My house which I recently bought has speakers built into every room and everywhere outside. It is a house built for entertaining. Per the original owner, when he built the house it utilized "Nuvo" system. When I bought the house, it was on Sonos system. It has 4 zones on Sonos, and each zone controls probably 3-4 smaller areas, and some of those areas are still controlled by either volume knobs or by old Nuvo pads. I have worked with a local AV company to help me get the system to at least be somewhat functional, but it still leaves a lot to be desired. I know next to nothing about this stuff, so I present the following issues for your consideration:

• 1. The single biggest desire I have is that I can simply/efficiently use my phone (iPhone) for operating the entire system. (Currently not possible due to the intermingling of Sonos app, Nuvo pads, and knobs.) I am NOT stuck on the Sonos system/app if there are better options.
• 2. I want to be able to control each area individually on my phone. By control, i only mean playing music / volume in a given area. Not playing DIFFERENT music concurrently in more than one area. As i mentioned above, there are four zones w/3-4 areas each, so there are a total of around 12-16 areas. (I haven't counted them)
• 3. If possible, I would like to be able to "program" pre-set groupings in which certain areas are already set to be on with the touch of one button. For example, an option for "outdoor entertaining" might turn on areas 5, 6, 10, and 12.
• 4. I mostly use Apple Music, and it is my strong preference to use it for home audio. But the Sonos app does a terrible job with Apple Music. Constant error messages, freezing/skipping songs, extreme lags, and sometimes it won't play at all. It seems buying individual sonos boxes might address the issues 1-3 above, but i don't want to spend another $5,000 doing that only to have an app that won't function well enough to accomplish my goal and be tied in with sonos equipment.
• 5. To the extent possible, I want to future-proof any further investment i make, so that the system doesn't become obsolete like the Nuvo system did for the original owner.

Any advice is appreciated.

ttt

Anyone??????

First of all, you can forget about #5, a proprietary system is your only choice so there is no such thing as future proof.

If it were me and I were really serious about making it happen, I would either look at upgrading to a newer nuvo system or rip everything out and start over.

List everything in your system including model #'s of the equipment you have, and the old Nuvo if available. Even model #'s for the wall plates etc. Are there any in-wall amps? What speakers do you have? do you know the wattage, type, and impedance of each one?

The solution to your problem (right now w/o knowing all the details) seems expensive.

I have not messed with any Sonos systems.

I do not know how old the Nuvo system was. Nuvo makes new products that are really good and their apple app is great. I do not know if you could use the existing in wall controls with a new system? If everything was compatible, you could upgrade to a new system and move on.

Again, knowing your current setup and also how it is installed and configured will help us give you advice for future proofing. Is everything in a media closet? Are some amps installed in other locations?

The more we know the better we can help.

edit - I had my computer open and walked away before replying. I did not see the post by ntxVOL. I agree with ntxVOL. I would look for a new Nuvo system of start over. either way - expensive

My system is a Sonos-based system. I have in-ceiling speakers in every room and in the outdoor areas there are wall mounted speakers.. All of the speaker wires run back to a single closet. In this closet I have 2 distribution amplifiers - these are amplifiers that have inputs for 6 zones (12 speakers total) with the capability to accept an independent source for each zone. You can connect whatever you want for a source, I have Sonos Connects running to each source, but you could attach multiple Amazon Echos.

My sonos app used to suck with Apple Music, but works pretty well now. I can group any sets of my speakers into zones and start music within seconds. I have independent volume control of every room without a bunch of wall plates and volume knobs.

You could easily put together the same setup as mine if you want to utilize the speakers you already have, but the distribution amps and input devices can be costly depending on which way you go.

Your set up is exactly what I want. I am going to send this to the AV company. Thanks!

Just curious, any idea why/how your experience with Apple Music on the Sonos app has improved?

I'm in the Sonos Beta program so get their updates early - there was a recent update that included the browsing experience for using apple music, no idea if that made it into the proper release yet or not.

AV companies will usually try to push "their" brands due to the markup profit they make, so keep that in mind. I use Dayton MA1240A amps which can be had for around $500. The Sonos Connects are $349 new, but I just watched Craigslist and AVSForum for about 6 months and didn't pay over $200 for any of mine.

I hate to say this, but I would start over. I would stay away from Sonos.

Just to make sure I'm reading it right, you have a Sonos Connect for each zone you've setup on your amps?

How many Connects do you have total?

I recommend SONOS all the way--one per zone. This is my approach--really simple. Can join all the zones into a group party and individually control the volumes. Also can break into smaller groups depending on what you have going on.

The special case is the TV room. I have an AV receiver that is controlled by the Sony TV. I have a SONOS AMP as well, and a low cost switcher that gives priority to the SONOS if I want to listen to the A&M radio broadcast while watching the game. Sometimes I have to have a computer delay the radio, but that's a whole nother story.