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Multiroom Music and the Path of Structured Wiring (3/12/2007)

By Richard Stoerger, Audio Design Associates

Multiroom audio, or as we first coined it in the late 1970's, multiroom music, has been somewhat readily available to well-healed customers for thirty years, and interestingly, while so much has changed in our industry, in many cases things are still the same. So every now and then, when I need to take a fresh look at an old problem, I often remind myself of what my perceptions were of multiroom music when I first began working for Audio Design Associates (ADA) in the late 1980's.

By 1988, ADA was already a ten year-old custom installation/manufacturing firm and multiroom music systems were our core products. We offered two system types back then - one system permitted the selection of one source that would play in every room while each room featured individual room on/off and volume control. The other system permitted different people to select different sources in different rooms at the same time. At their core, either system made it possible to have music follow you throughout your entire home, wherever you chose to roam, inside and outdoors too.

An ADA 1980's first-generation system that is still operational today.

I then put on my 21st century cap, just like you, and find that for starters, multiroom audio is no longer the only important thing we do to enhance the electronic lifestyles of our customers. It is just one technology subset, much like the home theatre, flat-panel TV, lighting system, control system, etc. In many cases, we are so overwhelmed by features that we forget the essence of what we are selling, and in so doing, overlooking what is really important to our customer. How many times have you installed a multiroom audio system, one that can play different sources simultaneously in different rooms, to a person who lives alone? Unless they are schizophrenic, how often will they use the simul-source aspect of their system?

I mention this because multiroom audio is on the rise. Just as the American inventor, Thomas Edison, imagined multiroom electric lighting for the masses, our industry is beginning to look at multiroom audio in the same way. Because more companies are outsourcing their manufacturing, prices of multiroom electronics and speakers are dropping.

Structured wiring is key

Thanks in no small part to the iPod, the love of listening to music is popular again. And because of a phenomenon called 'structured wiring', homes are being constructed with a wiring backbone that makes adding this technology possible. That's not to say that a multiroom audio system isn't still considered a luxury item, but then again, so were electric in-home lights! Lesson here, perceptions change with time. The key to the widespread success of multiroom audio lies in the ability to market, educate, and sell structured wiring.

Modern home with electric lights in every room!

But before we anoint structured wiring as the only or best method to expand the multiroom audio market, let's first test the theory. After all, with the advances made in wireless data transfer, is wire the best way to move content, control signals and text feedback around the home? It most certainly isn't the only way any longer. Again, to solve this problem, I step away from the glass and look back at what once was.

Rewind again to the good old days where multiroom audio meant having a separate stereo system in each room, with little or no ability to listen to the same thing at the same time other than tuning in the same radio station in each room. Back then, the arguments for a multiroom system versus separates in each room were many. For starters, the multiroom system centralised all critical components in one location. Instead of having LPs, CDs or cassette tapes lying all over the house, they were collected in one central area. The removal of all critical audio components to the central mainframe also made it possible to include HiFi by simply embedding speakers in ceilings or walls while adding control in the form of light-switch type panels or wireless remote controls. At last, we could deliver a designer-friendly stereo system where bulky components no longer intruded on the design space. As a by-product, wires disappeared too, at least from the front of the rack and along the baseboards. Multiroom audio did more than just make it possible to listen to music everywhere you went; it impacted the acceptance factor of the electronic system.

Music control via wall-mounted panel.

So today, as one side of the table talks about structured wiring, the other side talks about Wi-Fi. The reason why I discount Wi-Fi - from a delivery format - is that it throws us back to the days where equipment is again cluttering up a room. Now, if you show me the Wi-Fi system where speakers and components are self-powered, as if operating on dilithium crystals, well then I might give Wi-Fi multiroom a chance. But since I don't live a Star Trek life, I relegate Wi-Fi to control, but suggest we all start speaking the same language - structured wiring.

The ADA Swan System, a multiroom audio system specifically designed for structured wiring cabinets.

Today structured wiring typically means a combination of Category 5 wire and 16 gauge/4 conductor wire. While the 16/4 speaker wire is run from mainframe to speakers sometimes via the control location, Cat5 is run just from the mainframe to the control location. And in many cases, Cat5 is also run for other devices such as iPod docks, video, etc. I for one, strongly suggest avoiding wiring schemes that will limit one's choices, such as Cat5 from mainframe to keypad and 16/4 from keypad to speakers. These wiring schemes will make it nearly impossible to upgrade sound and performance because Cat5 wire is great for data and speed but less than ideal for power (current) delivery.

ADA Swan system block wiring diagram for eight sources playing to four zones.

Conclusion

As industries go, the more we speak each in our own tongue, the less likely others will hear us. Builders and developers need to learn from us but sadly only a small percentage actually reach out and plan for structured wiring as applied to a multiroom audio world. Certainly they would never consider raising a residential home without cable-TV, phone and maybe Internet connectivity. Is multiroom audio a standard yet and if not, how far behind are we? Structured wiring, as both a standard and common talking point, permits us to reach out to the related trades making it possible to expand our market and industry.

Richard D. Stoerger is vice president and chief operating officer of Audio Design Associates Inc. To celebrate 30-years in business, ADA implemented ADA-30, a 30-year limited warranty on the company's entire product line of home theatre and distributed audio components that are sold from July 4th 2007 until July 4th 2008.

www.ada-usa.com