There once was a time when multi-room audio meant turning the volume up loud enough to hear it in another room. Happily, technology and time have swiftly democratised multi-room audio, meaning even music lovers with modest means can create a high-quality setup that’s as modular as it is easy to install and customise. Here’s everything you need to know to join the multi-room movement.
At its simplest, multi-room audio describes a network of devices – speakers, amps, soundbars, AV receivers – that enables you to play your music seamlessly around your home from a central device such as a smartphone or tablet. While this used to involve the hassle and cost of physically connecting every device in the network with cables, these days wireless connection through a home Wi-Fi hub is the norm, even for high-end setups.