A multi-room audio infrastructure built on Sonos processing and amplification has been installed throughout an expansive private estate in Oud-Turnhout, Belgium, replacing a legacy system that had reached end of life.
Specified and deployed by smart home integration specialist instereo, the installation delivers background and entertainment audio across approximately 15 independent and groupable zones. The 9,500sqm property incorporates living areas, bedrooms, guest suites, bathrooms, a pool house, outdoor swimming pool, sauna, six-car garage, home cinema, wine room and private nightclub.
Two Sonos Amp Multi units serve as the central backbone for the multi-zone architecture, installed alongside Sonos Amps, Sonos Port interfaces and Sonos Move portable loudspeakers. Housed in a dedicated basement server room, the two Amp Multi devices drive multiple zones of architectural loudspeakers distributed across the villa. Existing architectural speaker cabling and hardware were retained where suitable, allowing the integrator to modernise the distribution platform while minimising unnecessary infrastructure replacement.
Mounting the centralised amplification in the equipment room significantly reduced rack-space demands, network cabling complexity and thermal load compared with deploying multiple discrete units. The integrator noted that commissioning a single centralised multi-channel unit can cut installation time by up to 70 per cent compared with configuring separate chassis, primarily by consolidating network onboarding, firmware updates and output assignment.
Mike Van Gorp, owner and founder of instereo, said: “Amp Multi made perfect sense for a project like this. The flexibility is a major advantage. We can assign outputs exactly where we need them, whether it’s a small room requiring a single output or a larger area needing more coverage.”
The hardware platform also allowed manual zone-by-zone acoustic tuning to optimise frequency response across third-party architectural loudspeakers, providing the homeowner with unified app-based control across both indoor living spaces and external grounds.
You can subscribe to Installation magazine for free here and the daily newsletter here.
