It doesn’t get any better than this: comparison of the top-class high-end KNX multiroom audio servers for controlling entire (penthouse) apartments through to large villas including outdoor areas with garden, pool, sauna and home cinema. This immediately raises the question: Who will win the race? Who offers the best visualization for controlling a KNX smart home from small to very large?
When it comes to controlling networked buildings (KNX Smart Home) in the form of larger apartments, individual detached houses and even large villas, there is one important feature that should not be missing: Multiroom audio – the sound reinforcement of individual rooms with music or podcasts.
And it should also sound good, look really good and be controlled via touchscreen in the individual rooms or via app. The music is transmitted to the individual rooms by cable right from the start and makes perfect sense in a new-build detached house or smart home villa, as everything has been planned properly anyway.
But first things first. First of all, let’s take a look at the two systems, which couldn’t be more different: Control4, the top dog from the USA, has established itself in the high-end sector for years with its multi-room audio system.
The Control4 system is easily scalable and can therefore be adapted to the size or number of rooms in the building by using several audio amplifiers. Data communication takes place via a network connection (TCP/IP) and there is no interface to the KNX building control system.
The Belgian manufacturer Basalte takes a different approach with its Basalte Home System: it is also very scalable and gives a visually chic and modern impression at first glance. Basalte also uses network connections (TCP/IP) for data communication and Cobra-Net for multi-room audio. The latter is a standard coined by Yamaha and uses the network interface.
Compared to Control4, the Basalte Core Plus Server has a direct KNX connection on the back of the housing. Control4 requires an external KNX/IP interface, which is not available ex works.
Frank Völkel & Smartest Home Team
Since 2007, we have been testing KNX components for functionality and practical suitability in order to use only the best products in our customers' homes and villas
Similar articles and practical tests...
Top 5: KNX weather stations in comparison – 280 to 2000€
Top 5: KNX power supply units with 1280 mA in comparison – 85 to 290 euros
Top 5: KNX heating actuators in comparison – 140 to 290 euros
Top 5: KNX switch actuators 24x in comparison – from 350 to 599 euros
Top 30: The world’s best KNX push-buttons – from €80 to €1000
