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16 Favorite Multiroom Audio Systems
CE pros reveal the favorite features of their go-to multiroom audio brands.
What multiroom music system is right for your client?
There are lots to love about your preferred multiroom audio systems, but what do you like most about them?
We posed that question to the CE Pro community and received more than 100 replies.
We've rounded up CE pros' 16 favorite multiroom audio systems.
View 16 Favorite Multiroom Audio Systems.
There are lots to love about your preferred multiroom audio systems, but what do you like most about them?
We posed that question to the CE Pro community and received more than 100 replies.
We've rounded up CE pros' 16 favorite multiroom audio systems.
View 16 Favorite Multiroom Audio Systems.
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About the Author
Julie Jacobson, Editor-at-large, CE Pro
As a co-founder of EH Publishing in 1994, Julie has edited and contributed to all of the company's publications at one time or another. An authority on home automation, networking, integration, digital convergence and the CE pro channel, Julie speaks often about these subjects at industry events. She graduated with a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan, and received an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. Julie is a washed-up Ultimate Frisbee player.
3 Comments
The most inexpensive solution is a 7.1 AVR with a powered zone 2. Basically those 2 rear surround channels that wouldn’t be used in the family room get re-assigned to power your sub-zones in the back porch and garage. If you can, prewire to a volume control location with the speaker wire as well as CAT5E wiring to each of the two distributed audio locations. By doing this, you can take care of impedance matching and add a level of control to your additional zones. The CAT5 allows even more control options beyond a volume control, if ever desired.
We tend to use Onkyo for this type of application, but reality is that any of the major contenders work fine.
You may also look at a true distributed audio system that is keypad driven. Then you could have 3 totally independent zones (the surround, plus 2) each of which is able to play independent source and volume. If this was the case, you would just need a 5.1 receiver for the family room (although most decent AVRs are going to be 7 channel nowadays.)
Isaac, thanks a lot for chiming in.
Page 1 of 1 comment pages
We are building a house and it is now pre-wired for 5 speakers in the family room (front left, center, right and rear left, right)and two on the back porch,and two in the garage. What type of system do I need for this? Does it require a 7.1 channel or a 9.1 channel - or other?
Please advise.
Thanks,
Scott