If you want to listen to music in every room of your house, whole-house audio is the way to go. It’s incredibly popular, but many people don’t know how to set it up. In fact, a lot of people don’t even know what “whole-house audio” is.
Our guide to whole house audio will walk you through the process of setting up this type of audio system in your home and help you decide which options are best for you.
Whole House Audio Explained
What is whole-house audio? It is the best way to play music throughout your house without having to buy a sound system for every room. You can play music and other audio sources such as movies, sports games, or the morning news through your whole house with just one audio system.
If you’ve heard of whole house audio before, you may have heard it referred to as multi-room or multi-zone audio. All of these terms refer to the same thing, which is basically a system that plays music (or other audio) through multiple rooms, or zones in your house. A multi-zone system lets you play one audio source through numerous speakers in your home. But, if you want to play different music in each room, your system will also need to be multi-source.
With a whole house audio system, you can play different audio sources through your home all at the same time. For example, you might play your favorite music in the living room and dining room, while playing the ball game in the hallway and bedrooms.
A whole house audio system can be installed professionally, or by using DIY methods. We don’t recommend DIY, but you can set up your own multi-zone audio system by using multiple audio components and speakers to play music throughout your home.
We’re going to explain how to set up a whole house audio system in your home. We’ll start by looking at the DIY methods and then explain why a professional installation is generally the best option.
Planning Your Whole House Audio System
Before you start planning out your audio system, you first need to decide how many audio sources you want to connect to your system. Do you just want to be able to play music through your system, or would you like it to connect to your TV and streaming devices as well?
Once you’ve figured out how many audio sources you want to connect to your audio system, then you must decide how many zones you want to have. A zone can be a room or any area of your home that you want to be able to play music in. A multi-zone/multi-source system allows you to connect to several audio sources and then send these sources to speakers in different areas of your home.
DIY Whole House Audio Systems
If you want to do it yourself, there are a few ways to do it. Some options are more difficult than others, but most require a solid understanding of audio components and wiring. If you have a small budget and aren’t a pro, you may want to go the DIY route.
Smart speakers
The easiest and most affordable option is to purchase smart speakers. There are tons of smart speakers to choose from. This won’t give you the sound quality or features of a professional system, but you can simply purchase smart speakers and connect them to your wifi. Then, you should be able to play music through all the connected speakers in your home.
Wireless multi-room audio system
You can purchase a wireless multi-room audio system. There are many brands selling multi-room systems. Sonos is one of the more well-known and respected brands of wireless multi-room audio systems. These systems are easy to use and include everything you need in one complete system.
Keep in mind if you go with this option, you may not be able to upgrade your setup down the road. They usually come with a set of speakers that only work as part of their system. So, if you want to add speakers to it later, they may not work with it.
Multi-zone/multi-source receiver and speakers
If you already have a receiver, you can simply add more speakers to it. This won’t give you the functionality of a whole house audio system, but it will allow you to play music in several areas of your home.
Another option is to buy a multi-zone/multi-source receiver. This may be difficult to set up and not recommended for beginners. You will need to be sure the receiver is multi-zone and supports multiple sources. You will also need to buy compatible speakers. If you want your system to play in more than 2 or 3 areas of your home, however, this option won’t work.
To Have the Best Experience in Whole House Audio Work with the Pros at Intuitive AV
We are experts in home audio systems and we’re also fully licensed and insured. Wiring an audio system is complicated and can be dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.
A professionally installed system is really the best option for whole house audio. Although you can set up a basic audio system using some of the DIY methods above, if you want your system to play music through your entire home and not just one or two rooms, you will need a professional to help you.
We understand that the aesthetics of your home is as important as the sound quality of your system. We can install your whole house audio system, and incorporate hidden in-wall speakers or ceiling speakers to make sure your home looks and sounds amazing when we’re done. We can even integrate it with a home automation system if you’re ready to have the best experience in luxury, convenience, and immersive sound.
If you’re ready to experience whole house audio in your home, contact us today at (770) 317-7016 to get started.