Best HiFi option for wired house

barryleonard79

I recently moved into a new house and the Kitchen and 2 x sittings rooms are wired for sound. I am looking to install a multi room system where I can stream music from my phone/tablet. Ideally I would also like connections to the TV's in both rooms too. Not really sure what my options are and would appreciate any help!

Richersounds.ie: John

barryleonard79 wrote: »

I recently moved into a new house and the Kitchen and 2 x sittings rooms are wired for sound. I am looking to install a multi room system where I can stream music from my phone/tablet. Ideally I would also like connections to the TV's in both rooms too. Not really sure what my options are and would appreciate any help!

Barry congrats on the new home and thanks for the opportunity to quote..

There are now so many multi-room options available but the foremost two are the Sonos and Denon Heos systems - to be honest you cant go wrong with either of these..

Given that you would like to be able to connect 2 TV's ( and I'm sure other kit) to your streaming & multi-room experience we would recommend the Heos system from Denon its about the same price as the Sonos system but it does sound better and has better connectivity - in layout its similar to the sonos, there are a series of 3 'stand alone' speakers the Heos 1, 5, 7 and then there is a preamp/link and a pretty serious amplifier - finally there is now also a great sound-bar with active subwoofer which is just great!

The advantage of the Heos system is that all the different components have inputs ( at a minimum USB & Line input) which the Heos system digitises and then allows you to stream across the rest of the Heos system to any other Heos speaker. YOu can for instance connect your TV to the Heos Home Cinema and then listen to your TV sound anywhere else in the system or of course  use the Heos sound-bar / Sub as a music speaker, streaming music from the heos system or of course you phone / Pad.

I use the Heos at home myself and its gradually replacing the existing Opus multi room system across my home - I have a Heos 1 speakers, several Heos amps and a Heos Link - it sounds great and is really easy to use - if you wanted to send me salse@richersounds.ie  an idea of what sources you wanted and how many rooms / speakers / zones you needed we will happily configure a system for you and do a Boardie price  

Have a look here:
http://www.denon.co.uk/uk/heos

Thanks again and keep us posted,

ATVB,

John Mc & Crew

barryleonard79

John,
Appreciate your prompt reply and info. I have had a look at both systems and have a few queries. As most of the files I have are 320KBS MP3 either of the systems mentioned above should be fine for sound quality. I like the flexibilty and that I can add a few more bits as I go.

I use google play a lot I know Sonos have this capability does the Heos system?

You say the connectivity is better with the Heos, my wi-fi is decent we just got efibre, but would the Sonos "Mesh" system not be more reliable?

What speakers would you recommend with the Heos amp? I was looking at the Wharfdale 220's??

Would another option be to get a streamer such as the Pioneer N-50 or Cambridge CXN?

I am planning on just setting up one sitting room for now and am leaning towards the Heos amp and wharfdale 220's or similar.

Thanks again for all your help.
 

Richersounds.ie: John

barryleonard79 wrote: »

John,
Appreciate your prompt reply and info. I have had a look at both systems and have a few queries. As most of the files I have are 320KBS MP3 either of the systems mentioned above should be fine for sound quality. I like the flexibilty and that I can add a few more bits as I go.

I use google play a lot I know Sonos have this capability does the Heos system?

You say the connectivity is better with the Heos, my wi-fi is decent we just got efibre, but would the Sonos "Mesh" system not be more reliable?

What speakers would you recommend with the Heos amp? I was looking at the Wharfdale 220's??

Would another option be to get a streamer such as the Pioneer N-50 or Cambridge CXN?

I am planning on just setting up one sitting room for now and am leaning towards the Heos amp and wharfdale 220's or similar.

Thanks again for all your help.
 

Barry,

 

Apologies for the delay getting back to you.. we are a bit snowed under but starting to catch up now at last!

 

I use the HEOS amp at home myself so I can say from experience that its really superb, and it especially sounds great – the Heos app does not specifically support Google Play The HEOS app lets you choose from popular subscription streaming services including Spotify, Deezer, TIDAL, Napster, TuneIn, SoundCloud and Rdio and from other services that offer DRM-free tracks. More services will be added soon – They are always adding services – to be honest TIDAL sounds BY FAR the best by a country mile!

 

If you have a €1000 budget (per your email) just for the Heos amp and a quality pair of Speakers I would propose a bundle of the HEOS AMP and the Monitor Audio Silver One Black which I would do reduced from £900 to just €999 euro – that’s a decent exchange rate

http://www.monitoraudio.co.uk/products/silver/silver-1

 

If you were looking at the Cambridge Audio CXN – to be honest whilst the Heos amp is excellent, to be honest a CXN / CXA Combo is just in a different class – the CX series is completely exceptional but to be fair its also in a different price range..

 

Thanks again for the mail / post and drop me a line if you would like to go ahead or of course if you have any queries at all,

 

ATVB,

 

 

John McDonald