I love doing the laundry and putting it away and having my music throughout the house. Also good for the kitchen, working out, or having chicken fights in the basement.
AV designer here. These days houses still get audio distribution, but mostly with small aperture speakers that match the small size and shape of the downlights in any particular room. Nobody likes giant 10” speakers pockmarking their ceiling in every room, but it’s a whole lot cheaper to just install newer style flangeless ceiling speakers than patching and painting the holes in your ceiling and deleting that built in feature. Go buy 5 Sonos amps and a couple Alexa dots or whatever and enjoy what happens when you say “Hey Alexa, play Skynyrd in the Master Bathroom” whenever you’re getting ready.
Sonos is still great imo. I have 4 amps and 3 Ones in my current setup and looking to expand those numbers at our next house. I know people complain about the new app but I've had 0 issues and actually enjoy the new app significantly more than the old one as a user
Honestly just fine. We have systems out in the field with 10-15 amps/ports and 4+ Arc’s and rarely get service calls regarding the Sonos. We take over a lot of older (2002-2012) homes with fully distributed audio and video systems when a new owner moves in. We always quote them an equivalent of the existing with Crestron. Most ditch the video distribution and either stream or put cable boxes behind the TV’s, then install Sonos for the audio side. Purely for the cost difference. A lot do at least upgrade their Crestron Processor and get new remotes to control other existing stuff like lighting, shades, AC, and some local video zones. One thing I’ve noticed is the new app update is fuckey at my personal home, but then again I have a mix of S1 & S2 products. Also the new update also isn’t compatible with Crestron touchpanels yet but, which I’ve gotten a couple calls about, but they’re pushing out a fix soon. We use Autonomics for streaming audio for our new construction projects that have both audio and video distribution with touchpanel/iPad control, so it’s mostly the hodgepodge AV systems that get the weird ghosts in their system. Long story short, if they don’t want to spend 75k+, they’re getting Sonos. They like it because it’s easy to use and it works. We like it because it’s easy to install and configure without 10’s of hours of programming.
Some quick napkin math. Including processor, programming, and remotes for every video zone: 6 video sources, 10 video displays, 12 audio sources (including the 6 video source audio outputs) and 24 audio zones. That would be his, her’s, and guest cable boxes, his and her’s Apple TV (for streaming) and NVR for viewing cameras. The extra 6 audio sources would be a 5 stream autonomics (same as 5 Sonos ports) and a Bluetooth input if guests wanted to play music off their phone. Does not include necessary wiring, installation labor, network, displays, speakers, or any other ancillary equipment besides A/V distribution equipment. Seems like a lot of squeeze for just a little juice, but in a $10M residence it’s a drop in the bucket.
Definitely blessed to live in Palm Beach County where shit is super hot and work on projects from Hutchinson island down to Manalapan or else I wouldn’t have this job lol. But I also sit in front of 4 monitors and just stare at ID and rcp drawings all day lol. Was in the field for 15 years and would go back to wiring racks and hanging TVs all day if I got the same salary haha. Grass is always greener.
I had this set up in my previous house with a bunch of echo dots. I really liked it, I could have music in just one room, but they can also sync all together and play the same music throughout the house (or any combination of them you want to set up). Being able to wander around the house doing housework or whatever and the music was just everywhere I went was really cool.
I rarely use headphones, ear buds do not fit well in my ears for some reason, and I wear glasses so real headphones press my ears against the glasses and make them hurt before long.
I still have a proper stereo setup for when I just want to sit and enjoy music with good fidelity, but when you're just using it as background music, the echo dots provide surprisingly decent sound.
Most full home audio systems will terminate in a single location where you can distribute out to "zones". So the kitchen, outdoor, and living room would each have independent controls for on/off at minimum. You can always upgrade the equipment and make it so each zone has even more flexibility (independent sources).
Tldr: You can do whatever you want for distributing sound to the speakers, but it's nice to have the wiring in place.
I have 8 zones in my house. Each Zone has volume and content controls. Each zone can play something different. They are all controlled with a phone or tablet app. It’s a wired system using B&W ceiling speakers, Nad and Martin Logan multi channel amps with Wiim source boxes connected via Ethernet cable.
The zones are
Master Bedroom, Master Bath, Guest Bedroom 1, Livingroom, Kitchen, TV/Family room and 3 outside zones on the deck and Hot Tub area. Zones can access content from streaming services, internet radio or local music stored on NAS boxes.
I absolutely love the system. I mostly play easy listening Ambient music throughout the whole house.
Imagine waking your kids to the gentle sounds of classical music, or birds chirping, or even blasting them out of bed with some metal or something.
The only other thing I can think of is putting on a podcast and being able to listen to it everywhere without earbuds. Could be good while cleaning the house.
And of course, partying.
I wouldn’t view it as a negative unless it was a hazard in some way.
Even if it’s all wired to one receiver you can pull it and zone it with Sonos/Sonance amps. Everything would be wireless and you can play different music to different areas or jam all of them when you want. Christmas and Halloween party’s it’s nice to have background music
I can't imagine living in a house without music at this point. Plenty of options but traditional wired systems (even with "wireless" streaming like Sonos as the app) will have the broadest range of speakers available which is important if you care at all about aesthetics or sound quality.
wired just looks better/is less cluttered when going with in ceiling or in wall speakers.
smart speakers require shelf space and 120v power. or, POE with a 12v converter which is just as much clutter.
I use whole-home audio all the time with my HomePods. It's super nice to be able to do all sorts of chores without the music ever going away, without needing to put on headphones. It would be even better if it tracked where I was and only played where I was at the time, but I guess that feature is for another day, when the technology to make it happen, eventually gets productized.
Also, parties - nothing helps set the mood throughout the entire place more than good ambient music.
I think you are referring to wired whole home audio? I prefer wireless and there are so many options now. We declined wired audio on our new build and used Sonos indoor and outside instead.
How does Sonos system work? I am contemplating doing a wired home system, at least for the kitchen/family room and back and front patio. Do you just get like their table top speakers that connect wireless and can just switch between them depending where you are?
Basically. You can use Ethernet or WiFi. They have outdoor speakers and tv sound bars also. I like streaming options and we all have different tastes in music, so it works us. We have them in the garage too.
Either they are standalone units that need to plug into an outlet (wireless networking, not wire-free devices) or they are speakers wired traditionally (great for architectural speakers like in-ceiling or permanent outdoor speakers) wired with speaker wire to an amplifier that again connects to the network wirelessly, but plugs into an outlet.
It doesn't 🤣 go read r/Sonos! I've had my system for 10 years and have fully gotten my money's worth, it's great, despite this latest software update gaff. They tried to change software several years ago to force people with old systems to upgrade, didn't work, so they have a hard time continuing to sell the system once you have it, no reason it won't last 10+ years.
It's also much more versatile. We took it from house to house each time we moved, configured it differently when we moved furniture and the TVs around, we've had Sonos in one form of another for over 10 years in every house. Definitely not been more expensive for us.
Well I wouldn’t compare a couple wireless speakers you put around the house to a wireless or wired built in system. Thought you meant you have the wireless built in Sonos.
Wired home audio is great and in ceiling/in wall speakers are far sleeker than scattering smart speakers about. Plus wired speakers offer nearly limitless control options depending on what you want. You can use Sonos amps to control them, receivers, Control 4 or other distributed audio systems. And you can upgrade to the latest technology simply by buying another amp/control and not an entire new speaker. Or upgrade your speakers without messing with the underlying system.
To some people like myself wired speakers are important. I have 4 zones in my house that can all play different music at once. I’m also able to run enough power through wired to use a 15” sub for parties. We listen to music on the system every single day. Inside, outside, garage gym work outs or watching my kids dance to their music is adorable. I did all the wiring myself. Put in 16 speakers and 1 sub. Everything is controlled by phone. Sound quality in wired is still better then wireless as well. Also way more options of brands and speaker size.
What avr did you use? Do you have surround sound for tv in one of the zones? I'm looking for multi zone. 1 zone living room with surround sound, zone 2, outdoors tv/music. Other 2 zones for expansion down the road
Our house has ceiling speakers in the living room, loft, basement, and back porch.
The audio is connected to Sonos and also chimes as doorbell via Home Assistant and our Unifi doorbell. Our regular door chime is there if we have to reconnect it to the traditional doorbell. Overall, having the audio has been used quite a bit. TVs are set up in home theater mode with the ceiling speakers as well.
I've also used it to send announcements home as well if it's urgent and my wife's phone isn't nearby (again, via Home Assistant).
It was worth the marginal cost to do it now vs not. I don't expect it to add value to the home sale in the future, but it was worth the little extra cash to wire it up during the build for us.
Actual reason that made it worthwhile: when we walked to the kitchen, it was also playing the audio for what we were watching on TV in the living room. Huge benefit because we didn't need to pause to go to the kitchen for a glass of water or whatever.
Check out the VSSL system. Native integration with iPhone, can play audio from whatever application. Each zone can be different. One box, really slick.
Still very relevant. I don’t understand people who build and don’t do it, considering how cheap it is. The more wireless devices you have the more hassle it is to maintain networks, security and future integration imo. Wired is dead simple, cheap, and typically sounds significantly better than wireless.
I love it - we built in 2020 and I put a system in during the build, 5k sq foot build, ever room has either 2 or 4 speakers and it's own controller on the wall by the lights. That rooms TV is wired into the speakers as an option, or there are 4 radio stations to pick from, or you can tune to an Alexa to use satellite radio, iheart, etc. The system also controls all the outdoor speakers on the patio and around the pool, no one has to listen to the same thing, each room has it's own controls
1. I have never had the entire house all playing at once, I agree with you, but prob had 50-75% on during a large gathering.
2. For parties, we have the entry way music on, the unused rooms (like master, office, etc) on at low volume, just in case someone is wondering or wants to step into those rooms to have a more private conversation, and we always have bathroom music on, after all, that keeps the ladies from turning on the faucets in fear someone might hear them pee'ing (even though we sound insulated all bathrooms).
3. We have music on in the house a lot during down times - like cleaning, cooking dinner, etc - keeps from having a tv on.
4. does have the intercom function, so if we need to yell for kids, we can, which, since we sound insulated all bedrooms also, it's helpful as kids never hear us yelling for them.
This is the system we put in: [https://www.htd.com/Whole-House-Audio/Lync](https://www.htd.com/Whole-House-Audio/Lync)
I put in HTD’s SDX-R65’s (round in ceiling) in the majority of the house, did there RDX series in kitchen, living room, and Loft, but honestly there SDX are so good I don’t really notice a huge difference.
HTD is awesome - you can give them your blueprints and they will do a layout for free based on what you want to accomplish.
We also put in ceiling Alexa’s in a few rooms which are great (kitchen - easily add stuff to our shopping list, master closet - ask about days weather etc while getting ready)
You can PM me, happy to answer what I can. We’ve had several friends also use HTD during a build since I did ours, everyone loves them and the end result
Linked Bluetooth speakers are a cheap alternative.
I had speakers in the ceilings and the acoustics was inferior too.
Between the above, I won't be looking to put money in whole home audio ever again.
Interesting almost every comment is about loving it. Personally, I don't. Like you said, people just have headphones. The only time it's moderately interesting is when entertaining, but we rarely ever do that. I wouldn't rip it out, but I would pay more that 1k extra for the feature.
I considered this when we rewired because I like cool technology, but that I remembered I hate music and would never use it. 😂 Did do pre-wiring in a couple spots but never installed anything.
I think a wired audio system is kind of outdated, it was a big deal 20 years ago and no one's going to pay a premium for it these days but no one's going to think the house is worse for having it either. We have whole house audio but it's wireless and controlled by room via an app. We use it frequently but the only time the whole house is playing the same music is when there's a party or at Christmas. I'll put on the same music in two or three rooms if I'm going on between them doing some project.
So it sounds like you still have a wired system but the amp you used allows you to play music over the wifi then? Wired systems are still far better than other options and with a good amp you can play all your music or podcatds over wifi or airplay
I put it in my last house - because I worked for a company in the industry and got most of it below cost.
100% would not do it again. 200% would not have a locked system that only a dealer can tweak.
Sonos is all you need - a theater is a waste of living space IMO. You can do 90% of lighting DYI. If you enjoy that stuff it's a fun hobby.
In my opinion, no it's not worth it anymore unless you just have extra money to spend. You can get a great result from a few smart speakers placed throughout the house.
I'm currently building and have done all the wiring a whole home audio system. I'm keeping it simple and having it hooked up to a receiver with 2 sources, one is the living room tv, and the 2nd to an amazon echo. I only have speakers to the "common" rooms, living, dining, kitchen, and powder room.
I only did it because it was very easy to do, less expensive, and it's a lot sleeker than having smart speakers dotted around the house. To me it's for background music and being able to hear the tv no matter where I'm at. As someone else has said, it's so nice to have for when you're cleaning around the house, it's not a must have, but definitely a nice to have for me.
Yes it’s party like it’s 2009 old. Nowadays less is better and sound quality has improved a lot, no need for wired bulky crap when you have Bluetooth technology. Probably the people who overpaid for this back in the day are bitter now and tell it’s good.
Wired is in fact better quality than wireless. You can have better speakers with wired and still have completely wireless control of everything with Sonos port.
We have speakers out back, in the kitchen and family room. All are wired to a simple speaker input with receiver.
Thankfully my neighbor hasn’t done this yet. They just turn the stereo inside to eleven. 😑
IMO, desirable. Many won’t care. Most will view it as a cool upgrade that they won’t pay much if any more for.
I love doing the laundry and putting it away and having my music throughout the house. Also good for the kitchen, working out, or having chicken fights in the basement.
AV designer here. These days houses still get audio distribution, but mostly with small aperture speakers that match the small size and shape of the downlights in any particular room. Nobody likes giant 10” speakers pockmarking their ceiling in every room, but it’s a whole lot cheaper to just install newer style flangeless ceiling speakers than patching and painting the holes in your ceiling and deleting that built in feature. Go buy 5 Sonos amps and a couple Alexa dots or whatever and enjoy what happens when you say “Hey Alexa, play Skynyrd in the Master Bathroom” whenever you’re getting ready.
Gotta ask outside the Sonos subreddit- how are your installs going recently? Seems like people are having a ton of problems over there.
Sonos is still great imo. I have 4 amps and 3 Ones in my current setup and looking to expand those numbers at our next house. I know people complain about the new app but I've had 0 issues and actually enjoy the new app significantly more than the old one as a user
Honestly just fine. We have systems out in the field with 10-15 amps/ports and 4+ Arc’s and rarely get service calls regarding the Sonos. We take over a lot of older (2002-2012) homes with fully distributed audio and video systems when a new owner moves in. We always quote them an equivalent of the existing with Crestron. Most ditch the video distribution and either stream or put cable boxes behind the TV’s, then install Sonos for the audio side. Purely for the cost difference. A lot do at least upgrade their Crestron Processor and get new remotes to control other existing stuff like lighting, shades, AC, and some local video zones. One thing I’ve noticed is the new app update is fuckey at my personal home, but then again I have a mix of S1 & S2 products. Also the new update also isn’t compatible with Crestron touchpanels yet but, which I’ve gotten a couple calls about, but they’re pushing out a fix soon. We use Autonomics for streaming audio for our new construction projects that have both audio and video distribution with touchpanel/iPad control, so it’s mostly the hodgepodge AV systems that get the weird ghosts in their system. Long story short, if they don’t want to spend 75k+, they’re getting Sonos. They like it because it’s easy to use and it works. We like it because it’s easy to install and configure without 10’s of hours of programming.
Thanks for the reply! I’m curious what a customer gets if they DO want to spend $75k?
Some quick napkin math. Including processor, programming, and remotes for every video zone: 6 video sources, 10 video displays, 12 audio sources (including the 6 video source audio outputs) and 24 audio zones. That would be his, her’s, and guest cable boxes, his and her’s Apple TV (for streaming) and NVR for viewing cameras. The extra 6 audio sources would be a 5 stream autonomics (same as 5 Sonos ports) and a Bluetooth input if guests wanted to play music off their phone. Does not include necessary wiring, installation labor, network, displays, speakers, or any other ancillary equipment besides A/V distribution equipment. Seems like a lot of squeeze for just a little juice, but in a $10M residence it’s a drop in the bucket.
It must be really fun to work on properties like that.
Definitely blessed to live in Palm Beach County where shit is super hot and work on projects from Hutchinson island down to Manalapan or else I wouldn’t have this job lol. But I also sit in front of 4 monitors and just stare at ID and rcp drawings all day lol. Was in the field for 15 years and would go back to wiring racks and hanging TVs all day if I got the same salary haha. Grass is always greener.
I had this set up in my previous house with a bunch of echo dots. I really liked it, I could have music in just one room, but they can also sync all together and play the same music throughout the house (or any combination of them you want to set up). Being able to wander around the house doing housework or whatever and the music was just everywhere I went was really cool. I rarely use headphones, ear buds do not fit well in my ears for some reason, and I wear glasses so real headphones press my ears against the glasses and make them hurt before long. I still have a proper stereo setup for when I just want to sit and enjoy music with good fidelity, but when you're just using it as background music, the echo dots provide surprisingly decent sound.
Are you sure it's not zoned? Wired audio was excellent then, very likely it's better than what a new system would look like.
What do you mean zoned?
Most full home audio systems will terminate in a single location where you can distribute out to "zones". So the kitchen, outdoor, and living room would each have independent controls for on/off at minimum. You can always upgrade the equipment and make it so each zone has even more flexibility (independent sources). Tldr: You can do whatever you want for distributing sound to the speakers, but it's nice to have the wiring in place.
I have 8 zones in my house. Each Zone has volume and content controls. Each zone can play something different. They are all controlled with a phone or tablet app. It’s a wired system using B&W ceiling speakers, Nad and Martin Logan multi channel amps with Wiim source boxes connected via Ethernet cable. The zones are Master Bedroom, Master Bath, Guest Bedroom 1, Livingroom, Kitchen, TV/Family room and 3 outside zones on the deck and Hot Tub area. Zones can access content from streaming services, internet radio or local music stored on NAS boxes. I absolutely love the system. I mostly play easy listening Ambient music throughout the whole house.
sonos is imploding. old wired system is nice
I still love Sonos. They've been great. Also love a whole house wired system
Imagine waking your kids to the gentle sounds of classical music, or birds chirping, or even blasting them out of bed with some metal or something. The only other thing I can think of is putting on a podcast and being able to listen to it everywhere without earbuds. Could be good while cleaning the house. And of course, partying. I wouldn’t view it as a negative unless it was a hazard in some way.
Roger that! Like some of your suggestions
We're in the process of building and #1 on my priority list was a whole house audio system
Why not Google minis or equivalents. Why hard wire? Just tell your phone where you want what music
Even if it’s all wired to one receiver you can pull it and zone it with Sonos/Sonance amps. Everything would be wireless and you can play different music to different areas or jam all of them when you want. Christmas and Halloween party’s it’s nice to have background music
I can't imagine living in a house without music at this point. Plenty of options but traditional wired systems (even with "wireless" streaming like Sonos as the app) will have the broadest range of speakers available which is important if you care at all about aesthetics or sound quality.
wired just looks better/is less cluttered when going with in ceiling or in wall speakers. smart speakers require shelf space and 120v power. or, POE with a 12v converter which is just as much clutter.
I use whole-home audio all the time with my HomePods. It's super nice to be able to do all sorts of chores without the music ever going away, without needing to put on headphones. It would be even better if it tracked where I was and only played where I was at the time, but I guess that feature is for another day, when the technology to make it happen, eventually gets productized. Also, parties - nothing helps set the mood throughout the entire place more than good ambient music.
I think you are referring to wired whole home audio? I prefer wireless and there are so many options now. We declined wired audio on our new build and used Sonos indoor and outside instead.
How does Sonos system work? I am contemplating doing a wired home system, at least for the kitchen/family room and back and front patio. Do you just get like their table top speakers that connect wireless and can just switch between them depending where you are?
Basically. You can use Ethernet or WiFi. They have outdoor speakers and tv sound bars also. I like streaming options and we all have different tastes in music, so it works us. We have them in the garage too.
How are they powered if wireless?
Either they are standalone units that need to plug into an outlet (wireless networking, not wire-free devices) or they are speakers wired traditionally (great for architectural speakers like in-ceiling or permanent outdoor speakers) wired with speaker wire to an amplifier that again connects to the network wirelessly, but plugs into an outlet.
IoT
That phrase doesn't mean what you think it means.
It doesn't 🤣 go read r/Sonos! I've had my system for 10 years and have fully gotten my money's worth, it's great, despite this latest software update gaff. They tried to change software several years ago to force people with old systems to upgrade, didn't work, so they have a hard time continuing to sell the system once you have it, no reason it won't last 10+ years.
Just do a wired system and then connect them to the Sonos Amp which will run your wired speakers over your wifi
Why do you like wireless? It’s more expensive and lesser quality then wired.
It's also much more versatile. We took it from house to house each time we moved, configured it differently when we moved furniture and the TVs around, we've had Sonos in one form of another for over 10 years in every house. Definitely not been more expensive for us.
Well I wouldn’t compare a couple wireless speakers you put around the house to a wireless or wired built in system. Thought you meant you have the wireless built in Sonos.
It's 22 speakers including sound bars and outdoor. No I wouldn't do built in, doesn't give us what we need.
You have 22 speakers littered around the house? Yeah that would drive me crazy. Everyone has their preferences though
IMO wired only makes sense if you own lossless music files and are setting up a server. Doing it to stream Spotify makes no sense.
Run cat 6 though!
Wired home audio is great and in ceiling/in wall speakers are far sleeker than scattering smart speakers about. Plus wired speakers offer nearly limitless control options depending on what you want. You can use Sonos amps to control them, receivers, Control 4 or other distributed audio systems. And you can upgrade to the latest technology simply by buying another amp/control and not an entire new speaker. Or upgrade your speakers without messing with the underlying system.
To some people like myself wired speakers are important. I have 4 zones in my house that can all play different music at once. I’m also able to run enough power through wired to use a 15” sub for parties. We listen to music on the system every single day. Inside, outside, garage gym work outs or watching my kids dance to their music is adorable. I did all the wiring myself. Put in 16 speakers and 1 sub. Everything is controlled by phone. Sound quality in wired is still better then wireless as well. Also way more options of brands and speaker size.
What avr did you use? Do you have surround sound for tv in one of the zones? I'm looking for multi zone. 1 zone living room with surround sound, zone 2, outdoors tv/music. Other 2 zones for expansion down the road
Our house has ceiling speakers in the living room, loft, basement, and back porch. The audio is connected to Sonos and also chimes as doorbell via Home Assistant and our Unifi doorbell. Our regular door chime is there if we have to reconnect it to the traditional doorbell. Overall, having the audio has been used quite a bit. TVs are set up in home theater mode with the ceiling speakers as well. I've also used it to send announcements home as well if it's urgent and my wife's phone isn't nearby (again, via Home Assistant). It was worth the marginal cost to do it now vs not. I don't expect it to add value to the home sale in the future, but it was worth the little extra cash to wire it up during the build for us.
Just buy the Apple speakers. They are awesome play in any room I want.
Actual reason that made it worthwhile: when we walked to the kitchen, it was also playing the audio for what we were watching on TV in the living room. Huge benefit because we didn't need to pause to go to the kitchen for a glass of water or whatever.
Check out the VSSL system. Native integration with iPhone, can play audio from whatever application. Each zone can be different. One box, really slick.
Still very relevant. I don’t understand people who build and don’t do it, considering how cheap it is. The more wireless devices you have the more hassle it is to maintain networks, security and future integration imo. Wired is dead simple, cheap, and typically sounds significantly better than wireless.
I love it - we built in 2020 and I put a system in during the build, 5k sq foot build, ever room has either 2 or 4 speakers and it's own controller on the wall by the lights. That rooms TV is wired into the speakers as an option, or there are 4 radio stations to pick from, or you can tune to an Alexa to use satellite radio, iheart, etc. The system also controls all the outdoor speakers on the patio and around the pool, no one has to listen to the same thing, each room has it's own controls 1. I have never had the entire house all playing at once, I agree with you, but prob had 50-75% on during a large gathering. 2. For parties, we have the entry way music on, the unused rooms (like master, office, etc) on at low volume, just in case someone is wondering or wants to step into those rooms to have a more private conversation, and we always have bathroom music on, after all, that keeps the ladies from turning on the faucets in fear someone might hear them pee'ing (even though we sound insulated all bathrooms). 3. We have music on in the house a lot during down times - like cleaning, cooking dinner, etc - keeps from having a tv on. 4. does have the intercom function, so if we need to yell for kids, we can, which, since we sound insulated all bedrooms also, it's helpful as kids never hear us yelling for them. This is the system we put in: [https://www.htd.com/Whole-House-Audio/Lync](https://www.htd.com/Whole-House-Audio/Lync)
I need more info. Pm? Currently building and wondering what speakers you used.
I put in HTD’s SDX-R65’s (round in ceiling) in the majority of the house, did there RDX series in kitchen, living room, and Loft, but honestly there SDX are so good I don’t really notice a huge difference. HTD is awesome - you can give them your blueprints and they will do a layout for free based on what you want to accomplish. We also put in ceiling Alexa’s in a few rooms which are great (kitchen - easily add stuff to our shopping list, master closet - ask about days weather etc while getting ready) You can PM me, happy to answer what I can. We’ve had several friends also use HTD during a build since I did ours, everyone loves them and the end result
Very solid. Thank you!
Linked Bluetooth speakers are a cheap alternative. I had speakers in the ceilings and the acoustics was inferior too. Between the above, I won't be looking to put money in whole home audio ever again.
Interesting almost every comment is about loving it. Personally, I don't. Like you said, people just have headphones. The only time it's moderately interesting is when entertaining, but we rarely ever do that. I wouldn't rip it out, but I would pay more that 1k extra for the feature.
I'm planning on getting a pile of Google minis and putting them wherever we want to listen to music. Instead of hardwire speakers.
I considered this when we rewired because I like cool technology, but that I remembered I hate music and would never use it. 😂 Did do pre-wiring in a couple spots but never installed anything.
I think a wired audio system is kind of outdated, it was a big deal 20 years ago and no one's going to pay a premium for it these days but no one's going to think the house is worse for having it either. We have whole house audio but it's wireless and controlled by room via an app. We use it frequently but the only time the whole house is playing the same music is when there's a party or at Christmas. I'll put on the same music in two or three rooms if I'm going on between them doing some project.
So it sounds like you still have a wired system but the amp you used allows you to play music over the wifi then? Wired systems are still far better than other options and with a good amp you can play all your music or podcatds over wifi or airplay
I put it in my last house - because I worked for a company in the industry and got most of it below cost. 100% would not do it again. 200% would not have a locked system that only a dealer can tweak. Sonos is all you need - a theater is a waste of living space IMO. You can do 90% of lighting DYI. If you enjoy that stuff it's a fun hobby.
We had it in our first house that was a couple years old. Never used it a single time.
In my opinion, no it's not worth it anymore unless you just have extra money to spend. You can get a great result from a few smart speakers placed throughout the house.
I'm currently building and have done all the wiring a whole home audio system. I'm keeping it simple and having it hooked up to a receiver with 2 sources, one is the living room tv, and the 2nd to an amazon echo. I only have speakers to the "common" rooms, living, dining, kitchen, and powder room. I only did it because it was very easy to do, less expensive, and it's a lot sleeker than having smart speakers dotted around the house. To me it's for background music and being able to hear the tv no matter where I'm at. As someone else has said, it's so nice to have for when you're cleaning around the house, it's not a must have, but definitely a nice to have for me.
Nope. No need for it anymore. And whatever new you install is also gonna be obsolete. Get a few nice bluetooth speakers and call it a day :-)
Yes it’s party like it’s 2009 old. Nowadays less is better and sound quality has improved a lot, no need for wired bulky crap when you have Bluetooth technology. Probably the people who overpaid for this back in the day are bitter now and tell it’s good.
Wired is in fact better quality than wireless. You can have better speakers with wired and still have completely wireless control of everything with Sonos port.
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