Hello all. Long time lurker.
Some quick background:
Moving in to a new house soon, and am designing a whole house music distribution setup. Trying to minimize the amount of wiring we'd need to do, as the walls are all finished.
Planning to have decentralized components. I have a Peachtree Nova and two Peachtree Deccos. I also have Rotel amp, pre and speaker selector that I may or may not leverage. I also have a Keces DAC that I feed from my MacPro to some NHT powered speakers in my office. I would use the Peachtree integrateds in the primary listening areas of the house (family room, master bedroom, etc.)
Besides the primary listening areas, I also have a few areas that I'd like music - not for active listening - that would not have dedicated amps.
I have just purchased a DroboFS - mainly as a backup NAS for our various macs around the house, but also to hold my music collection.
Considering using a dedicated mac mini as a music server.
Our primary source for music will be the music server, plus Pandora and some internet radio stations.
There is Cat5 throughout the house.
So. I am planning to use a Sonos setup to distribute music to these primary listening areas. I would do this with ZP90's attached to the Peachtree's. For the non-primary listening areas, I am considering using the ZP120's with their integrated amps. I will consider using a modified ZP90 in the most critical listening area.
I like the idea of using the Sonos to control and coordinate the various zones in the house.
Here are the questions:
1. Does all the above make sense?
2. How do I best leverage the DroboFS with the Sonos setup?
3. (Newbie question) With the Sonos/Drobo setup, what role does the Mac mini play? Do I need a dedicated mac to act as a music server?
4. Can you share any "best practices" for using a Sonos system in a computer audiophile environment?
I realize there's alot here to digest - I'm just looking for some sanity checks. As I talk to audio/video installers in my new city (Dallas), I have yet to find someone who has a good grasp on all these issues.
Thanks in advance.
Dave
