4 Questions to Ask Yourself before Installing a Wired Whole House Audio System

The days when people listened to music using 2.1 speakers or single speakers in their living room are almost over. These days, pretty much everyone seems to be upgrading his or her home audio system to something more fun and special – whole house system. Whole house audio systems have the ability provide audio in more than one room simultaneously. The installation process of such a system is not too hard; however, you must have definite answers to these 4 questions before beginning installation:

1. How many rooms does the system need to cover?

Essentially, this question is the most important one you need to tackle. Having the right answer to this question is absolutely crucial to take further steps. Do you want to listen to music only in your living room and your bedroom? Or, is it important for you to hum along with your favorite song in the kitchen, too? Do you like to listen to songs while bathing? If yes, then you may want to dedicate one speaker in your bathroom. Depending on your budget and needs, you can decide to cover only a few rooms with speakers or you can cover every corner of the house.

2. Which are the most important rooms of the lot?

Installing 2 huge speakers in the bathroom will be wasted, and installing just one tiny speaker inside the living room will be a disaster. You must carefully plan how many speakers you want in each room. The smaller the room, the lesser number of speakers it will need. Also, take into account how much time you will spend listening to music in each room.

3. So which room should be the center?

Before you begin installation, decide which room you want to be the central room. The central room will have all the main controls, and that is where you will have to go to make major changes. Therefore, decide accordingly.

4. Which spots will be the best for installing volume controls?

Inside every room where you install one or more speakers, you need to have separate control. While individual room controls will not override the settings of the central control, you can still do a lot, like changing tracks, adjusting volume levels etc. For each room, make sure that you install its volume control in a convenient and accessible location. You can skip this step if you want to control the speakers from the central location all the time, but that may not be the most convenient route to take.

The Wireless Route:

A wired audio system, maybe a little more robust than a wireless or a hybrid (wired and wireless) music system, and a lot of people still prefer a traditional set up with in-wall controls, but it’s not always the best way to go, a wireless system like SONOS not only requires minimal wiring and therefore less labor, it’s also has the most flexible controlling options which could be your smart phone, dedicated controller or your PC.

Here is how Justin Boreta of the Glitch Mob unwinds with his Sonos system after a long day in the studio.

If you have any questions or you need help designing and setting up your whole house audio system, please feel free to contact us for a free consultation. Give us a call at: (914) 315-4280