What is audio multiroom?

The point of building audio multi-room systems is to ensure that audio content is played in more than one room.

Theoretically, you can use video multiroom for audio, but it's not convenient to play music by TV. But it is possible to use a part from one system in another. If HiFi sound is not required, the front or rear speakers of a home theater can be completely dispensed with.

It can also be built on top of the free Plex. The software player does not care whether video or audio is played. But this solution is used only for audio very rarely. For one simple reason, there are much more reliable, and less expensive multi-room audio systems from reputable manufacturers.

The solution you'll get to "load" a home theater system with a receiver is the additional audio zones that most mid-range and high-end receivers support.

In addition to the main multi-channel home theater zone, many receivers support 1-2 more stereo audio zones. Moreover, these zones are independent of the main zone. That is, in the main zone you can watch a movie, and in additional zones you can listen to music from the media library or from the corresponding Internet services. Often, even an additional amplifier is not needed - it is enough to simply connect speakers to the outputs of these additional zones on the receiver. The management features of such a system are described above.

It is clear that this practically free solution (a kind of bonus from the manufacturer) has limitations. To begin with, there is only one media player that can play music from Internet services or from the local media library in the receiver. And if in the main zone we just decided to listen to Internet radio, in additional zones we will be forced to listen to the same music. Unless we connect additional media players to the receiver.

The next in terms of price and functionality will be ready-made multi-room systems. Either pre-assembled kits or assembled from individual components. Often already programmed systems. Stretch the wires, take the components out of the boxes, arrange them in the rooms - and here it is, the finished multiroom.

An example of such solutions can be multi-room on components from Atlona.

4x zone set of a switch, built-in mid-range speakers and wall panels for control costs $4000.

The next class is fully customizable systems with a large number of zones.

Audio multiroom scheme with up to 40 zones based on the Sonnex system.

In large, full-featured audio multirooms, there are almost no restrictions on configuration and operation logic. It uses multi-channel players with the number of audio streams equal to the number of independent audio zones. Yes, and installing such a system in a large house is often much easier - in addition to centralized audio switches - amplifiers, such systems often also have "digital extensions" - modules connected to the main chassis by twisted pair or fiber optics, with the help of which a single cable is used to remote audio zones you can submit multiple audio streams. Such solutions are very stable in operation, easy to program and connect to the control system. The disadvantage, as you might guess, is the price. And the need for the services of a professional team of installers. These systems are not DIY.

Another interesting alternative to multi-zone audio multi-rooms are wireless systems, the zones of which can be increased by the user as needed. Systems without a central module. The number one brand in this area is Sonos. This is not the only company producing such systems, but it is the most famous.

Conclusions

• An audio multi-room system can be either very simple (out of the box) or quite complex and extensive.

• Prices for such systems start from a few hundred dollars and can go up to several tens of thousands. Even a seemingly simple system based on Sonos players may require professional installation to get a reliable working solution.

• Whatever your budget, we can design and build the optimal audio multi-room system for you within the available budget..