DIY Smart Home Project: Do-It-Yourselfer Designs and Installs His Own Whole-House Music System

There are many whole-house music systems on the market designed to be installed by do-it-yourselfers. What they have in common is a wireless topology. Music can be streamed to the speakers wirelessly. It makes for a fairly simple installation, but any professional A/V installer will tell you that nothing beats a speaker that’s physically wired to a controller/amplifier.

Recognizing that wiring usually yields better sounding music, Ron Schwartz decided to invest in a wired whole-house music system—but one that also would be easy for him to install himself. During his research he discovered a system that fit both needs—DIY friendly and wired—from CasaTunes.

Ron decided to go with the company’s musicBox 6 system, noting its DIY-centric design, app-based control, ability to be continually expanded, and Apple AirPlay support in each listening area as key selling points. He also liked the idea of being able to contact CasaTunes directly for design and installation guidance.

Speakers Galore

After consulting with the musicBox 6 team, Ron decided to install speakers in all four bedrooms, master bathroom, kitchen, living room, dining room, office, library, upstairs TV room, and various outdoor areas, including porches, as well as pre-wiring the pool area and  backyard for landscape speakers.  The home includes a total of 14 zones (or listening areas).

Ron selected the CasaTunes musicBox 18 room system (CT-MB18).  The musicBox components are installed in a wall mountable Tripp Lite 12U rack mount system.  This rack mount system was selected for its small size, ability to be mounted on the wall out of the way, and its easy accessibility for installation and maintenance.

Keeping it Cool

In addition to installing the musicBox 18 system components in the rack, Ron added a Tripp Lite rack mount power strip as well as an intelligent cooling fan system from AC Infinity. This system would ensure that the equipment inside the rack wouldn’t overheat, and would operate without making a lot of noise—important as the rack occupies Ron’s home office. The AC Infinity automatically adjusts the fan speed based on the internal temperature and the target temperature, ensuring the rack temperature remains within the ideal operating range.  To ensure for proper ventilation for the musicBox equipment installed in the closet, Ron also had his HVAC subcontractor install a vent in the closet.

Any make or model of speaker can be tied to a musicBox system, and Ron selected mid-price C626 ceiling-mounted speakers from Proficient Audio. Outdoors, he installed Proficient Audio’s outdoor AWS650 wall-mounted speakers.  Each outdoor speaker is powered by configuring the musicBox’s Bridged Mode option, essentially quadrupling the power per speaker.

Something for Everyone

He continued by configuring a music player for each family member: one for his wife Kelley, one for himself, and one for each of his two children. This makes it easy for each family member to listen to their own music without impacting anyone else.

When it came to playing music, both Ron and Kelley had their own existing iTunes music on their own computers, and this music was configured to be automatically copied and synchronized with their musicBox 6 music server.  Now, whenever they make changes to their iTunes library on their computers, these changes are automatically synchronized with the musicBox 6 music server.  In addition, since the music has been copied to the music server, they no longer need to keep their computers on to listen to their music.

Ron also purchased a Spotify Family subscription and configured a separate account for each family player, so that everyone can also listen to their own Spotify without affecting each other.

After living with the musicBox system for awhile, the verdict is in: “Life is better with music,” Ron says. The musicBox makes this a reality, allowing each of us to listen to our own tunes, and live in harmony (pun intended)”. As they’ve enjoyed music throughout the house, they’ve also discovered new features, like waking up and falling asleep to their favorite tunes.

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