Need dumbed-down HiFi advice please!

[hybridauth_Facebook_612190217]

So I am not very tech-savvy, so would appreciate some advice here. Just moved into a new place which has built-in speakers in a few rooms that (according to the builder) are 'pre-wired for Sonos'. I am confused as to what that means and what that really entails. Ultimately, we have various audio input jacks (all separate) for speakers in our basement (4 pairs of red/white inputs), dining room (2 pairs), kitchen (2 pairs) and family room (2 pairs). I get that with Sonos, you can put your own speakers wherever you want throughout the home, and control them wirelessly. But how does this work with ceiling speakers that connect through jacks? And if it doesn't, what is the best way to create a music system using these jacks such that I can control them in one spot (Sonos or otherwise)?

Thanks in advance!

 

[The_Lhc]

With that kind of in-ceiling setup the only Sonos product you could use to power those speakers are Sonos Connect:Amps, they would need to sit in the basement where the jacks are with one connected to each pair of speakers usually, although if the speakers are 8 Ohm impedance (we'd need to know what they are in order to determine that) you could plug two pairs of speakers into each Connect:Amp, ie both pairs of Dining Room speakers to one Connect:Amp would be fine as you wouldn't need to worry about different volume controls for each pair in that room (unless those are already wired in of course).

You'd still be able to use other Sonos devices around the house in addition to these ones obviously.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_612190217]

Thanks! Do you know of any other products (other than Sonos) that are better suited for this (without buying a connecting device per speaker)?

 

[The_Lhc]

Thanks! Do you know of any other products (other than Sonos) that are better suited for this

Better suited in what way? The Connect:Amp is designed for "normal" speakers (in-ceiling or otherwise), Sonos is designed for multi-room listening controlled from a handheld device. Without knowing why you think it wouldn't be suitable it's difficult to suggest anything else.

(without buying a connecting device per speaker)?

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that?

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_612190217]

My issue is that I currently have 10 built-in ceiling speakers, each with their own RCA input jacks. It seems that with Sonos, I would need to buy 10 separate ConnectAMPs in order to set up the full system. Is that a fair assessment, or is there something else I could do that's cheaper?

 

[The_Lhc]

Well, as I said if the speakers are 8-ohm impedance then you can have two *pairs* of speakers (ie 4 individual speakers) running off each Connect:Amp, so that would bring it down to 5 C:As. I'm assuming these speakers are single channels (ie left OR right) and not combined stereo speakers in a single housing (they count as a pair of speakers). You really need to know exactly what the builder has fitted before you can make any proper decisions. How many *speakers* (not plugs) are in each room?

*IF* your builder has fitted impedance matching volume controls then you could probably wire more than two pairs to each C:A but I've got no way of knowing if he has or not, you'd need to ask him (do you have any volume controls in the walls for a start?).

Other than that you'd be looking at specialist multi-channel amps to drive the speakers, but only if the speakers are all wired back to a central location, otherwise that's going to be difficult to achieve. You'd still need some kind of source to play through the amp and speakers such as Sonos Connect. You could get away with only one of those but then you'd be stuck with playing the same thing in every room. The point of Sonos is to allow you play different things in each room, grouping them together as and when you want to play the same thing in certain rooms but you do need a separate player for each room you want to do that in.