A Beginner's Guide to Multi-Room Audio
Multiroom audio is one of those ideas that sounds straightforward: play music in more than one room at the same time.
Done well, it feels effortless - music follows you around the house, rooms can be grouped or separated instantly, and everything just works. Done badly, it can feel fragmented, limited, or confusing, especially if the system wasn’t planned with compatibility in mind.
This guide explains what multiroom audio actually is, how it works in practice, and the things that are easy to miss when choosing a system.
What is multiroom audio?
At its simplest, multiroom audio allows you to play music in multiple rooms around your home, either all in sync or independently. You might want the same album playing throughout the house while entertaining, or different music in different spaces depending on how rooms are being used.
Modern multiroom systems rely on your home network rather than speaker cables running between rooms. Each speaker or system connects to the network, and grouping or control is handled through an app or software platform.
This is where the important distinction lies: multiroom isn’t just about the speakers themselves, it’s about the platform they’re built on.
How multiroom systems actually work
Every multiroom system lives inside an ecosystem. That ecosystem determines which products can talk to each other, how they’re controlled, and how flexible the system will be over time.
Some platforms are proprietary, designed to work only with one brand’s products. Others are more open, allowing compatible devices from different manufacturers to join the same system. Neither approach is inherently better — but they are not interchangeable.
This is the point many people only discover after they’ve already bought their first speaker.
A common misunderstanding: “multiroom compatible” doesn’t mean universal
Many audio products today advertise multiroom capability, but that doesn’t mean they can all be grouped together.
For example, Sonos products handle multiroom natively within Sonos’ own software. Everything is controlled through the Sonos app, and Sonos speakers integrate seamlessly with each other. However, they don’t combine with non-Sonos speakers from other ecosystems.
On the other hand, brands like Ruark support multiroom via Google Chromecast. This allows Ruark products to group with other Chromecast-enabled devices, but they do not integrate with Sonos systems.
Both approaches work well — but they operate in parallel worlds. You can’t mix and match between all of them.
The most important decision, therefore, isn’t which speaker to buy first, but which platform you’re committing to.
Multiroom doesn’t have to mean “speaker-only”
Another detail that’s often overlooked is that multiroom audio doesn’t replace traditional Hi-Fi systems — it can build around them.
Many modern Hi-Fi amplifiers and streamers include multiroom functionality. That means your main system can act as one room in a wider multiroom setup, rather than being isolated in a single space.
This becomes especially appealing for vinyl listeners.
If your turntable is connected to a network-enabled Hi-Fi system, whatever is playing on that system - including records - can be shared to other rooms on the same platform. You play a record as normal in your listening room, and the system simply distributes that sound to other compatible speakers elsewhere in the house.
Your main system remains unchanged, but the music isn’t confined to one room.
For many people, this is one of the nicest uses of multiroom audio: enjoying vinyl while cooking, entertaining, or moving around the house, without needing turntables everywhere or compromising the main listening setup.
Is multiroom always wireless?
Not entirely.
While you don’t need speaker cables running between rooms, multiroom systems still rely on power and a stable network. In some cases, especially where reliability matters, wired network connections are used alongside wireless ones.
It’s also very common for higher-quality systems to use a mix of wired Hi-Fi components and wireless speakers elsewhere in the home. This often delivers better performance and flexibility than trying to make everything completely cable-free.
Choosing the right approach
There isn’t a single “best” multiroom system — there’s only one that fits how you live.
Some people want simple background music everywhere. Others want proper listening quality in one or two rooms, with more casual sound elsewhere. Some are already invested in Apple or Google ecosystems, while others value having everything controlled from a single dedicated app.
The key is thinking ahead. Once you’ve chosen a platform, future expansion becomes easy. Choosing without a plan often leads to compromises later.
The simple takeaway
Multiroom audio works brilliantly when it’s treated as a system, not a collection of individual speakers.
Choose the platform first, then choose compatible products within it. Decide where sound quality really matters, and where convenience is the priority. This is an easy way to narrow down which sizes of multiroom speakers suit certain rooms in your home.
Planned properly, it’s one of the most enjoyable upgrades you can make for yourself and anyone you share your music with!