Simple, Cost-Effective, Multiroom Audio?

jimicus writes "I'd like a multiroom audio system but I'm thoroughly confused by the options available — and the difference in prices is huge. For instance, Philips have a wireless system which starts at around £280 — and Russound have a product which comes in around £1,000. I've already got all my music as MP3s and it lives on a NAS box — I don't really want to repeat that process. I also have a perfectly capable amp and speakers in my living room, so I don't really need anything else there. Whatever I go for has to pass the wife test — so something which requires a separate amp, speakers and PC in each room and requires a keyboard to control is right out. I don't mind spending a little money but I don't really want to find that every little extra thing adds up to £thousands. Has anyone else dealt with a similar problem? How did you solve it?"

Re:Use your phone lines

[Dare nMc]

He is not going to get down to 1 ohm with telephone wire, 24 gauge (typical phone) wire has a resistance of .03 ohm/foot so as long as these rooms are at least 50 feet of wiring away, it would be 1.5 ohms to the first speaker + 1.5 ohms back. so even if all 6 of his proposed max were at this distance (4 wires, 2 for each loop) it would still be 8/3+3 thus roughly 5.5 ohms to the amplifier. Amplifier efficiency will suck, but I doubt you could come up with a very damaging configuration using phone wire and 6 speakers or less (unless it was hooked up in parallel with existing speakers that used decent speaker wire.)
Using the suggestion of amplified speakers seams like a reasonable solution.

requirements?

[bcrowell]

Maybe you could clarify your requirements. You say "something which requires a separate amp, speakers and PC in each room and requires a keyboard to control is right out." Which of those things do you have to avoid? You certainly can't avoid speakers. When you say you don't want an amp, do you mean you don't want any amp at all, or you just don't want one the size of a traditional stereo amp? If you don't want any amp at all, then you're going to have to run speaker cables around the house, and that's that. When you say you don't want a separate amp, speakers, and PC in each room, do you really mean you just don't want a PC in each room? What kind of audio quality do you need? If all you want is the ability to play some tunes while you're cleaning the bathroom, then a portable music player would probably do the job.

Re:Sonos

[nahdude812]

Wow, this is pretty pricy. You could put an AppleTV in every room for much less money; they don't need a TV attached to them, you can control it from iTunes or an iPhone with the Remote application. Or you can use an Apple AirPort for each room, and control it in a similar fashion.

Re:Obligatory audiophile post

[QuoteMstr]

I think you misunderstood my post, which I might have phrased differently. I said:

As far as I know, a double-blind study has never shown that anyone can hear the difference between 256kbit MP3s and the uncompressed original.

The positive claim here is that there is an audible difference. The lack of evidence for this claim, coupled with numerous studies, would be evidence of absence.

Re:Obligatory audiophile post

[QuoteMstr]

Frankly, I believe all you're hearing is your own confirmation bias. Wine tasters have the same problem [sciencedirect.com]. Your experiments were not controlled and couldn't tell you anything other than that you liked to think your expensive equipment was somehow worth it.