Farnorth Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 Hello, I just purchased a used EA3 v1 and am very excited after many years of hoping to get C4. I am building a home and getting ready to run all of my cat6 and speaker cable myself. I am trying to have C4 “on a budget”. I am going to install in ceiling speakers and I am wondering what everyone would recommend for a multiple zone amp. I have considered a used C4 amp (AMP108) Sonos or Monoprice. Wondering if all of these/any of these would work with an EA3 and any advice or suggestions. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcovach Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 What audio streams are you expecting to use? Sonos has MANY. C4 has some so if it has all you need then I recommend getting an audio matrix /amp combo, not just an amp like you mentioned. Triad is spectacular but it's going to be 2 pieces. C4 has a matrix amp combo that sounds nice too but not as good as the triad. Sound quality will depend on your speakers too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 Get a Control4 matrix amp if you have 8 zones or less. They’re awesome and can be bought fairly cheap secondhand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayk32 Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 How many zones? Do you plan to have hard wired sources like CD players or will all content be streamed? Assuming you eventually will want to do video distribution, do you want to be able to play your video sources through your ceiling/in-wall speakers? All these things will play into whether you need an amp, matrix amp or audio switcher + amp. eBay has a lot of the used C4 audio amps and switchers for sale at very affordable prices. I was able to purchase my C4 16 channel audio switcher and 2 8-zone matrix amps for about $1200 total on eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farnorth Posted September 16, 2019 Author Share Posted September 16, 2019 Sorry for my delayed response. I great appreciate the responses. I think I can keep it to around 8 zones. In ceiling speakers will be just for back ground listening mainly and the main living room/theater is where we can “rock out”. I plan to mainly use Apple Music streaming, pandora, etc. I would also like to use music from my hard drives that my movies are also on. Planning to use Plex for movie/audio streaming. I won’t be using the audio in the in ceiling speakers for movies only audio. I don’t think I will plan to do video switching in the future but I am going to run enough cat6 for the future on the off chance I do with Sonos do I also need a separate matrix switcher? Again any help would be much appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Leeds UK Posted September 16, 2019 Share Posted September 16, 2019 You only need the Sonos Drivers within your Project. But you can only play Favourites and Playlist you can search your music or search Apple Music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.