Hi,
Before you decide on what brand you want to buy you must sort out some basic parameters for a distributed audio system. I have done this myself for my office and am pretty happy with the end result.
1. When you use multiple speakers in different rooms you will ideally want to have individual volume control for each room. This is because differently sized rooms need different amounts of power to deliver a balanced sound, even if you are using the same type of speaker.
Now you want to have this without affecting the sound in the other rooms. So for example if you want to play the music louder in the kitchen you should be able to do it by turning a knob in the kitchen and this shouldn't change the volume of the speakers in the other room.
2. So presuming that you want the above feature then you need a transformer coupled amp. I myself am using the DNM amplifier (dont remember the model) and it works flawlessly. Once the amp is transformer coupled you can connect all your speakers to it without worrying to much about impedence mis match though you will still need someone to make sure the impedence of all the speakers is >4ohms.
3. Now in each room you have a volume control. Again DNM makes small transformer based volume controls. They are just about OK. Ideally you should go for a resistor based volume control from a good brand but they can cost you almost 10k a piece. The DNM was <1k a piece
4. Now here is how it works. The amp is like a reservoir of power. It sends out a certain amount of power depending on what you have set. So say the amp is sending out 30W to each speaker. The volume control in each room will act as a gatekeeper and decide how much of the 30W will be sent to the speaker connected to it. This will enable you to have excellent control over your speakers and is a requirement if you ask me.
5. Now you have 4 rooms. The living room was pretty large so you would need atleast two speakers in that room. The other rooms can have a a single speaker though ideally you should have 2 per room.
6. Size of the speaker. Do not buy anything < 6inches or it will sound noisy when you play it loud and won't deliver any warmth when played soft. How high is your ceiling? If it is >15 feet you may want to consider an 8 inch speaker.
7. Regarding how much you want to spend on your speaker. Do you want to play the music loud or just soft? If you want it loud you should buy a speaker with a built in cabinet that can be ceiling mounted. You can't see the cabinet as it will be hidden in the ceiling but this will allow you to push the speaker.
8. Transformer coupling again! If you decide to buy the transformer coupled amp you must have a transformer coupled speaker. Most inceiling speakers have this as an option so don't worry. With this layout you wont need a switch box at all. If you dont transformer couple your system, everytime you enable or disenable a switch on the switch box your overall sound will either shoot up or reduce in volume!
9. If your budget is <5k -10k a speaker then go with JBL. Time tested fellow. Has all the options like transformer coupling, cabinet, etc.
Other brands are Polk, Focal, PSB, and tons of cheaper brands.
Hope this helped. First focus on the layout, then what speakers to buy.
PS: Use atleast 14 guage wiring. BE careful of Mice eating the wire so have them conduited.
