Multi room audio allows you to play music in several rooms of your home at the same time. This can be a great addition to your existing hi-fi system and offers you a much more immersive way of listening to your favourite songs or radio stations. It can also give you the option to stream high-resolution audio from streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music or Tidal. You can also use your own private music collection stored on a NAS drive, computer or CDs with the right setup.
There are many different systems available and the type you choose will depend on your preferences and how you want to use the system. It’s worth talking to a professional system designer to help you decide the best multi room audio solution for your home.
Smart multiroom speakers are the most popular choice for a lot of people, mainly because they’re easy to set up and control. They’re designed to be a plug and play solution, with an app that can assign multiple speakers to different rooms and control them with your smartphone. Smart multiroom speakers can be either wireless or wired, but they’re all controlled via a network which is separate from your home Wi-Fi.
There’s a range of different smart speaker brands, with Sonos and Bose offering the most common options. Their systems include large speakers, small upright speakers and soundbars that can replace your TV speakers. There’s even the option of connecting your smart speaker to your AV receiver to create a true surround sound system.
Most of these smart multiroom speakers connect to your home Wi-Fi and a few feature Bluetooth. This means you can pair them with your smartphone and play music or a podcast, or even answer your phone hands-free. Some offer the option to use a voice assistant to search for and stream music from your music library.
Another option is to buy a bridging box that works with your hi-fi to allow you to multiroom stream through it. These boxes are typically based around a proprietary music streaming platform and work with a range of manufacturers’ speakers. Sonos’ bridging box, called the Powernode, is a good example and uses a mesh network that doesn’t interfere with your home Wi-Fi.
Some of these bridging boxes are designed to be mounted on walls or ceilings and can be hidden behind light fixtures or even covered in sound-absorbing fabric. They can be controlled manually with a mobile app or using a touch screen, but they can also be integrated into your smart home automation system from Control4. Whether you’re relaxing on the couch, working out in the basement gym or cooking in the kitchen, you’ll be able to easily control your multiroom music from any device.