Remote or wifi speaker switch

Remote or wifi speaker switch

Author
Discussion

mickmcpaddy

Original Poster:

1,445 posts

105 months

Sunday 18th June 2017
quotequote all
Has anyone made on of these yet? I want to do multi room audio on the cheap if I can, The sound doesn't have to be great, just background music. I have toyed with a couple of bluetooth amps etc but they are a bit hit and miss really.

My mate has a single Sonos connect amp which he drives 4 zones through a manual speaker switch. Similar to this.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ancable-Speaker-Selector-...

It works good enough but you obviously have to walk to the switch to turn the various rooms on or off. So is there anything like the above you can control from a phone? You would think there would be but I cant find anything. Maybe a few wifi relays would do the trick.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/RELAIS-Wireless-Wifi-Cont...

mickmcpaddy

Original Poster:

1,445 posts

105 months

Sunday 18th June 2017
quotequote all
I've ordered a chromecast audio to try with my cheapo amp, I understand you can use several at once. £25 for the chromecast and £23 for the amp has got to be better than £400 for a Sonos.

MrSparks

648 posts

120 months

Thursday 22nd June 2017
quotequote all
I'm in the right market for this as we sell speaker switches, selectors, volume controls etc etc etc..

We don't really get asked for remote controlled selectors but I can see exactly why you'd want it.

I think they would probably sell if they existed, but the thing is, I don't think enough people want it to warrant making anything.

Chromecast / multi room streamers / AirPlay are probably the way forward if you really don't want physical switches.

Some AV Receivers have 2-4 zones and can be controlled by an app via WiFi

mickmcpaddy

Original Poster:

1,445 posts

105 months

Thursday 22nd June 2017
quotequote all
Just to update this, Chromecast audio works perfectly, its so good I have just ordered a second one for the bathroom. I have hooked it up to a cheapo amp https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B014J0TUR0/ref... and the sound is great, not used the bluetooth just aux in.

I am quite fortunate that we are doing work that involves shop fitting/upgrading and we are taking out the ceiling speakers as part of the re-fit, everything goes in the skip so I have took the opportunity to grab enough to kit my house out, they are nothing special but sound fine for what I need. I also had the foresight to install a load of speaker cable when I did my refurbishment 6 years ago, just sat coiled above various ceilings waiting for the right tech to come along.

hussein

54 posts

222 months

Monday 1st February 2021
quotequote all
mickmcpaddy said:
Has anyone made on of these yet? I want to do multi room audio on the cheap if I can, The sound doesn't have to be great, just background music. I have toyed with a couple of bluetooth amps etc but they are a bit hit and miss really.

My mate has a single Sonos connect amp which he drives 4 zones through a manual speaker switch. Similar to this.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ancable-Speaker-Selector-...

It works good enough but you obviously have to walk to the switch to turn the various rooms on or off. So is there anything like the above you can control from a phone? You would think there would be but I cant find anything. Maybe a few wifi relays would do the trick.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/RELAIS-Wireless-Wifi-Cont...
Yes, I made one of these - the Audioflow Smart Speaker Switch