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Hi,

I am in the process of having a kitchen dining room extension built.  I have decided that at the end of the room I would like to have an LCD screen on the wall as its going to be a living room as well.  My idea is to have in ceiling speakers providing home surround sound and also be able to have the radio or music on.  In the kitchen area I also want to put speakers in and finally we are having a small loo, which I thought would be great to have a speaker in.

What I want to achieve is to have the ability to play through the speakers the tv sound but also be able to access my itunes perhaps through a Nas and also have it so that if friends come an ipod can be plugged in.

So my question is is Sonos the best way to achieve all this and finally, if I buy all this kit does anyone have any recommendations as to how I would get it fitted as I am trying to do it on a budget.  I have been into a shop and they charge a fortune to do it all.  It might be that this is the only way to do it or are there electricians out there who presented with all the kit could do it for me and if so where could i find one as I really don't think I could do it all myself?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Paul 

Paul Hawkins:

What I want to achieve is to have the ability to play through the speakers the tv sound but also be able to access my itunes perhaps through a Nas and also have it so that if friends come an ipod can be plugged in.

So my question is is Sonos the best way to achieve all this

I'm afraid this is the only bit I can answer. Yes Sonos will do this, you can plug a line in into a Sonos zone, and play it through other Zones, what it WON'T do is give you surround sound from the TV, you'd need a home cinema amp for that, so you need to be a little clearer about how you want the set up to work.

never been a big fan of "in-ceiling" speakers.  You'll get more choice and quality with standard speakers, and you can reduce your "fitting" budget, as you won't need to pay workmen to do it for you.   Consider some style speakers, if size is an issue.

Quite a few home cinema amps have a "zone 2" function, so you can have 5.1 home theatre in one room (or stereo music - I have an iPod dock attached to my home cinema amp), and then play what ever you're main zone is playing in a second zone.  This would give you living room and kitchen, but not loo...

Even with Sonos - you'd need  Sonos unit and speakers in the loo - which might be a bit of a squeeze!

Big Aura:

Even with Sonos - you'd need  Sonos unit and speakers in the loo - which might be a bit of a squeeze!

Speakers yes but if he had a ZP120 he could wire two pairs of speakers off of it. Lots of people do this.

I'd suggest it might be better to have a speaker outside the loo though, to hide any unpleasant noises!

the_lhc:

Big Aura:

Even with Sonos - you'd need  Sonos unit and speakers in the loo - which might be a bit of a squeeze!

Speakers yes but if he had a ZP120 he could wire two pairs of speakers off of it. Lots of people do this.

I'd suggest it might be better to have a speaker outside the loo though, to hide any unpleasant noises!

aye, but a ZonePlayer 120 is still a  sonos unit - he'd need a £399 bit of kit, and speakers and cable, all to listen to music for a very short space of time.  And there's unlikely to be an electrical outlet, so he'd need that outside it, and run cables in. Humming's cheaper! 

For flexible and cheap multiroom, I'd be inclined to get a home cinema, and a Klipsch RoomGroove (I think that's the iPod dock with wireless system) for the kitchen, and a spare that can be put in the bathroom, or moved to a bedroom etc.

Big Aura:

the_lhc:

Big Aura:

Even with Sonos - you'd need  Sonos unit and speakers in the loo - which might be a bit of a squeeze!

Speakers yes but if he had a ZP120 he could wire two pairs of speakers off of it. Lots of people do this.

I'd suggest it might be better to have a speaker outside the loo though, to hide any unpleasant noises!

aye, but a ZonePlayer 120 is still a  sonos unit

Err, yes and the OP specifically mentioned Sonos, asking if it would do the job, which it will, which is why I mentioned it...

- he'd need a £399 bit of kit, and speakers and cable, all to listen to music for a very short space of time.  And there's unlikely to be an electrical outlet, so he'd need that outside it, and run cables in. Humming's cheaper!

You can put the ZP anywhere and of course he'd have to run cables to the speakers but as he already suggested using in-ceiling speakers I'd guess he's worked that much out for himself.

For flexible and cheap multiroom, I'd be inclined to get a home cinema, and a Klipsch RoomGroove (I think that's the iPod dock with wireless system) for the kitchen, and a spare that can be put in the bathroom, or moved to a bedroom etc.

I don't think the OP mentioned a price, so why not tell him about what he's actually asked for?

Are you the bloke that runs the snooker and pool cue makers near me? I went in there a while ago, said I want a new cue, budget's up to about £120, he said, "this lot here are £30 to £40", err ok, what about the ones that are nearer the price I mentioned? Then I said I have you got a set of Aramith Tournament pool balls (they're £35, not exactly bank breaking)? He replied "yes but I've got cheaper sets than that", and then I said can I buy 12 pieces of chalk from you and he actually replied "No, I'll give you ten, it's cheaper", I nearly stuffed the lot down his throat! Ok fine if I come and ask for general advice give me the range of options, but if I'm standing there telling you what I want, just damn well give it to me!

I also want to him recover my pool table but I'm afraid he'll turn up and only do half the table "because it's cheaper"! Just bizarre...

he did ask if Sonos was the best way to achieve multiroom, and then went on to mention that he's on a budget.  Was just giving the chap a cheaper option.  I doubt he wants a pool table in his downstairs lav...

(and didn't know you could run two sets of speakers from a zp120).

Big Aura:

(and didn't know you could run two sets of speakers from a zp120).

Yes, as long as the combined impedance of the speakers isn't too low (two pairs of 8 ohm speakers is fine).

Hi All,Thanks so much for all the ideas.  Going to have a good read through and try and understand all the helpful tips.

Realistically, I am not averse to spending a few quid on it as my wife is getting the kitchen she wants and this is my only indulgence.   Its just that I was quoted by one guy 10k for some Loewe kit and thought it seemed a bit toppy.  I actually figured that the Sony 46" and the blu-ray player that are best buys on the reviews bit of the website would be fine and then figured using the Sonos to create three zones would be a good solution.   Realistically, I thought if I could get everything in and fitted for £5k I would be doing well.  Does that sound about right or am I am trying to do too much for too little money?

The reason for the ceiling speakers is both space and as the room is not yet built I figured putting wires in during the first fix would be fine and not that costly.   Also, as my wife is anti any form of speakers infecting her new kitchen/living room in ceiling seemed by far and away the best idea.

As for the loo, it was actually just an idea as thought it would be a great touch to have when friends came round to have the party music on in the lav.   If its not practical I can just bin the idea.

Having done some more research today, its seems there are two possibilities to the home cinema apart from the uber expensive Loewe option (I have not dared goto the B&O shop!) to use a Bose V20 home cinema kit but use in ceiling speakers or use Kef system with a separate amp.  Has anyone got any views on these two options.    It has also been suggested that I buy a Lacie 1tb Nas drive for my music collection.

The problem I realistically I have is that if I can figure out the solution that suits me, how would I get it all fitted as the shop I went in wanted £750 for all the layout drawings, one site visit and setup of it and then an extra £515 for cables and accessories.  On top of that I would then need to pay the electrician.  I am not at all averse to paying someone to do something I am unable to but this seems rather a lot and I wonder if a good electrician could easily do all this?

Again thanks for everyones advice.

Paul 

Hi Paul

Dicitalmusicuser will sell you sonos and install it free

Paul

ahh, if that's your budget, then a Sonos is probably the best option.  I'd get a Home Cinema Amplifer and a speaker package (notwithstanding her indoors isn't keen on speakers, if she's getting the dream kitchen, perhaps there's some leverage for style speakers (Bowers and Wilkins MT30 are quite nice looking and may be wall mountable), and then connect up the passive Sonos to the amp for one zone, and the active Zp120 in the kitchen, running the loo speakers either from the home cinema amp (most do a second zone option) or running (as mentioned above) a second set of speakers from the zp120 in the kitchen.

As for fitting, if you've got the time and are prepared to carefully read the manuals, there's nothing too difficult in setting up a home cinema amp and (i imagine) a Sonos - the tricky part is in cables through walls and ceiling speakers - although I presume your builder can quote you a sensible deal for that.

Big Aura:

As for fitting, if you've got the time and are prepared to carefully read the manuals, there's nothing too difficult in setting up a home cinema amp and (i imagine) a Sonos

Yeah, Sonos is easy, it took me longer to unpack everything than it did to get it setup.

Just to complicate matters I have been told a Hardman Karman? system would be better for me as the sonos wouldn't let me listen to the tv in the 3 different zones (kitchen, tv area & loo) at the same time.  I don't think that is right but if anyone has any info it would help greatly.

Just looking at the Hardman catalogue, it seems that it needs far more kit than the Sonos, when space is an issue that concerns me.

Again any help ideas is really gratefully received.

Paul 

Paul Hawkins:

Just to complicate matters I have been told a Hardman Karman? system would be better for me as the sonos wouldn't let me listen to the tv in the 3 different zones (kitchen, tv area & loo) at the same time.  I don't think that is right but if anyone has any info it would help greatly.

No, I don't think that's right either, all ZPs have a line-input and *I think* any line-in can be streamed to any other ZP (or all of them in party mode). I have to admit I've never tried this, I don't have any external sources I want to stream anywhere else, but I believe this is the case.

Just looking at the Hardman catalogue,

Ahem, "Harman Kardon"...

Not hijacking this thread but just wanted to know with the ZP120, is it just a case of hooking up 2 pairs of speakers directly to the ZP120....?? I wnat to have a pair in my bedroom and also in my en-suite off the bedroom...will music play thru both at same time always?

thanks