between my office, living and kitchen - I can count on 1 hand the number of times I've done that over the last couple of years!!
 
You obviously have a bit too spend and know good gear. I suggest if you can at all fit regular speakers don't use ceiling speakers.
I've had a system pencilled in for years and not been able to pull the trigger until we 'finish' our works. Setting the type of system will let me get wiring in the works, socket numbers etc.

The kitchen is tricky for speakers, we are walking the fine line of trying to get everything we want whilst keeping a spacious feel. But I will look into the layout again.
 
They're all more on the lifestyle/minimalist side of the fence, compared to traditional 2ch Hifi separates approach.
So with that said then Bluesound's a good eco system, certainly the Powernode in the Kitchen and M10 in the living room are solid choices for the intended use. However I'm not sure on the movie setup, neither of those choices to me would have the impact and presence required for movies - I suppose certainly I'd expect to want to include the Bluesound sub on the later option.
For movies, I actually would rather a really solid 2.1 setup over having rears for the sake of it, sub is really integral to movie viewing I feel.

As an alternative to using a single vendors platform for multi-room, perhaps consider Airplay 2 - as this decouples you from being tied in. You're then free to select some other options that might be a better fit.

There's a million ways to skin this cat, but with a focus on modern/minimal, perhaps:
Living - KEF LS60 (not heard as very new, but meant to be great, and unquestionably modern and minimalist)
Snug - Lyngdorf TTDAi-1120 + SVS 3000 Micro + what ever 2ch speakers you fancy. The amp connects over HDMI, and probably the most sophisticated way to integrate a sub(s). Granted it's not got surrounds, but as I said I'd far sooner have solid 2.1 setup. Any option with surrounds, IMO ends up down the AVR route and a 5.1 package - I get the impression that's going to a little OTT!
Kitchen - could stick with the Powernode + MA ceiling speakers. But I think I'd be inclined to use something more akin to the NAIM Mu-So in this location.

All that could be streamed to in sync, via Airplay 2. But for what it's worth, I wanted sync between my office, living and kitchen - I can count on 1 hand the number of times I've done that over the last couple of years!!
Thanks for such a detailed response, lots for me to research.

The snug/movie set up is something I'm really questioning, but the sub would be on the later list for the BlueOS option certainly. Potentially before the rear speakers tbh. The key for this room and the kitchen right now is so I don't mess up the wiring and sockets.

The KEF LS60 looks great but hits the budget for that room without a CD player ... more to consider for me.

Airplay 2 I've not even considered yet ... to Google search (for lots of items you noted)!
 
If you go down the ceiling speakers route I would recommend building some sealed MDF boxes into the void (which you may need to fire treat) before plasterboarding.This will seriously improve the performance. Alternatively fit speakers with a back can to reduce sound transferring through the ceiling voids.
 
It may not be all the rage nowadays but I wouldn’t discount Sonos’ ecosystem if ease of use, a good app, a wide range of streaming platforms/services, voice control and the ability to use portable speakers in the kitchen or elsewhere in the house is something you might want.

Otherwise I’d probably opt for BluOS over Naim because of their well developed app / platform, future/ongoing support and it being built into AVRs from the likes of NAD. In short a bit more future proof & a tiny bit less lock-in (at least you can add BlueOS to another device via the Node).

Another option to consider if you don’t want to be locked into a single manufacturer (and/or the high cost of their bridges/transports to add support to 3rd party products) might be Roon.

You’d ideally run a Roon Core somewhere on your network 24/7 (could just be on a secondhand PC, Mac or NUC hidden out of sight near your router, or a Nucleus if budget isn’t an issue) and then use it to send audio to a variety of different kit including BlueOS, Sonos, Naim, AirPlay, and Chromecast devices or any Roon Ready device.

You can also add Roon support to an classic ‘non-digital’ amplifier using a low-cost Roon endpoint / bridge, both no-faff commercial devices and DIY options (if your that way inclined). There’s also a couple of ‘Roon Ready’ DIY Amp bundles which might work well for ceiling speakers where you’re likely hiding the amps out of sight - again plenty of no-faff commercial options that work with Roon also available, including the Sonos & BluSound amps.

You’d then control everything from any mobile, tablet or laptop via the Roon Control app.

You can start testing out Roon on a standard desktop PC or Mac by installing the combined Core & Remote app which runs everyone on the one machine. Longer term most people move the Roon Core component onto its own MacMini, NUC, NAS, PC (or Nucleus) so that it’s always ready to be controlled via the mobile, tablet or desktop control apps.
 
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