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Whole Home Streaming

I didn't seem to encounter a recent version of this when searching threads, but I apologize in advance if this has been discussed before.
I am out of town (currently in Boston area) for a funeral. My brother in law invited us to his new townhome. He doesn't have an audio system currently in place. The town home is on 3 levels. The previous owners had a Sonos system in the house but apparently it stopped working years ago for unknown reasons. The sellers left all their audio equipment behind in built ins. A receiver, VHS player, and cable box.
My b-i-l would like to do something better than Sonos so he isn't interested
in reviving the current equipment. He was quoted $30,000 from a local high end HT place. He is willing to go to 1/3-- 1/2 of that. He is quite tech savvy but not up to date on audiophilia
My question here concerns the whole home streaming end. i'm a Mac&Dac
guy in my own home and rely on Apple TV to stream from my main two channel system to my two HT systems, but I don't do serious listening in the two HT areas. He intends to do serious listening in the 3 areas. They are:
1) The family room/great room area, where the aforementioned built ins and residual equipment resides.
2) A living room downstairs and across the hall.
3) A Bedroom upstairs.
His Domestic Partner has veto power over any ugly looking stuff in areas one and 3. My b-i-l would like to control everything wirelessly from a tablet and have as much of a wireless connection as possible. He listens to Classical music and some pop, mainly CDs ripped to itunes.
The existing equipment will not be retained.
The main priorities are 1) Simultaneous streaming in the 3 main zones, 2) Sound quality, and 3) as few wires and ugly boxes as possible.

Suggestions?
And can anyone suggest a reasonable HT installation in the Boston area?
richardfinegold
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mapman
15,679 posts
 
I have been using SB TOuch out of the box with my own DACs of choice for years.

Recently I have started to use Plex media server as well. I'm looking at it as a very cost effective and open platform option to eventually replace Squeezebox. I have already done this on my second (A/V) system. Plus Plex is a full media server that can stream audio and video at high streaming rates for good sound quality. It also can be used for digital image/photo libraries. Plus it can stream at high rates over the internet via mobile apps or browser as well.

Lots of ways to use it. I have tried web app on computer with USB out to DAC, AMazon Fire TV box with TOSLINK to DAC, and analog headphone out from various mobile devices running PLEX app and remote browsers on various remote PCs. In all cases sound quality seems top notch. I do not have a good quality asynchronous USB DAC yet, so have not tried that, but the mhdt COnstantine DAC I have does do generic USB and results there are still OK if not top notch quite yet.
erikminer
433 posts
 
For a multi room, multi source music system that's dead nuts reliable and can be made to sound excellent and at a reasonable price Sonos really can't be beat.

The only limitation is that currently it can't do hi-res, but there is talk that Sonos is working on that.

With any system like this it's all about user interface, easy of use and stability.. Sonos truly does it better than anything else.. cost no object..

Fwiw I've had four Sonos zones running in my home now for almost 8 years with zero issues, except for when I recently upgraded my router to a POS Netgear, switching to a Linksys solved the problem .
richardfinegold OP
196 posts
 
Interesting endorsements for Sonos.
I installed AE in my house last weekend and was very disappointed with the results sonically. Took the units back for an exchange.
erikminer
433 posts
 
Keep in mind that Sonos is not a High End audio product.. but sonically they can be made to sound excellent.. and probably as good or better than your brother in law needs..

Also and I can't stress this enough for most non audiophile folks it's really all about the interface, stability and ease of use.. The other options out there like Control 4 are way more expensive and cumbersome to use.

Most normal folks will be thrilled with a Connect Amp driving a good set of bookshelf speakers, and a Connect going digital out into a decent AV receiver will sound as good as anything else going in digital. If one is going to run a Connect into a better (higher end) system then using a re-clocker from Empirical Audio or the like is almost mandatory.. but it all depends on the end user.
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