Sonos-Nuvo-Speakercraft-Aton choice?

[admin_exported]

Hi all,
the more I read, the harder it seems to me to decide on the system of choice for a multi-room solution for a new house we're building. It is going to be 6 or possibly 8 zones with the main living room with a high quality AV set-up (AV receiver, Monitor Audio RX6 5.1 speakers) with other zones mainly with in-ceiling speakers for ambient music (kitchen, bathroom, bedroom etc.).
As far as I've read from the threads on the forum so far, the possible systems for me would be something in the line of:
1) Sonos
2) Nuvo
3) Speakercraft
4) Aton??

What would you consider the main pro/contra for these?
I like the idea of wall control pads, but even more important to me is iPhone control. I would use mainly digital music (iTunes, internet radio, other flac files on my Mac mini server)... I would like to utilise my rather expensive AV receiver in the living room for high-end audio, so Concerto from Nuvo would be an overkill for me...
Overall I'd like to stay within 2k-3k budget...

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Cheers!

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, rather spookily, I have exactly the same dilemma although we've just finished the house and have the speakers installed in 11 rooms with wired cables back to a rack in a cupboard. The AV guy who advised on the wiring etc recommends nuvo but I'm wondering whether Sonos (wired not wireless) isn't a cheaper option. I'm a bit of a novice and I'm also looking at Naim, Olive and Cyrus but none of the reviews here make it clear exactly whether they can output different music to different rooms - so do they, to how many or do they need something else beside the main unit?

Grateful for any advice.

Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

Exacly my situation - the installers I talk to would all prefer to sell (and install) me either a) Nuvo or b) Speakercraft (depending which one they represent)... but personally I think Sonos might be most easy to use (I have to consider something that my wife will not have a problem operating). Also budget-wise I think if I want all the bells and whistles in a Nuvo setup, which Sonos already has integrated, I'd end up paying quite a bit more for the set-up...

I really like the idea of wall control pads - it's a shame one cannot have that also in a Sonos configuration. Plus a "big" minus of Sonos are the rather awkward and bulky boxes that you have to have somewhere in each zone, while systems such as Nuvo or Speakercraft, you only have your whole system in your main IT room, everything else is hidden in the walls...