Chromecast audio's in ceiling

the_r_sole · 24 May 2016 at 11:15

I'm considering putting some ceiling speakers into a few rooms - bathroom/kitchen/utility and toilet (maybe master bedroom too)

I was considering using small bluetooth amps to drive them so i can just put tunes on when i'm in the bath or whatever, and can stream radio etc - however I am wondering the chromecast might be a good option as it now allows you to cast to multiple rooms.
One concern is volume control for each amp if they are inaccessible but presumably I can just set them to as loud as I would ever have it and then you can control the volume from the source?

anyone see any huge flaws in my plan?!

the_r_sole · 24 May 2016 at 23:00

That's exactly my plan - doing some "best offers" on eBay at the moment!!

the_r_sole · 25 May 2016 at 11:29

valve90210 said:
Jumping on the back of this thread, any recommendations of cheap simple small amps that would be suitable for such installations?

that's what I am looking at the moment - have ordered a smsl sa-36a pro on recommendation from a friend, will report back once it arrives

the_r_sole · 26 May 2016 at 15:01

cheers for that - annoyingly just bought three from currys at £15 a pop! still a bargain!

the_r_sole · 26 May 2016 at 17:37

cheesyboy said:
Looking at setting something like this up - is a Chomecast+amp 'better' than just a bluetooth amp?

I realise one is wifi, the other is bluetooth, but is there a practical advantage to one or the other?

My reasoning was really that having a wee amp + Chromecast means you always have the ability to replace the input to the amp, the amps are cheap and with a cheap Bluetooth one the quality is usually inconsistent - plus with the Chromecast audio you can have a very basic multiroom setup with them...

the_r_sole · 27 May 2016 at 09:53

K.C. Leblanc said:
It's not a cheap option, but this might be a solution.

https://www.cyberselect.co.uk/audio/nuvo-za215-wall-amplifier

I looked at in-wall amps for ages but the problem with all of them seems to be that the companies producing them don't seem to employ any designers for the bits you can see!
I like the idea of having it completely hidden and controlled by a handheld device tbh

the_r_sole · 4 Jul 2016 at 16:05

valve90210 said:
Did you get the amp, and if so, any thoughts on it??

yeah, got a couple of them - tbh they are better than I expected for the money, they are pretty powerful, half level is almost too loud!
But decent reproduction (for a chromecast streaming stuff anyway! not sure what it would be like with better components)