re-tasking speakers

[AlNipper49]

So we just moved.  At my last place I had an awesome 7.2 setup with a few thousand invested.  Unfortunately our new house just isn't the kind of house where I can setup that kind of system.  Also, with the system my wife and kids were freaking always screwing things up with different inputs and stuff, so at this point I think that I just want to leave my TVs using internal speakers and then upgrading into soundbars if I really have (want) to.
 
I was also very unhappy with the Denon receiver that I purchased.  It did awful things to the HDMI signals that I was passing through and countless hours of troubleshooting isn't necessary how I have fun.  So I'd like to sell that receiver.
 
I still have my two fronts and my center channel speaker, which were where i invested a lot of my outley initially.  I would like to still use them, but just for music across the house.  Ideally I would like a SIMPLE system where we could play music from the unit or via iphones (We also have an old iPad that we could set in wall as a control unit).  We'd like that system to play through these speakers but also be expandable to multiple wireless speaker zones.  Ease of use will definitely trump quality.
 
Are there any basis SONOS-like systems out there that can do this?

 

[AlNipper49]

disclaimer: I know SONOS has a few connectivity options, but they were $1000 ish.  I'd rather not spend more than a few hundred bucks on this, but I guess if SONOS is the best I can deal with that.
 
http://www.sonos.com/shop/2-room-music-system-plus-connect

 

[Monbo Jumbo]

They've been discontinued - but I just added another Logitech Squeezebox Duet receiver.  I now have three.  They go for about $100 used on eBay (if you're patient) with a controller.
 
Con - the controller sucks - but you only need one contoller for setup, - there are 3rd party Android and Iphone apps that let you control them from anywhere. The apps are awesome. 
 
Con - You can't get plugins for anything developed after Logitech shut them down - so they DO have plugins for Pandora and Spotify, but they don't for Google Play music and Amazon music.
 
I have 3 of these recievers - one downstairs that feeds into my old stereo amp  and speakers - one in the master bed room that drives a nice set of Altec Lansing PC speakers with subwoofer - and one in the spare bedroom driving shitty PC speakers to entertain the parakeet. 

I have the Squeezebox Commander Android app on my phone and my tablet - I can play different music from different receivers, or sync them together. 
 
Fuck those SONOS prices. 
 
Squeezebox Duet on eBay. 

 

[SumnerH]

They've been discontinued - but I just added another Logitech Squeezebox Duet receiver...

Con - You can't get plugins for anything developed after Logitech shut them down - so they DO have plugins for Pandora and Spotify, but they don't for Google Play music and Amazon music.

The squeezebox, at least the original, uses a publicly documented protocol. I wrote my own server to drive them from my media setup in an afternoon, specifically to support services they don't.

So it's at least theoretically possible to do that (or contract it out to someone) if you must have support for some other service.

EDIT: If you want the code just as a sample implementation (It's Python), I'm pretty sure I still have it archived somewhere.

 

[Monbo Jumbo]

The squeezebox, at least the original, uses a publicly documented protocol. I wrote my own server to drive them from my media setup in an afternoon, specifically to support services they don't.

So it's at least theoretically possible to do that (or contract it out to someone) if you must have support for some other service.

EDIT: If you want the code just as a sample implementation (It's Python), I'm pretty sure I still have it archived somewhere.

 
 
Thanks  but - I wouldn't know what to do with it - and between my my music library and Pandora I don't need more options. Appreciate the offer, though. 

 

[AlNipper49]

I'd prefer something that I could connect to over Bluetooth so I don't need to give a crap what to have an app for.  My old receiver had a ton of apps on it too, but I ended up using AirPlay, since everyone in my house has an iDevice. 
 
Once we get into "well you do do this HERE and that THERE" discussions, then eyes glaze over.   One button

 

[SumnerH]

Yeah, DLNA was the service in question that I implemented for squeezebox--at the time it was the closest thing to "one protocol that everything supports" available. A Bluetooth bridge is a great idea, though.

 

[AlNipper49]

I'd prefer Bluetooth over Airplay but I was just thinking... Airport Expresses with a small wallet-sized AMP and some nice speakers per room is also another option.    My only issue there would then be to get every iDevice able to stream to an all or just one type scenario.

 

[Valek123]

I honestly debated like you are and picked up a simple bluetooth adapter and used the existing sound system even though the setup wasn't ideal then set the input to that one bluetooth device and used that connection for all devices and programs.  When people come over with a different music connection, they connect and play.  My receiver was too nice to just toss aside so I have two floor speakers and the center channel enabled and am running two additional speakers this weekend out onto the porch for outdoor speakers that will run off the "b" channel.  I've got too many things to do to the house to invest much more for now, until I figure out how I want things when I grow up.
 
It's not ideal, but it's buying me a few years until sonos knock-offs get more robust and allow for pure bluetooth connectivity for multiple devices.

 

[crystalline]

I bought some individual Bluetooth speakers for this type of setup and found Bluetooth to be unreliable.
As of about a year ago, iPhones worked well, and Android devices and my Macbook Pro were bad. Android has improved I think, but I switched to wired connections, and now the only time the Bluetooth connection gets used is when guests play music from their iPhones.

Airplay worked much better, but that required connecting the speakers with a wire anyway.


Yeah I thought Bluetooth would be the holy grail too, but in practice I found it required too much fooling around. Like you said: one button is the goal.

 

[MuzzyField]

I'd prefer Bluetooth over Airplay but I was just thinking... Airport Expresses with a small wallet-sized AMP and some nice speakers per room is also another option.    My only issue there would then be to get every iDevice able to stream to an all or just one type scenario.

I do this in my garage and kitchen with Airport Expresses. I have an old amp in the garage with my college era speakers and in the kitchen I plug a set of Bose powered computer speakers into the AE. I have AppleTV's in the mix as well. I also use the AE in the kitchen to extend the wireless signal into the garage. The next house I build will have Ethernet in the garage!

You can send the same music to any and all Expresses and tv's from PC's/Mac's, but on iOS devices you can only send to one source at a time from mobile devices, unless you use the remote app and let your mobile devices access your main library or libraries.

 

[dirtynine]

If you have an old PC sitting around you could throw Airfoil on it, which will stream to any number of receiving devices, and then control the whole system with an app on your phone/tablet.