Multichannel Amps - control volume with Roon?

Audio Gear Talk
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I’m starting to spec out some whole house audio with ceiling speakers in 6-8 zones. Something like NAD or Sonance mulit-channel amps.

If I use one source for all channels, can Roon control the volume of each zone?

I’ve been reading various threads but not left with a clear answer. Other threads talk about setting up a Roon source (e.g., RPi) for each zone, but i don’t want to do that.

Thanks for any pointers,
Rob.

2

Have you checked out this one?

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Thanks @seagull

Yes, it looks like they got it working, but the OP wasn’t sure how, so I wasn’t left with the best impression.

So NAD CI 580 is one option and presumably NAD CI 980 works also?

EDIT: I misunderstood and thought both were streamers, but now I see 580 is streamer and 980 is amp.

Any others that you know of? There was a post from Danny that others were working towards this but I could not locate any others.
Rob.

4

I’m not using a multi-channel amp myself, but I had followed this tread.

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I’d check out the NAD CI720s. The also have blueos integrated. Eliminates the need to add multi-zone amps to the CI580. I migrated my house from the CI580s to the 720s (except for one zone still powered by a crown amp). Love them.

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Thanks @Craig_Palmer, so you use one of these per zone and its an integrated streamer and amp? Do you use the rack mount accessory too (six of these in a 3u rack space)?

Thanks,
Rob.

7

Yes and yes. I have 10 of them in 2 of the rack mount accessories. The rack mounts can hold 6 as you note but come with a couple of blank panels you can use if you don’t fill them up. Very quiet also. They do have a fan but it is whisper quiet.

You should be aware that there can be a group sync issue (where grouped zones aren’t playing in sync) with these (and all blueos devices) and roon. I see this occasionally.

There is a thread about it here: Third speaker out of sync

Of course not an issue if you don’t intend to group zones. The workaround I use if needed is to group them in the blueos app that doesn’t have this issue and then play them in roon (roon only then sees this as one zone).

Bluesound has said they are working to fix but have given no date.

Other than that, they are sweet units.

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Great feedback… and why do you like them better than say 2 pairs of NAD CI 580 and CI 980 ? (which would be 8 zones so I guess you would need 3 of each).

Rob.

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For me, more compact: 10 zones in 2 3u rack units, Would take 3 580s (1u each and 3 980s (2u each) — so 6u vs 9u. And more power: 720s have 60w per channel vs 50w in the 980.

Advantage of the 580/980 combo is less network connections: 3 (one for each 580) vs 10 for my 10 720s. Also bet you can bridge the 980s if you want 100w per channel in a particular zone (but not sure of this). Can’t do this with the 720s.

So matter of preference. I felt the 720s were the best for me as I had limited rack space and liked the higher power.

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Should have noted that the 720s are more expensive than the 580s about $900 per zone vs $650 per zone for the 580/980 combo but that wasn’t a key factor for me.

If you go the 580/980 route I have an lightly used extra 580 I’d be happy to sell you…

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