Question About Audio Zones

[bkays]

I'm currently building a house and will be installing Control4. I'm going to do whole house audio, however to start with I'm only doing the first floor (I am however wiring the entire house)

Two dealers in my area which I got quotes from gave me conflicted information for what I need for the audio.

I'd like to have these audio zones to start with:

Zone 1: Bedroom (Sonos Playbar and Sub)

Zone 2: Living Room (Sonos Playbar and Sub)

Zone 3: Master Bathroom (2 speakers)

Zone 4: Front Porch (2 speakers)

Zone 5 - Back porch (2 speackers)

Zone 6 - Kitching (2 speakers), Dining Room (2 speakers), Bathroom off Kitchen (1 stereo speaker), Laundry Room (1 stereo speaker), Entry (1 stereo speaker), Hall (1 stereo speaker)

One dealer said the two zones with sonos will be their own zones without connecting to a matrix/amp since they are wireless. That would leave me needed hardware for 4 zones which he quoted me for a C4-8AMP1-B 4 Zone Matrix Amplifier. However the problem described to me is that a zone is usually just two speakers so I'm going to need more hardware for Zone 6 to get that many speakers on 1 zone. I asked about getting a 8 zone amp instead of the 4 zone, but that won't solve the problem of putting a bunch of speakers in zone 6.

The dealer I am going to go with suggested getting another matrix switch and amp to connect all the zone 6 speakers and then have that go into the one zone on the original matrix amp.

I'm thoroughly confused on the regular amps and matrix amps and how they work and fit together. 

What's the best and/or cheapest solution to accomplish setting up my audio zones keeping in mind I will be expanding to more audio zones in the near future when I install speakers in the rest of the house? I'm also open to not installing a few of the stereo speakers in zone 6 if it would be helpful for a better current solution (such as the bathroom, entry, etc)

Also, do the amps (not matrix) have to be control4 or can I use 3rd party amps that might be cheaper?

 

Thanks a lot!

 

[SMHarman]

The sonos zones are what they are.

Your zone 6 need to split into multiple real zones that can be media scene into what you want

An 8 zone amp with each room on its own channel pair.

You need this for effective volume control. Else dining room is too loud to hear while kitchen is too quiet.

Also consider dropping entry and hall. Often considered to make a home sound like a doctor's office. Also hall impacts listening in other nearby rooms.

[bkays]

Thanks!

So the sonos stuff won't interact with the other zones? For instance, if I want to play music on the entire first floor the sonos speakers wouldn't play anything? If that's the case I might need to put speakers in those two rooms. 

Also, if I choose to add subs in any places those would also take 1 channel right? (Of course I'd need an amp)

[SMHarman]

Thanks!

So the sonos stuff won't interact with the other zones? For instance, if I want to play music on the entire first floor the sonos speakers wouldn't play anything? If that's the case I might need to put speakers in those two rooms. 

Also, if I choose to add subs in any places those would also take 1 channel right? (Of course I'd need an amp)

With the current drivers yes sonos will interact just as another zone.

I discarded them in my response as they don't need spots on the 8 zone amp

Subs in what songs or other zones. Depends if passive or active.

[lippavisual]

Do you want individual control for all those areas in zone 6?  Why are you considering all those areas as 1 zone?

Thats 6 zones total for what your calling zone 6.

For future planning, I would do at least the 16 x 16 audio matrix.  Then you could add any 3rd party amps for power.

The audio matrix will do all switching and volume control for the non-Sonos zones.

[bkays]

I have a very open floor plan and all those areas I have listed in zone 6 will most likely be all or nothing. It's so open that if you listen to music in one area you will hear it in the others anyway. That's why my dealer said I should do that. I have no problem making them all their own zones though. I'm planning to get the 16 x 16 matrix now. However, you mentioned using a 3rd party amp. My dealer said you can't do that, and I have to buy the Control4 amps? Can I use any amp I want to power the speakers or are there only certain ones that work with Control4?

For the subs, I thought about getting a few in wall subs only if the sonos doesn't interact with the Control4 whole house audio since the sonos rooms already have a sub. My dealer said you can control the sonos stuff from Control4 but that it treats it as it's own device and basically is just a remote for it and it is not included in audio zones. This is one reason why I'm so confused. I've went to three dealers to get quotes and all of them told me different information... 

Basically my goal is to be able to have Control4 play music in any zones I choose. My dealers have me all messed up regarding the Sonos stuff in my master bedroom and living room. 

I'd like to be able to play music in the living room and kitchen (different zones) and have the music come out the Sonos playbar and sub. If that's not possible I will need to buy more speakers for my living room and master bedroom.