Planning multiroom audio: zones before speakers
The most common audio mistake is a buying reflex: speakers first, questions later. Yet good sound is decided long before the first note – with zones, cables and the question of how you actually want to operate it all.
Zones first: where should music be – and where not?
Multiroom doesn't mean "speakers everywhere" but "music where it belongs". The kitchen and bathroom are almost always in, the terrace more often than expected, the bedroom less often than it gets sold. Whoever defines zones and their demands – background or serious listening? – automatically buys right afterwards.
Cables don't age – wireless standards do
In a new build or with an open ceiling, the rule is: speaker cable and network into every zone, including the one that "maybe comes later". Cables cost almost nothing in the building shell and outlive every streaming generation. Wireless multiroom is the retrofit solution – good, but the second choice when the first is still available.
Invisible or statement – both are right
For most zones, the best speaker is the one you don't see: ceiling-mounted, flush with the wall, built into furniture. But where music takes center stage, sound may take shape – a system like the pandoretta° by POET Audio is a piece of furniture and an instrument at once. The art lies in the mix: an invisible base, one visible highlight.
Control decides whether it gets used
Systems reachable only through an app fall silent after the first Wi-Fi outage – or on a weekend with guests. Audio belongs in the scenes of the house: the "Dinner" button dims the lights and starts the playlist, "Good night" ends both. App and voice control remain as comfort on top – not as the only door into the system.
The underrated factor: the room itself
Glass, concrete and open floor plans sound harsh – and even the best speaker changes little about that. Countermeasures can be planned in from the start: rug zones, curtains, acoustic ceilings, furnishing. Whoever thinks acoustics along gets twice the sound from half the system.
Conclusion: listening comes before buying
A zone plan, clean cabling, integrated control – and choosing a system turns from guesswork into a formality. And the difference between a spec sheet and reality is best heard for yourself: in our showroom, with the system playing.