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How to Connect a Voice Assistant into a Whole-House Audio System
Any Voice Assistant Device (VAD) must be located where its built-in microphones can detect your voice. In most cases, the ideal position is near the center of the room and, wherever possible, in the ceiling so that other people and objects do not obstruct the most direct path from mouth to device. But there are alternatives . . .
Help me choose between a basic, mid-level (MC), and advanced (Lync) whole-house audio system.
In many cases, how your cables are, or can be, run will determine your whole-house audio options.
Sonos says to throw the baby out with the bathwater
Well, actually they recommend recycling the baby. Sonos has recently been in the news with the revelation that many of their older models of smart speakers will soon stop receiving software updates. While a follow-up to the announcement by the CEO clarified that those devices will continue to work as they do now and will be supported with bug fixes and security patches “for as long as possible”, there is still the concern that they will not work well with newer models (unless you dummy down the newer models) and that older models may need to be segregated, essentially resulting in two disparate systems in the same home. Even then, there is concern that future updates to music streaming services will not be supported in the older models.