Architectural speakers used to be considered niche, but as smart-home living continues to gain popularity and homeowners look for more discreet solutions, these speakers are making their way into more home theaters and multiroom audio systems than ever before.
Homebuilders have noticed, and a growing number are looking to include AV in their new construction projects, shaking up a notoriously conservative industry in the process.
No stranger to industry disruption, leading audio brand Sonos is helping curious homebuilders realize the value of the smart-home opportunity ahead with flexible and scalable solutions that resonate with homeowners.
Education Fosters Smart Home Technology Adoption
EJ Fitzpatrick, Principal Product Manager for Sonos, notes that in most cases, smart home installations typically fall into three categories: Security, convenience, and experience. From there he continues, the most sought-after products include smart locks, video doorbells, security systems, and smart, programmable thermostats.
Upping the smart home experience to the next level, Fitzpatrick asserts that home audio systems offer homeowners a high level of value and entertainment, and in many parts of the U.S., a smart home isn’t considered complete until it has whole-home audio as an amenity.
“Installed and integrated audio systems provide tremendous benefits not only to the homeowners, but during the sale process as well. Playing warm and inviting music during the showing process helps potential buyers envision themselves living in the space, further increasing the perceived value of the home. To do that though, it’s incredibly important for integrators to help educate builders not only on this value, but on the processes involved,” Fitzpatrick stresses. “For example, it’s significantly easier, and more cost effective, to prewire a home before drywall is installed leading to a better ROI for the builders. Bringing an integrator in sooner than later will help ensure the builder is thinking through all aspects of the functionality in a home, not just the aesthetics.”
According to Fitzpatrick, many consumers don’t include audio under the smart home umbrella. Some will even further divide the audio category into home audio and home theater he explains. But, Sonos defies these perceptions with a platform that offers both whole-home audio, home AV surround sound, and seamless integration with a variety of smart-home devices and solutions.
As the smart home has evolved, Fitzpatrick also points out, home control of these products and systems has grown more advanced due to the rapid development of smart devices such as iOS and Android products. Fitzpatick says that apps have become a popular means for homeowners to control their smart home products. Other control options he notes include whole-home control and automation systems from third-party manufacturers, and voice control technologies that are available from several well-known technology companies.
Moreover, another observation Sonos has made besides how the public views smart home products, is the emphasis consumers are increasingly placing on the unobtrusive integration of these solutions into home environments.
“Bigger isn’t necessarily better anymore,” says Fitzpatrick. “We’ve seen this with the popularity of products like the Samsung Frame, as well as the success of Sonos Architectural—our line of integrated speakers optimized for Sonos Amp. Developers and clients are investing more in the aesthetics of their homes. They want all their home technology, including audio to blend in, which ultimately enhances the experience they want to have in their home.”
This is one of the biggest reasons why Sonos Amp has been the focal point of integrators worldwide. In addition to providing premium sound quality and reliability, it’s extremely versatile as well. Each Sonos Amp represents a single zone, providing integrators a simple way to set up and control the system for their clients. Amp also offers maximum flexibility; it can be used to power surrounds in a home theater setup or even for distributed audio throughout the home, ensuring that the client can use the same system for a variety of purposes.
Maximizing the Capabilities of Sonos Architectural Speakers
Emotionally involving music and audio experiences requires more than just average whole-home audio and home theater installations. To be successful installing home audio systems Fitzpatrick says that when addressing whole-home audio dispersion is an important characteristic to ensure everyone within a room receives the same levels of audio quality.
“While the traditional stereo image is desired, that really requires that your listeners are both in the sweet spot and attentive, which usually isn’t the case. For most situations, even distribution of great sound is paramount. Think of architectural speakers like lighting—a single speaker in the middle of the room will create a hotspot [bright in the center, but darker as you move away from it], while distributing multiple speakers throughout the room results in a consistent soundscape regardless of where your listeners are. This is one of the biggest benefits of Sonos Amp. Amp can reliably power up to six Sonos Architectural speakers at once, creating more balanced coverage, even in larger rooms.”
Surround sound and home theater require a completely different approach emphasizes Fitzpatrick. There are several factors to consider when designing surround sound and immersive audio systems, however as a starting point, at least he states integrators have a basic idea of where the seating positions will be once the location of the projection screen or television has been chosen.
In an area that has listeners standing more often than sitting—like a kitchen—Sonos’ general guidelines are that their In-Ceiling speakers should be placed roughly 5.5 feet apart for an 8-foot ceiling, and 17.5 feet apart for a 14-foot ceiling. These are of course just general guidelines and, in an area, where people are more often seated, the distance grows even further.
“With all of that being said, it’s not just about the desired use case, but the environment as well,” comments Fitzpatrick. “There are a multitude of factors that can affect both whole-home audio and home theater. Ceiling height, the number of windows, and floor material—just to name a few—all affect how sound waves travel. An experienced integrator can help guide and inform both builders and customers alike and tools like Sonos’ Trueplay [equalization technologies] can correct for these factors as well.”
One of underplayed benefits of Sonos Architectural Speakers when used for surround sound and immersive audio he continues is their value as surround- and height-channel speakers. Fitzpatrick notes that some of the most common immersive audio combinations dealers are installing are a Sonos Arc soundbar with a Sub, and Sonos Architectural Speakers powered by a Sonos Amp serving as rear surrounds in a 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos configuration. He also stresses that because of Sonos’ alliance with Apple Music, these systems can be used for the playback of music-based spatial audio.
Fitzpatrick suggests that one of the most fun system demonstrations that dealers can provide their clients is a Dolby Atmos music listening session via Apple Music. Fitzpatrick estimates that many people at this point are familiar with Dolby Atmos soundtracks for movies, but they may not be aware that music is also available in the popular immersive audio format.
“While Dolby Atmos is most often associated with movies and TV shows, nearly every artist has been remixing or releasing new music in Dolby Atmos. The result is music with greater depth and [this content] presents the opportunity for clients to reconnect with content they already know well, or discover new sonic experiences they’ve not yet considered,” he adds.
“At Sonos we’ve spent a lot of time listening to spatial audio, here are a few of our favorite tracks to share with your clients during demos, there should be a little something for everybody.”
- Come Together (remaster) by The Beatles
- A Concert Six Months From Now by FINNEAS
- Rocketman by Elton John
More news from Sonos: Sonance Collab Yields Sonos’s Latest In-Ceiling Architectural Speaker
