Multi Room Home Audio for $50 per zone. 18 Zones! minus speakers of course

[ryan44]

In the process of building a new house and its winter in MN. Lets just say I have a lot of time on my hand while I wait for a hole that needs to get dug and old man winter keeps delaying. Well at least I can take that time to research how not to spend my life savings on 18 sonos amps. After a lot of research below is what I came up with for 18 zones that are all controlled by an APP and voice controlled with Alexa. From what I found Klipsch gates are the cheapest alexa integrated streamer available for playfi. I believe this is a very recent update playfi did.

Hardware:
18 Klipsch gates (on amazon for $25 each)
2 Used Niles SI1230 amps ($200 each on ebay)
Klipsch playfi app (Free)
Klipsch Utility app (Free)
RCA to 3.55 adapter cable (2 to 3 bucks each)

I've tested this all out in the Rental I am in and had zero issues. I think the Klipsch gates are so cheap because of a firmware issue on disconnecting from wifi. I did not have any issues but did upgrade firmware right when I got them.

Here is the features I wanted and what this solution delivered on.

1) 18 Independent zones controlled from my app with volume control
2) Alexa integration on all zones/gates. "Hey alexa play 80's in the deck"
3) Group zones together
4) High bit rate from Tidal to a zone. Can't do this with groups not sure why.
5) Stream multiple sources

I'm sure sonos does a lot more stuff but honestly I don't care. The above features is really all I will ever need and it will allow me to put a couple thousand back in to my HT setup.

What you will need to pull this off.

1) Luck with buying niles amps on ebay. 2 out of 3 that came to be didn't survive shipping. You might want to pay a bit more and get one from a better seller.
2) Really good home wifi. Don't do this unless you have solid routers on each floor of your house. I will have an AP in my AV Rack dedicated for this. So home wifi might not be an issue if you can dedicate a Wifi router just to this setup in a central location.
3) Patients with updating the klipsch gates. You have to use the App to update the software then the utility to update the firewall. Both with work but a bit buggy. You just have to keep doing it over and over until it updates
4) Some Alexa know how: Getting the gates setup in the alexa app wasn't too bad.

** I have Klipsch CDT-3650's for ceiling speakers and am very pleased with the audio and can bridge channels on the niles amps when I need more power.

Here is a pic of one gate connected to one channel. They come with a 3.55 jack cable hence why you need the RCA-3.55 adapter.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I've seen a number of setups that are being done this way and seem to work well. It was the Chromecast Audio device which was commonly recommended in other postings I've seen, but this type of device seems to do the trick. Inexpensive and offers volume control. The headache, if there is one, seems to be about syncing audio across multiple zones effectively and easily.

Sound quality will be acceptable as will general performance.

I'm thinking you need some mono-zones or that third amp to get up to 18 zones while maintaining stereo sound.

Never sure if there is a good way to add a outside source as well. That's something I'm glad my system offers.

 

[Matthew J Poes]

Looks great!

I really didn’t like the Chromecast, I didn’t find it to be as good of a platform for this kind of thing as compared with the admittedly more expensive Sonos and Bluesound systems. In my opinion, those systems are where it’s at.

The speaker quality for both of those is, in my experience, quite a bit better than similarly priced in-wall speakers. It’s on par with similarly priced standalone speakers that wouldn’t include all the hardware.

The Sonos 1 is really impressive sounding, for its size, nothing really compared for anywhere near its price. It’s interface is great. I’m a fan. The Bluesound products have a better app/interface in my opinion with similar sounding speakers. I like their big speakers better than Sonos, but the Sonos 1 is my go to suggestion for $150 multi-room speaker. There biggest problem is they can’t be hidden and they can’t interface with a TV easily. Plus the little interface module is pretty expensive for what it is.

 

[BMXTRIX]

That's great information. I haven't done much in the way of sound quality checks between the different audio platforms which are out there and I think it would be worth doing. I mean, Monoprice 8" speakers aren't bad for in-walls or in-ceilings. But, how they sound compared to 20 other brands out there, and how they compare against Sonos and others is certainly a test that would be fun to be a part of.

But, then the interface can be all over the place. I've used multiple Sonos units and navigating between players is still tricky to me and combining spaces... I didn't get a chance to mess with that. I have an AppleTV in my home as well as the Sonos, and the Sonos is a great deal better for phone-based control. But, I never tried a Chromecast Audio device or the Bluesound. I think I've looked at Bluesound a few times as an option as well.

I have massive household distribution (20+ zones) and need to have integration level control where I can trigger playback automatically from an open API or RS232 interface and stop playback when a room is shut off. Sonos offers that. Not sure about most others.

 

[Matthew J Poes]

That's great information. I haven't done much in the way of sound quality checks between the different audio platforms which are out there and I think it would be worth doing. I mean, Monoprice 8" speakers aren't bad for in-walls or in-ceilings. But, how they sound compared to 20 other brands out there, and how they compare against Sonos and others is certainly a test that would be fun to be a part of.

But, then the interface can be all over the place. I've used multiple Sonos units and navigating between players is still tricky to me and combining spaces... I didn't get a chance to mess with that. I have an AppleTV in my home as well as the Sonos, and the Sonos is a great deal better for phone-based control. But, I never tried a Chromecast Audio device or the Bluesound. I think I've looked at Bluesound a few times as an option as well.

I have massive household distribution (20+ zones) and need to have integration level control where I can trigger playback automatically from an open API or RS232 interface and stop playback when a room is shut off. Sonos offers that. Not sure about most others.

A lot of the in-wall speakers may play louder than something like a Sonos 1, though probably not true of the larger Sonos or Bluesound speakers.

The nice thing about these speakers is that they have DSP tuning that has been optimized by major industry veterans who are known for designing really good speakers. Dan Wiggins played a significant role with Sonos and Paul Barton handled Bluesound. Bluesound also redesigned their speakers recently and the new ones provide better sound than before.

My own opinion and experience has been that these speakers are quite a bit better than most of the in-wall speakers I've used. About a year ago I did some setup work for a local high-end audio shop that installed well regarded in-wall line array speakers. I measured a poor response, significant distortion when pushed, and overall I thought they sounded unpleasant. They also cost quite a bit, over a grand each. A sonos speaker would have been more of a presence in the room (though I think BlueSound and Sonos are making really nice looking products), but they would have had deeper bass and played louder with less distortion.

I have no idea if these systems can handle 20+ rooms and how it compares with the best of the more traditional approaches. DIY options that get you the best sound for the least money I think all center around products like Sonos and Bluesound.

One possible cheap option that might work for folks is this setup from Dayton Audio:https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-wba31-wireless-wi-fi-bluetooth-audio-receiver-with-ir-remote--300-597
and
https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-wf40a-multi-room-wi-fi-2x20w-amplifier-with-ir-remote--300-3820

I haven't had an opportunity to use the newest version of this system. The original one was a nice start but lacked necessary app support to be a real player. They have added apps and I think its legit now. I just don't know how flexible or robust the system is.