Whole-Home Audio
Sonos, in-ceiling, and outdoor-rated speaker systems — multi-zone audio that covers the whole house or individual rooms, integrated with streaming services, voice control, and smart lighting scenes.
Music in the Rooms You Use Most
The best whole-home audio is the audio you actually use. We install Sonos (app-driven, easy retrofit), in-ceiling paintable speakers (invisible, pre-wire-required), and outdoor-rated systems for pool and patio areas. Integrated with your lighting scenes, party modes come on with one tap.
- Sonos whole-home and room-by-room systems
- In-ceiling and in-wall paintable speakers
- Outdoor-rated patio and pool speakers
- Multi-zone amp racks with source switching
- Streaming service integration (Spotify, Apple, Tidal)
- Voice control via Alexa, Google, or Siri
Serving Bergen County homeowners across Englewood, Tenafly, Fort Lee, Ridgewood, Paramus, Teaneck, Hackensack, Closter, Fair Lawn, and Bergenfield — plus every town in between.
Zones, Not Whole-House Volume
An audio zone is an area that can play separately from the rest of the home. A kitchen, patio, primary suite, basement lounge, gym, and office can each have independent volume and source control. We plan zones based on how the household uses the home, not just room count.
Best Installed During Renovation
Whole-home audio is easiest and cleanest when planned during a renovation, basement finish, kitchen remodel, addition, or ceiling work. If walls or ceilings are already open, we can prewire speakers, AV racks, outdoor zones, and network drops before finishes go back in — saving the cost and disruption of opening them later.
Smart Audio Guides
Decisions that determine whether the project lasts and feels right.
Wired vs Wireless Architecture
- Wired in-ceiling zones fed from a central amp rack deliver the reliability and fidelity ceiling — no dropouts, no batteries, no discontinued ecosystems.
- Wireless platforms like Sonos win on retrofit ease and app polish; the walls stay closed and zones grow one speaker at a time.
- Renovations with open walls almost always justify wire — the labor is already paid for, and wire never gets a firmware update it did not want.
- Hybrid systems are legitimate: wired zones in renovated rooms, wireless satellites in finished ones, one platform controlling both.
- Resale reads built-in audio as a feature; a box of portable speakers leaves with the seller.
Planning a project like this? Get an estimate.
Speaker Selection & Placement
- In-ceiling speakers disappear into the architecture; in-wall and on-wall placements aim better at seated listening height.
- Spacing follows room size and layout — even coverage at moderate volume beats two loud points and dead corners.
- Off-axis performance decides how music sounds when you are not standing in the sweet spot — which is most of life in a kitchen.
- Stereo-input single speakers cover halls and baths where a pair would be overkill.
- Moisture-rated models go in baths and covered porches — standard drivers corrode out of humid rooms in a few seasons.
Planning a project like this? Get an estimate.
Amplification & Distribution
- Multi-zone amplifiers give each room independent volume and source — dinner in the kitchen, game in the den, silence in the nursery.
- The rack needs a ventilated closet or basement bay with clean power and network drops — planned space, not leftover space.
- Network streamers bridge the amp rack to every service and to voice control; the rack stays current by swapping one component, not the system.
- Amp channels get planned with two spare zones — expansion is a config change instead of a rack rebuild.
- Volume keypads in each zone beat phone-only control for guests and kids — the wall still works when the phone is upstairs.
Planning a project like this? Get an estimate.
Sources & Streaming
- Streaming services, the TV, a turntable, and intercom all route through the same zones once sources are centralized.
- Universal control lives in one app or keypad per room — the system is only as good as the least technical person’s ability to play music.
- Vinyl and other analog sources join the whole-house system through the streamer’s line inputs — nostalgia, distributed.
- Multiple simultaneous streams matter in family homes — the platform should play different sources in different rooms without negotiation.
- Doorbell and announcement routing through house audio is the sleeper feature families end up using daily.
Planning a project like this? Get an estimate.
Outdoor Audio Zones
- Weather-rated speakers on the patio and deck run as their own zones with independent volume — outdoor volume needs differ from indoor by design.
- Buried wire runs travel in conduit; direct-buried cable is a future splice appointment waiting to happen.
- Landscape speaker systems spread sound across low units instead of blasting from two wall points — better coverage, calmer neighbors.
- Zone edges are aimed away from neighbors — outdoor audio etiquette is speaker placement, not volume discipline.
- Transformer-based 70V landscape systems run long distances without loss where big yards outgrow standard runs.
Planning a project like this? Get an estimate.
Cost & Timeline Guide
- Speaker count, outdoor zones, and whether wiring is new-construction or retrofit drive the quote.
- Concealed wiring in finished homes costs more than the speakers — fishing walls and attic runs are labor-heavy.
- Low-voltage is often permit-light; electrical for amps and outdoor circuits may not be. Plan around finish schedules.
- Prewire-now-populate-later splits the budget: conduit and cable during renovation, speakers and amps as budget allows.
- A single-zone start (kitchen or patio) proves the platform before the whole-house commitment.
Planning a project like this? Get an estimate.
Your Whole-Home Audio Installation Process
Consultation
We walk the house, identify which rooms need audio, review ceiling access, confirm outdoor areas, and discuss listening habits (background vs primary).
Scope & materials
We finalize speaker brand and type (Sonos vs in-ceiling vs hybrid), zone layout, amp rack location, cable routing, and streaming-service preferences.
Build
Crew runs speaker cable if new, cuts and installs in-ceiling speakers, mounts amp rack, configures zones, and links to streaming and voice.
Final walkthrough
Zone-by-zone listening walkthrough, tone and volume tuning, phone-app training, handoff documentation.
Frequently Asked Questions
For 2026 in Bergen County, Sonos whole-home (4–6 rooms) runs $3,500–$9,000. In-ceiling wired systems (4–8 zones with rack + amps) run $8,000–$25,000+. Premium reference systems run higher. Pricing and timelines are planning ranges.
Sonos is faster to install, app-friendly, and modular. In-ceiling wired is invisible, higher fidelity, and better for outdoor. We usually mix: in-ceiling for primary rooms, Sonos for bonus rooms.
Yes. Outdoor-rated speakers with proper IP ratings for pool/patio, plus landscape speakers for larger yards. Routed on their own zone so outdoor audio can run independently from bedrooms, nurseries, offices, and quiet areas inside the home.
Sonos retrofit: 1–2 days. In-ceiling 4-zone system: 3–5 days. 8-zone with rack and outdoor: 5–10 days depending on ceiling access.
Yes. Bergen Restoration is a registered New Jersey Home Improvement Contractor (NJHIC# 13VH08865500) with commercial general liability and workers' compensation coverage. Documentation is available on request, and homeowners should verify credentials before hiring any contractor.
Kitchen and main living areas first — where people actually spend hours — then patio and primary bath. Bedrooms rank lower than most people expect; start where the family lives.
Usually — first- and second-floor ceilings with attic or basement access retrofit cleanly; finished mid-floors take more surgical fishing. We scope the runs before promising anything.
Rated speakers under eaves or in landscape enclosures, wiring in conduit, and volume zones so the yard sounds full without broadcasting to the neighbors.
Both: app control for phones, and simple wall keypads at room entries so guests and kids aren't locked out of the music. Systems that only work from one person's phone fail the family test.
Yes — line-level sources like a turntable preamp or the TV's output feed the zones, so the same speakers carry Sunday records and movie night.
Wired architectures keep playing local sources; streaming pauses with the outage. It's one more argument for hardwired backbone over an all-Wi-Fi stack.
Part of our Smart Home Installation service family.
Get Your Estimate
Reach us by phone or email and tell us about your whole-home audio project. We’ll follow up with the next best step for your home.
Commercial general liability and workers’ compensation coverage. Documentation available on request.
Let's Talk About Your Project
Tell us what you have in mind — we'll follow up with a plan.