Browse Forums Home Theatre & Automation 1 Jul 17, 2012 8:00 am We are currenlty building a new house and the SS has agreed to let me onsite to run speaker cables before gyprock on Thursday(wish i knew earlier) and im currently in a pickle as to my best solution. Heres what i want to acheive: 2 speakers in alfresco 2 speakers in bathroom I waill also have a dedicated system for the home theatre. i was looking at a Squeezebox duet due to the fact it has a remote which i can keep in the bedroom and use my ipod touch to control music outside. All music is on a NAS Can the duet connect to a amp with A&B and play on either channel at different times? Or can anyone recommend a better setup? I will only have music playing in one room at a time, but would like to control it form anywhere in the house Thanks for your help Re: Simple(ish) multi room audio 2Jul 17, 2012 4:22 pm Hi Another option is a networked receiver/amplifier such as those from Denon, Onkyo or Yahama. These can stream the music directly from your NAS (The Squeezebox needs software running on your PC) and have ipod apps to control them. This allows you to switch zones on and off from your iPod as well as control the volume, skip tracks etc. The only issue to be aware of is that many don't have WiFi connectivity, so you will need a wired network point or a WiFi adapter to connect them to your NAS. The Yamaha RX-V473 is one example and is available for under $600. Paul Re: Simple(ish) multi room audio 3Jul 17, 2012 7:35 pm Thanks Paul. WIFI doesnt matter as i will have everything wired. My 2nd thought after much reading was purchase a new receiver for the theatre with 3 zones (powered). Zone 1 - Home Theatre Zone 2 - Alfresco Zone 3 - Bathroom Zone 2&3 will always be playing at sepearate time, whilst zone 1 could play at same time as Zone 2 Question - If NAS is connected to receiver, as is bluray, ps3 etc. Can i play bluray or ps3 for kids on Zone 1, whilst Zone 2 plays music from NAS? Simple(ish) multi room audio 4Jul 17, 2012 8:36 pm Hi You can do this, although receivers with 3 powered zones are more expensive. The Yamaha http://au.yamaha.com/en/products/audio-visual/av-receivers-amps/rx-v2067__l/?mode=model RX-V2067 does and it has a clever automatic zone assignment function, so if zones 2 and 3 are not in use then you have all 7 channels available for surround. If zone 2 or 3 is activated the surround drops back to 5.1 and if both zones 2 and 3 are active then you get 3.1. So, in your scenario you could have a Blu Ray in the main zone and music in the other zones, but you would lose the surround channels from the Blu Ray (probably not a big issue for the kids). Paul Re: Simple(ish) multi room audio 5Jul 17, 2012 9:26 pm Thanks Paul After looking at some Onkyo amps (seen and heard these in store) i could get a 3 zone (2 powered) amp and add a small T-amp for the 3rd zone. Time to look at these amps and more in detail. Thanks for your help Re: Simple(ish) multi room audio 6Jul 18, 2012 12:16 am Personally I use a Sonos setup. In my outside area, I have an old ZP100 (which has a built-in amp), which I'll connect to outdoor speakers. For the media area, I have an old ZP80 connected to my Yamaha A2000, which although is network connected, and will stream from my NAS, is no where near as versatile as the Sonos. Bathroom I have a single ceiling speaker with stereo twitters (not as good as two speakers, but one hole beats two). For portable music, I have the Play:5, which only needs a power point. As I have quite a few, the Sonos Net (a 2.4Ghz based mesh network, so you have to watch which channel you use for your WiFi) covers the whole house. I control the lot with my iPhones/iPad/MBP or PCs, as Sonos has control apps for iOS, Android, OS X and Windows, besides having the ZC100 and ZC200, which I gather are being made obsolete. Re: Simple(ish) multi room audio 7Jul 18, 2012 1:06 pm Sonos here too- I have 7 ZP120's (amplified) and one 90 for HT- Im have these running in house currently and am taking them with me to the new house! Easy install, easy setup, and easy to use (the family can drive it without hassle). Further, in the new house I will have Boxee's in the ceiling at each tv location so content will be streamed from nas to boxee with audio going to sonos (for better sound than tv speakers) and vision going to the tv (naturally). Re: Simple(ish) multi room audio 8Jul 18, 2012 7:23 pm Check a resi-linx product. I have one at at running alfresco area speakers. Runs via bluetooth. Unit in mounted in eaves, speakers to the unit ( built in amp ). They are linkable for more zones. I reckon it briliant! Re: Simple(ish) multi room audio 9Jul 21, 2012 12:08 am I couldn't agree more. The SONOS gear is so easy to setup and run, is easily transportable and holds its value (rare in electronics) .... Its also very well priced if you look in the right places and send email to the right people http://www.thecableconnection.com.au/de ... searchview Re: Simple(ish) multi room audio 10Jul 30, 2012 11:00 pm Thanks for everyones input. After looking at Sonos and other amps, i think will go the Squezebox touch route (a big plus for misses, as it has a simple touch screen - which she likes) If i go down this route, can anyone recomend a stereo amp which could possible accept up to 4 sources input (possible future expansion) and has 4 sepearate zone outputs. ie. input 1 to zone 1, input 2 to zone 2 etc? Thanks for your help Re: Simple(ish) multi room audio 11Aug 01, 2012 9:09 pm bdydrp, I know I said it before but before you commit please do yourself a favour and checkout the sonos gear. It is the easiest, most expandable and easiest to use. The Squeezebox is cheaper but it is a different league and has its restrictions. I have used and owned both and the Sonos is far superior and much more wife friendly. Cheers, Matt Re: Simple(ish) multi room audio 12Aug 01, 2012 10:18 pm Matt, Thanks. So i can..i guess understand sonos more..could you explain how i would set up my needs then. I have a H/T which ill keep separate, then outdoor area (pre wired incase) and bathroom (also prewired incase). Do i need a sonos amp for each zone and that can be controlled with ipod/iphone? Does the amp have multiple outs? one for each zone? The standalone speakers, are they ok for use in Bathrooms? Sorry for the bombardment of questions, just trying to figure sonos out for my applications Thanks for your help Adam Re: Simple(ish) multi room audio 13Aug 01, 2012 11:50 pm Hi Adam, Ok first Sonos is controlled with your phone (iphone or android) and you can choose to do it cheap if you like. Using a Connect Amp you can run it in 1 zone or multiples if you use a couple of other devices. Each amp is good for 1 zone by itself but this is fixable if you know how. You can also use a connect to hookup to your home theatre amp and run it through other zones too. As for using a Play:3 in the bathroom there is nothing that says you cannot and reading other forums it seems pretty common. It is he kind of thing that playing with it shows you how easy it is - what state are you in? Re: Simple(ish) multi room audio 14Aug 05, 2012 6:06 pm Matt - Im in Sydney, NSW So basically, if i have a H/T amp with a 3rd zone, i could use a connect to power zone 3 to speakers, then another connect amp to power another zone? when you say "Each amp is good for 1 zone by itself but this is fixable if you know how" do you mean using an A&B Switch for more zones. Really sounds like i need to get to a distrubutor to check it out properly Re: Simple(ish) multi room audio 15Aug 05, 2012 8:16 pm bdydrp Matt - Im in Sydney, NSW So basically, if i have a H/T amp with a 3rd zone, i could use a connect to power zone 3 to speakers, then another connect amp to power another zone? when you say "Each amp is good for 1 zone by itself but this is fixable if you know how" do you mean using an A&B Switch for more zones. Really sounds like i need to get to a distrubutor to check it out properly Unfortunately Eastwood Hifi is dropping Sonos, but they may still have something there to check out, and may have runout sale. Otherwise from memory Len Wallis in Lane Cove has them. Check the Sonos site for resellers. What you said is basically correct; have a Connect into my Yamaha A2000, whereas have another 4 Connect:AMP into bedroom, bathroom, library and soon ourdoors speakers. Due to wife factor, also have a Play:5 with is synced with the Connect, so the living area gets filled with sound from both the Play:5 and the Paradigm connected to the A2000. Currently controlling it with my iPhone, iPad and a dedicated Nexus 7. Re: Simple(ish) multi room audio 16Aug 06, 2012 9:47 pm PHL has summed it up well - let me know if you need pricing etc! Hey, I am wanting to add a second toilet to my house, bit we have limited room. There is a hallway/entry that is never used, so was thinking this could be an option. Only… 0 3000 Hi all, My first post, we are building a house and can’t decide the layout of the lounge room. We have a large N/W facing window and are wanting to have a wood slow… 0 11135 sorry mate, not wasting more time on this. Youve completely missed the mark on some fundamentals and regardless of how many times i try and put it to you differently, you… 11 6979 |