NuVo Prices Wireless Multiroom-Audio System

By Joseph Palenchar On Dec 3 2012 - 12:41pm

NuVo’s $599 2x60-watt P200 wireless zone player/amplifier is part of a wireless multiroom-audio system that can be controlled from apps for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.

Hebron, Ken. – NuVo has priced the components in its long-awaited wireless multiroom-audio system and has begun shipping the products, which will be displayed at CES.

Using Wi-Fi-equipped amplified zone players, the NuVo Wireless Audio System streams Internet radio sources, music stored on networked PCs and NAS drives, and USB hard drives and USB sticks plugged into a zone player.

The lineup consists of two zone player/amplifiers, a wireless gateway that connects to a home router to dedicate bandwidth to the system, and apps to control the system from iOS and Android tablets and smartphones. A dedicated $399 wireless hand-held control is also planned for shipment at an unspecified date.

The company, recently purchased by home automation supplier Legrand, also offers a companion rack-mountable three-zone wired-Ethernet amp/switcher to add networked sources and other sources to previously installed multiroom-audio systems.

The zone player/amps are the 2x20-watt $479 P100 and $599 2x60-watt P200, which adds Bluetooth with aptX. The Gateway costs $199, and the three-zone 6x20-watt wired-Ethernet P3100 amp/switcher is $1,499.

The P3100 amp/switcher distributes music from networked PCs and NAS drives, Internet music sources, connected USB hard drives and USB sticks, and three analog-input sources over speaker cable to already installed architectural speakers. It can be integrated with the wireless receivers to create a multiroom-audio system with a mix of wired and wireless zones.

The wireless zone players and the networked rack-mount amp/switcher stream the Pandora, Rhapsody, SiriusXM, and Tune In music-streaming apps. The devices also decode MP3, WMA, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, Flac and WAV audio.

Content streamed via Bluetooth directly to the P200 zone/amplifier can also be directed over WiFi to other zone players.

The system integrates with home automation systems.