OT - Audio for New House

[bikerboy337]

Mods, feel free to delete if this isnt appropriate...

We're liking getting ready to build a new house for our next house. I'm a huge fan of having audio thought the 1st floor. growing up in CA, we alsways had speakers in all the rooms downstairs, wired into a receiver so we could play music when guests are over.

In any event, my typical self was thiking of getting a similar thing done in the new house, would wire to the family room, kitchen, living and dining rooms...

but then i got to thinking. we stream all of our music now (spotify) and i dont forsee that changing anytime soon... my phone has it all....

would i be just as good going with a sonos system or something similar? and just tossing a speaker or two in each room? I'm thinking i really like the in ceilig speakers as they are out of sight and out of mind... worreid with any streaming system i'd have to plug it in and it would take up space...

any thoughts out there... anyone use a Sonos system? I'm not looking for great quality sound, but like ot have backround music quite often, so not worried aobut sound for either route, just trying to figure out what makes the most sense...

[vqdriver]

i'm not an audiphile, but i'll run into this same scenario soon enough when we do our remodel. sounds like all you need to change is add a bluetooth receiver to your audio receiver/amp. that way you could use the ceiling speakers and just stream everything from your phone

[notsew]

I have sonos, but I don't really use it as intended (like units in each room). Its just attached to my amp and does the same thing you had in your house as a kid.

When we built our house 5 or 6 years ago, I had it wired for sound. Speakers in the downstairs (its basically all one room), speakers on the deck, speakers upstairs. The upstairs has a volume control on the wall so I can turn it up or down relative to downstairs. My amp has zones I could use, but I don't really care that much. The outside speakers are on a separate channel so I can click them on or off from the main. I love having sound throughout the house and sonos+spotify means I have basically all the music in the world. Can't be beat. The only problem is my wife (and kid) always telling me to turn it down.

Anyways, this isn't helpful I guess, except to say... do it!!

I will say sonos is way better than Bluetooth (my old solution). The Bluetooth range is annoying and the sonos interface (for all its faults) is pretty good. I wouldn't go back to Bluetooth.Also, all that sonos **** gets expensive if you have units all over the place.

[Rada]

This might be something along the lines you are looking for.

https://www.pyleaudio.com/sku/PWPBT6...-Sound-Systems

[kookmyers]

I have a house full of Sonos speakers. I dont even use my good stuff anymore.

With all the wiring changes i have had to deal with with various remodels and the like, i'd say go for Sonos even though you have the opportunity to wire everything. You may not like where you decide to put the holes in the walls, the speakers could blow and then you'd have to deal with installing a new one when you can't get a replacement, or a rodent could eat through your wiring. OK, i took it a little far.

[shovelhd]

I'd run the wires, and decide if you want to terminate them later. Wire is cheap.

[awdwon]

I'm very happy with multiple Sonos speakers throughout the house. We built an addition on our house a few years ago and I also wired in a stereo pair for my Prima Luna integrated amp which I have the Sonos Connect hooked in to. So I guess I'd recommend a mix of both. The convenience of the Play 1s is incredible and the sound is great with my networked music collection and decent with Apple Music.

[pinkshogun]

http://www.sdcav.com/

check out Stuart Powers owner of the above local East Providence link. He's been doing home audio for a long time, local musician, and is good guy to work with

[Frankwurst]

Originally Posted by shovelhd

I'd run the wires, and decide if you want to terminate them later. Wire is cheap.

Me too. Simply because I'm to stubborn to learn about all this new technology and like my stereo with amps, preamps, cords and wires where the volume is controlled by me getting up and cranking it up if the tune so deserves. My TV works fine with a remote. My stereo won't......ever.

[shovelhd]

Originally Posted by Frankwurst

Me too. Simply because I'm to stubborn to learn about all this new technology and like my stereo with amps, preamps, cords and wires where the volume is controlled by me getting up and cranking it up if the tune so deserves. My TV works fine with a remote. My stereo won't......ever.

I would also run Cat5 (or Cat6 if you know how to terminate it properly). You never know when you'll need the low latency bandwidth.

[daker13]

I'm a two channel guy, so I don't have much to add... but if I were building a new home, I'd have the electrician put a few dedicated lines for audio in my home. I have two dedicated lines now, and it's really pretty inexpensive and was a nice improvement.

[echelon_john]

Sonos for around the house, wiring for where you want your "good" speakers/system.

[Alan]

I have 4 Sonos speakers around the house (Play 1, Playbar, 5) and they work very well. If you have some good speakers already use them in the best listening area and buy the Sonos amp which looks decent. It is very easy to use Itunes to rip all of your CDs to your computer or NAS and play them back from the Sonos app. A hybrid system could work well. My speakers weren't that great so I skipped them.

I did look at competing systems as I normally don't like the industry leader but there isn't much else to choose from.

Enjoy

Alan

[Tandem Rider]

Originally Posted by shovelhd

I would also run Cat5 (or Cat6 if you know how to terminate it properly). You never know when you'll need the low latency bandwidth.

I put in a "bundle" (Cat5, coax, phone) to each room, and a bunch of speaker wires all over the main floor when I wired our house in 2003. I didn't use nearly all of it but it's there if I ever need it. It is very cheap now, It will cost a LOT more when the walls are rocked and you are living there. Take pictures of all the walls before the insulation and sheetrock are up. Put something of a known size (like a 4 foot level) in each picture leaning up against a stud for a size reference. This has saved my bacon more than once.

[jlwdm]

Just make sure you figure out everything you need. A whole house music system is great, but make sure to wire for potential surround sound in the house. With big flat screens it is nice to have.

My house has a whole house music system running off my game room which has in wall surround sound also. I also have rear ceiling speakers in my great room and wiring in the walls to easily add surround sound.

I appreciate good audio and video so I run freestanding speakers or on wall speakers for fronts, center and rears, but use ceiling Atmos speakers in my media room. Also in my office I use speakers on stands and a sub as this is my main music listening room.

Spend a little extra up front and you can save a lot later.

Jeff