Multi-room Audio / Home Automation

[timmeh]

We've just bought a new house and, being the nerd that I am, I'd like to get it set up to be somewhat automated and have speakers in the ceilings.

My plan is this:

I'd like speakers in the kitchen, 3 bathrooms and the backyard. Each of the rooms should be able to be controlled independently but also able to play together (if we have people over I'd like to be able to have something on both the backyard and kitchen, for example).

All of the lights throughout the house will be set up with Apple HomeKit compatible switches and the lamps will have Philips Hue bulbs in to control those.

There'll also be other things getting connected to it down the line too (garage door opener, door locks, etc).

I'd like it all to be managed from a central point (most likely a wall mounted iPad) as well as from individual iPhones, etc.

I've seen apps that can control all of the HomeKit enabled stuff, but nothing for the audio so I'm wondering what the best way to set that up is.

Is Sonos my best bet here? I saw they make amps so would I just have one of those in each room? Would I be able to manage each room from one device or would I need an iPad/iPhone for each room?

I'm still very much in the research phase so I'm not even sure what I want to do is possible. Has anyone done anything like this?

 

[the_r_sole]

What's your budget?

 

[PaDE]

I've gone the HomeSeer 3 route.

Using Z-Wave for lighting, water sensors, motion sensors, smoke/fire alarms etc

My SONOS setup is also controlled via HomeSeer 3 (or the SONOS app) with a mixture of S1s, S5s, ZP100s and ZP120s. Just picked some of these single stereo ceiling speakers (hallway, landing and bathrooms) - be careful with downstairs installs with sound bleeding to the above rooms (i.e. bedrooms)

Control is via HomeSeer events and scenes and or directly through touch devices (Android and Apple) using HomeSeer Touch ... (you can design it any way you like)

I've also connected an RFXCOM device which then opens up a lot more control such as powered blinds.

 

[timmeh]

What's your budget?

I'd like to keep it to about $2k-$3k.

I'm going to start with the master bathroom, kitchen and patio then add more rooms later.

I've gone the HomeSeer 3 route.

Using Z-Wave for lighting, water sensors, motion sensors, smoke/fire alarms etc

My SONOS setup is also controlled via HomeSeer 3 (or the SONOS app) with a mixture of S1s, S5s, ZP100s and ZP120s. Just picked some of these single stereo ceiling speakers (hallway, landing and bathrooms) - be careful with downstairs installs with sound bleeding to the above rooms (i.e. bedrooms)

Control is via HomeSeer events and scenes and or directly through touch devices (Android and Apple) using HomeSeer Touch ... (you can design it any way you like)

I've also connected an RFXCOM device which then opens up a lot more control such as powered blinds.

Interesting, I'll take a look at that. Thanks.

I've read about the audio bleed upstairs but you can insulate the speakers to avoid that.

 

[Amp34]

Yeah, Sonos is probably your best bet. We were planning on having a load of in ceiling speakers but after looking at the price of the Amps and speakers together we ended up deciding to go with the Sonos speaker systems instead. Play 1's are designed for bathroom use, so as long as you have a spare socket for them they may be a better (read significantly cheaper) bet than in ceiling speakers. When building the downstairs bathroom we actually added a socket/receptacle higher in the wall for the Sonos.

I also decided to go with SmartThings for my home automation (which will include lights, blinds, door locks, garage door openers and water monitors/valves). Apple HomeKit doesn't seem to have the same integration with enough stuff at the moment, whereas SmartThings is more open source. I currently just have lighting and the water sensors/cut offs on it at the moment. There are loads of things that work with Smartthings (except anything Lutron as they have their own system...).

 

[timmeh]

Yeah, Sonos is probably your best bet. We were planning on having a load of in ceiling speakers but after looking at the price of the Amps and speakers together we ended up deciding to go with the Sonos speaker systems instead. Play 1's are designed for bathroom use, so as long as you have a spare socket for them they may be a better (read significantly cheaper) bet than in ceiling speakers. When building the downstairs bathroom we actually added a socket/receptacle higher in the wall for the Sonos.

It's a pity that they don't do some integrated solution as I'd rather not have a speaker out on the counter top. It'd be $600/room to go the Sonos Amp route which is a bit on the expensive side. Is there anything similar that uses AirPlay?

EDIT: It looks like I can get an Airport Express for each room and use that to extend my network and AirPlay to it. If I can get all of the speaker cable to a central location I can get something like an AudioSource AMP 1200 and use that to control the audio distribution. If not I'll just have to get a small amp for each room to use with the Airport Express.

I also decided to go with SmartThings for my home automation (which will include lights, blinds, door locks, garage door openers and water monitors/valves). Apple HomeKit doesn't seem to have the same integration with enough stuff at the moment, whereas SmartThings is more open source. I currently just have lighting and the water sensors/cut offs on it at the moment. There are loads of things that work with Smartthings (except anything Lutron as they have their own system...).

I've actually been looking at the Lutron stuff (mainly the light switches). There's an app called SmartHome that can apparently control everything from one place. I might just have to take the plunge on a few things like the light switches and see what I can figure out.

 

[Amp34]

Isn't the express just a router? Not sure why you need one of those, although I'm also not sure what you're thinking of air playing to? If you mean the Sonos I believe you only need one, and that will integrate with the whole Sonos system. I was planning on getting one but have forgotten the specific reasons why now. What I'm doing is getting a wall mount for each one so they won't actually be on the counter, rather on the wall (admittedly sticking out). Perhaps the next thing Sonos should release is an in ceiling integrated speaker.

Isn't that Lutrons own hub? Which won't necessarily work with much else. It's a bit of a minefield on the smart home side and hubs, with some working with one device but not another etc.. What I ended up doing is working out what was actually available/I wanted and then seeing which hub worked the best for everything, then I worked out which hubs integrate with each other.

For example I ended up getting GE smart switches because they work with the Smart Things hub (which seems to be the best one for integration out at the moment), along with most of the other things I wanted (chamberlain garage door openers for example, although I think they work with most now). I'm also going to get the Logitech harmony and hub so I can integrate my home cinema into the system, as the Logitech hub connects neatly with the SmartThings hub (not necessarily with others). That way I can set it so turning the TV on with the Harmony will also dim the lights and lower the blinds, which are controlled by the SmartThings hub.

So basically I found it easiest to work out what I wanted, see what was available and then work out which hub was required. I gave up on the Lutron system as it was too propriety, even though it had the best looking switches. Either way the smart home/automation DIY ecosystem is a bit of a nightmare at the moment!

EDIT: I find SmartThings also seems to have the biggest selection of "things" that work with it https://www.smartthings.com/compatible-products . They also have a great forum were lots of people get other stuff working with it as well so that list above is only what "officially" works with it.

 

[timmeh]

Isn't the express just a router? Not sure why you need one of those, although I'm also not sure what you're thinking of air playing to? If you mean the Sonos I believe you only need one, and that will integrate with the whole Sonos system. I was planning on getting one but have forgotten the specific reasons why now. What I'm doing is getting a wall mount for each one so they won't actually be on the counter, rather on the wall (admittedly sticking out). Perhaps the next thing Sonos should release is an in ceiling integrated speaker.

It'll bridge with my Airport Extreme and work as an AirPlay receiver too so I can use one with a small amp and some ceiling speakers in each room, same as with the Sonos Amp but a lot cheaper.

I'll have to wait until I move in in a couple of weeks and see what my power options because, if I have to have a counter-top speaker, I'd much rather it be up on the wall like you say.

Isn't that Lutrons own hub? Which won't necessarily work with much else. It's a bit of a minefield on the smart home side and hubs, with some working with one device but not another etc.. What I ended up doing is working out what was actually available/I wanted and then seeing which hub worked the best for everything, then I worked out which hubs integrate with each other.

For example I ended up getting GE smart switches because they work with the Smart Things hub (which seems to be the best one for integration out at the moment), along with most of the other things I wanted (chamberlain garage door openers for example, although I think they work with most now). I'm also going to get the Logitech harmony and hub so I can integrate my home cinema into the system, as the Logitech hub connects neatly with the SmartThings hub (not necessarily with others). That way I can set it so turning the TV on with the Harmony will also dim the lights and lower the blinds, which are controlled by the SmartThings hub.

So basically I found it easiest to work out what I wanted, see what was available and then work out which hub was required. I gave up on the Lutron system as it was too propriety, even though it had the best looking switches. Either way the smart home/automation DIY ecosystem is a bit of a nightmare at the moment!

EDIT: I find SmartThings also seems to have the biggest selection of "things" that work with it https://www.smartthings.com/compatible-products . They also have a great forum were lots of people get other stuff working with it as well so that list above is only what "officially" works with it.

You just hook the Lutron hub into whatever Homekit app you want and it'll run alongside everything else that's HomeKit enabled (which isn't all that much right now). This is the app I mentioned before - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/home-smart-home-automation/id995994352?mt=8

The more I look at the Lutron stuff the more I'm thinking it's not going to work for me. Completely agree that the smarthome eco system is all over the place. Everyone's just doing their own thing! That SmartThings hub looks pretty good!

Do you have any of the Philips Hue bulbs? I'd much rather just buy a bunch of those instead of switching out all of the light switches. Although looking at it, the kitchen alone is going to cost about $500 if I go for the coloured bulbs :|

 

[CapitalOne]

I've done this DIY with Hue, Sonos and Samsung Smarthings. The Smarthings hub integrates everything but isn't homekit ready yet.

It's expensive but fun. If you are in the US I would definately look at Amazon Echo too, I have my fingers crossed it will become available here!

Hue and Sonos are expensive by nature, and to do both properly I would expect you need to budget for at least £3000.

Hope this helps

 

[Amp34]

It'll bridge with my Airport Extreme and work as an AirPlay receiver too so I can use one with a small amp and some ceiling speakers in each room, same as with the Sonos Amp but a lot cheaper.

I'll have to wait until I move in in a couple of weeks and see what my power options because, if I have to have a counter-top speaker, I'd much rather it be up on the wall like you say.


You just hook the Lutron hub into whatever Homekit app you want and it'll run alongside everything else that's HomeKit enabled (which isn't all that much right now). This is the app I mentioned before - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/home-smart-home-automation/id995994352?mt=8

The more I look at the Lutron stuff the more I'm thinking it's not going to work for me. Completely agree that the smarthome eco system is all over the place. Everyone's just doing their own thing! That SmartThings hub looks pretty good!

Do you have any of the Philips Hue bulbs? I'd much rather just buy a bunch of those instead of switching out all of the light switches. Although looking at it, the kitchen alone is going to cost about $500 if I go for the coloured bulbs :|

Ah yeah, I was mistaking the extreme for the express. So basically use the express and AirPlay instead of going sonos?

No, I don't have any smart bulbs. I did the smart lighting in my unfinished basement so bad a blank canvas. I ended up using integrated LED pot lights connected to three smart switches, using the app to b able to control which zones go on and off and how bright they are, the smart dimmer switches are $60cad each, whereas each hue bulb is about that much. Upstairs where I don't have the luxury of entirely new I'm just going to replace some of the switches with smart switches.

 

[Mark M]

I have a few Airplay enabled devices and also a few Airport Express's for anything non-airplay and to be honest it isnt the best set up when used together with a phone. It may be my wifi network which is ran off Draytek AP's but it will occasionally drop out and the real negative is that you can only play to one device at a time.