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?"

Comments

The obvious solution

[Anonymous Coward]

Just set numrooms = 1 (or even better, 0). Makes the problem much easier.

Re:The obvious solution

[jimicus]

Unfortunately, from man(1) wife:

NOTES:

While you can execute rm -f wife, it can take a very long time to complete and an inevitable side effect of this is that the wife process, prior to termination, will execute mv money wife and this cannot be avoided.

Re:The obvious solution

[sr180]

Im using ReiserFS. Do I have to remove a seat from my car for 'rm -f wife' to work?

Uhhh...

[Anonymous Coward]

You have a wife?

Memory

[sakdoctor]

I just replay the music in my head. This helps avoid copyright infringement suits.
Be sure not to get carried away, and hum or whistle because that's a performance not covered by Section 117.

Re:Memory

[Cidolfas]

From: RIAA Dear sir, Recently you have admitted that you replicate performances in your memory. This admission has saved us the trouble of proving this in court, and makes you in violation of performance law. An internal performance is still a performance, at least until you give more to Senators than we do. Our lawyers and collection vans have been sent to your location, nevermind how many laws we broke to get that information. We thank you for your cooperation.

Re:Memory

[Anonymous Coward]

Keep Lars Ulrich out of my head. At any cost.

Re:Memory

[abhikhurana]

Dear Sir GIven that we have precedent of Apple claiming that booting the OS creates an illegal copy of the OS in the RAM, we are sure that using the same logic, creating a copy of music in your head constitutes illegal copying. See you in court.

My preferred solution

[Junior J. Junior III]

I hired a band of six-piece midget mariachi band to follow me around. I had to buy a mini-bus, but it's by far the best solution.

Re:My preferred solution

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a midget on each shoulder, much easier and they live on the food in my beard.

Wait...Santa Claus is that you!?

Obligatory audiophile post

[sakdoctor]

If you want decent audio you need oxygen free speaker cables. Hand made valves for the amps are a given.
Oh sure, if your gear is CONSUMER GRADE then you could hook it up with a coat-hanger wire.
I personally avoid anything digital, because I inherited superior hearing, and those 70 kHz frequencies are conspicuously missing from digital compressed audio made for mere mortals.

Enjoy your 44.1 KHz on your CONSUMER GRADE gear you PEASANT.

You're Guilty!

[woolio]

I just replay the music in my head. This helps avoid copyright infringement suits.

Nay, you only think you are...

I say you are guilty of illegally creating a derivative work based upon copyrighted material.

The Bulldozer Approach

[flyneye]

I filled one of my houses with sound simply by using a 500 watt P.A. system with some 15", 12", horn, speakers purchased at a flea market for around $500.
Another house I put the same P.A. in the basement, eq'd it for low end and split the signal to my home stereo upstairs. Basement as a sub.
Neighbors will love ya. Bathe in sound.

Re:The Bulldozer Approach

[troll8901]

The neighbor merely causes the windows to shatter.

The movie causes the walls and floors to rumble as well. You can tell by looking up - the ceiling paint will start falling.

Re:Squeezebox

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, no kidding. Without amps and speakers in each room, you might as well just get a stereo bluetooth headset and pretend that is actually music as you wander around the house. Or use the FM transmitter approach and some tinny "transistor radio" units in each room. I am utterly amazed that someone would go through the trouble of getting "sound in every room" only to have it sound like a supermarket's PA system.

Decent music will require several hundred dollars (minimum) in speakers per room, and perhaps one decent A/V receiver per pair of rooms if you reconfigure some of its 5.1 or 7.1 outputs for multi-zone stereo instead.

On a related note, can someone tell me how I can have dining in all my rooms without those pesky chairs, tables, plates, and flatware?

Re:Sonos

[Anonymous Coward]

Then you've never experienced Sonos.

Re:Soundbridge is same thing for less

[mwvdlee]

And it definitely has that audiophile look to it.

It looks like it does absolutely nothing usefull but is made of overly expensive materials?