Here is how I set up the system. I set up 6 zones downstairs that were pre-wired before the house was completed. I wired directly to the speakers, not using a volume control in each zone. I bought 12 Alexa Dots and 6 3.5mm to RCA converters. Then I attached 6 of the dots to the RCA inputs for each zone on the amp and put each of them on mute. I also placed a an Alexa dot in each zone. Then I named each dot carefully. The dot in the Kitchen is named 34;Kitchen Dot34; and the dot in the closet for that zone is named 34;Kitchen Speakers34; This allowed me to tell any dot, anywhere in the home, 34;Alexa, play music on the Kitchen Speakers34; and the dot in the closet streams the music to the speakers. You can also tell Alexa to 34;Lower the volume on Kitchen Speakers34;, so I avoided having to install or purchase volume controls in each zone. I am going to buy another unit for the upstairs zones now. Alexa also has Groups, you you can group multiple Zones together and say 34;Alexa, play music Downstairs34; and it streams to several zones. I also have a group I call 34;upstairs intercom34; so, I can stream 34;Reveille34; in the morning to get the kids to head downstairs for breakfast. Update: I added the second amp for the upstairs zones and everything is working as planned. I have 24 Alexa dots running the two amps and the kids love that they have control over every room in the house and what music is playing on the ceiling speakers. I made a few groups, Like 34;Master Bedroom34; group, that plays in Master bath, office and bedroom, in Alexa to allow multiple zones to play the same music as well. Also made a 34;Main34; group that plays on all the common area speakers. I only wish I could get Alexa to allow me to make a dot a member of more than one group. I am hoping for an upgrade at some point for that.
Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]