My wife and I are building a new extension to our house and we decided we want a pair of high quality Bluetooth loudspeakers in the ceiling. My main system is a QNAP TS 251 sending to a Meridian 218 driving a pair of DSP7200.2s. My question is, what do I need to buy to get my Roon library onto these Bluetooth speakers that will be independent of the Meridian setup?
Why not run cat 6 instead of bluetooth? Or speaker wires from some location that you would run cat 6.
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But from where? Surely I’ll need a box of tricks to do the streaming in the same way that the 218 does for my main system?
For Roon alone, you need an endpoint with Bluetooth capability. It will need network access. If you’re doing in-ceiling, and high quality, maybe getting an endpoint with amp, and running wire to the speakers could be a better option. If you want integration to a home automation system, then you need a Nucleus core. If you want other stuff than Roon, then an endpoint/amp that does Roon and that is the way to go.
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I would avoid Bluetooth. If you really can’t run a cable to it, use WiFi. Then you have a regular network connection over which it will work with your Roon Core.
Thanks guys. That gives me food for thought but I will take your advice and avoid the Bluetooth path. Since the extension in going up from scratch I can run mains and CAT5/6 in from the word go.
Good choice, I think. Keeps your options open much more for possible endpoint/speakers, and better support for a range of (hi-res) formats if you use them.
Roon core -> Roon remote on an inexpensive tablet, like the Amazon Fire HD, on an iPad or iPhone or any smart phone -> Roon playback on tablet or phone -> Bluetooth streaming from tablet or phone to in ceiling Bluetooth speakers. The playback audio quality will be limited to Bluetooth but you will get ease of use and a nice “Now Playing” display.
Yes, you will. But I don’t think you’ll be happy with bluetooth. I would consider running both cat 6 and speaker wires. Then you have plenty of options.
One option that I use is I have speakers in wall or ceilings in various places around the house. The speaker wire terminates in a home run fashion at an equipment rack which could be in the basement or your main system or wherever is convenient. You can then use a BlueSound or NAD device (depending on how many zones you want) to be the Roon endpoint and also act as the amplifier for the speakers. I have 3 of these - one for the in-house speakers, one for outdoors speakers, and one that drives 3 pairs of speakers in the garage. These BlueSound endpoints all integrate seamlessly with my other Roon zones, the sound quality is good, and it’s super convenient. It also allows you to control volume and sources for different rooms from the Roon Remote. It’s a very easy solution to set up and configure and depending on your needs, can be done fairly inexpensively.
jazzfan! 
