Recommendations for whole house/property audio, preferably with the ability to do different zones at the same time.
Recommendations for whole house/property audio, preferably with the ability to do different zones at the same time.
My wife and I are moving from a condo to a house in a month and I'd like to set up a "proper" audio system on the property such that my wife can listen to one thing in her office, I can listen to something else in the garage, and my kids can listen to something in their rooms. The Sonos system is what I think I aspire to, but I haven't looked into things for a dozen+ years so don't really know what all is out there.
I currently have a bunch of Google pucks across the house, but would like better-quality audio than those provide.
Any alternatives to Sonos that have feature parity (or near-parity)?
I am no audiophile, but i have three of the basic Sonos speakers and recently was gifted the portable bluetooth sonos.
I love them, wish I could justify cost of getting the full sub and soundbar for the tv.
Ive made several cross country moves with mine and they still look new and work just as well, have had them for years.
Sonos is solid. It's expensive, but it just works and integrates well.
IKEA has Sonos speakers too, so I use their lamps as bedside tables and also rear speakers for my sound bar. (the stock lamp shade is ugly but you can find others that fit)
There's a few open source options but they're not nearly as polished. I spent way too much on Sonos and I don't regret it at all.
Chromecast output as digital either with an HDMI adaptor or Chromecast audio with optical out?
I think for the bedrooms and offices you're probably better off with powered bookshelf speakers. It's really only for the common areas that you need to worry about having everything connected.
I have a Sonos speaker from ikea and I hate how locked down it is. It won't let you do a normal Bluetooth connection even though I guarantee the wifi modem in it has Bluetooth. You can only stream from apps that pay for sonos integration.
I wouldn't have bought the speaker had I known how much of a walled garden the sonos ecosystem is. So I figured I should warn you to find out what limitations Sonos comes with before you start locking yourself in.
Ahh. I didn't know IKEA sold Sonos stuff, or that it was locked down that much. Disappointing.
Costco also has Sonos
People used to do this with wiring and one or more control panels. You may find it more reliable and less laggy to just have it hard wired.
As an audiophile? Buy good speakers, plug em into the ceiling, and connect em to receivers