multiroom audio

Hi all,

My house is currently being wired and I have included plenty ( I hope!!!) of sockets and switches in all rooms but am looking for some advice as I would also like to wire the house for

• a multi room audio system. ( 8 zones in total, well 4 for now with the system wired for an additional 4 zones)
• tv access in 4 rooms with one of the living room TV points above the fireplace

Can anyone recommend a good multiroom audio system and advise on the wiring requirements for said system?

Ideally I would like if single or multiple zones could be active and listening to the same or different music at the same time. Is this achievable?

I have heard people mention the Sonos system.
How good is this system and can it handle multiple zones and multiple music?
I have an iPod full of music and am wondering if this can be integrated into the system via a docking station?

Ceiling or Wall mounted speakers?

Also can people inform me as to best practice for tv control. What wires should I run to each television point and is it possible to achieve individual control of each television at a reasonable cost?

Go raibh mile.

Sonos is supposed to be the ultimate in such solutions.

Go with wall mounted speakers.

You will get good advice on AV Forums.
Leo

I just got a sonos system a couple of weeks ago, and I'm delighted with it. Things that I found good:
- Easily set up, despite routers, switches, broadband connections, NDAS drives etc.
- The internet radio is brilliant. Hundreds of radio stations around the globe. I'm new to internet radio though
- Can use Ipod as controller with free software, so you can save yourself a few quid.
- you can expand as your budget allows - do a room at a time.
- allows wifi or wired connections to network.

To answer your questions:

Ideally I would like if single or multiple zones could be active and listening to the same or different music at the same time. Is this achievable?

Click to expand...

Yes, its achievable and easily done. Zones can be merged or independent

How good is this system and can it handle multiple zones and multiple music?

Click to expand...

It can handle music from multiple sources and up to 32 different zones (How many rooms do you have? )

I have an iPod full of music and am wondering if this can be integrated into the system via a docking station?

Click to expand...

There is a connector that allows audio input. It would probably be better to copy all music to one location and read off of that.

Also check out the support forum on www.sonos.com
If you go with it, check best price on www.shopwiki.co.uk

thanks for the advice.
Will have a max of 8 zones andhoping to have individual control (if it doesn't cost too much!) in each zone at some stage in the future (more that likely 10+ years!)

The Sonos system comes highly recommended but was hoping for something a little more discrete i.e. wall/ ceiling mounted speakers with a wall mounted keypad calling music / radio from a central hub.

Would a ipod docking station per zone, with remote control and speakers achieve the same thing as Sonos and at a similar cost, as every individual room needs a ZP120 receiver anyhow if you decide on Sonos?

Also, can anyone advise me on a good approach to ‘future proofing’ my house from an electrical point of view.
I hoping to have a multiroom audio system, broadband availability and Sky access to all possible tv locations. The cable would be the cheap part so I’m hoping to have the house wired for the above and add in the individual systems over time.

A central hub will contain a SkyBox, phone/ broadband input, dvd player and external memory containing music and possibly movies.
Each room will contain three Cat5e cables from the hub for audio (positioned at socket level), broadband (positioned at socket level also) and another beside the tv.
Is this sufficient? Some people mention running two Cat5e to the tv. Can I ask why?

Also want to have the choice of Sky in each room. Does this require a separate coax from the hub to each tv point?

How can the dvd player be made available to each room? Is this via a separate SCART per tv or is there another way.

Can anyone think of anything else that they feel would be a useful addition to the above specification?

What type of hardware would I need in the hub to make all of this possible?

Thank in advance, Go raibh mile maith agaibh