Hello World! The Story of AmpliPro
The Idea
The idea that would become the AmpliPro started in 2015 while I was remodeling my house. I installed in-ceiling speakers in every room with the dream of having an integrated whole house audio system. I wanted the system to support playing a variety of different audio streams at the same time, so the outdoor speakers could be separated from the main living area and same for the downstairs, setting up different vibes throughout the house, all at once.
When researching the current whole house audio controller offerings, all I found were some less than ideal options:
- A system from Sonos, at roughly $600 per zone for just the amplifier; the price tag exceeded $10,000!
- A few brands offered ancient whole house audio controllers; they used wired in-wall control panels in each room. They only provided inputs for local sources were for things like a CD-changer or cassette player, with no streaming audio support.
I don’t know about you, but I could not justify $10,000 for an audio system controller, and the idea of installing an audio controller with tech like it was out of the 1990s seemed like a step backwards.
My search for the perfect home audio control system was such a disappointment, I decided to build my own. I knew what I wanted: a home audio system that was affordable, privacy focused, compatible with the most popular streaming sources, easily adaptable and reconfigurable/hackable to work with the ever changing landscape of smart home systems, and able to provide high quality sound to each zone while being incredibly energy efficient.
The Side Project
Shortly after my Ph.D., I founded MicroNova, an engineering design company. I assembled an exceptional team of hardware, firmware, and software engineers specializing in embedded system design and debugging. Through consulting work, I steadily built the company’s capabilities and resources. The AmpliPi became our first in-house development project, transforming my initial prototype into a fully realized product with the support of our talented team.
As AmpliPi gained traction, supporting it ironically dtarted to overtake my newly renovated home. Two bedrooms became engineering offices, the basement housed our assembly line, and the dining room and garage were commandeered for shipping. In 2023, we moved into a dedicated commercial space, allowing us to scale manufacturing and fulfillment.
Along the way we faced numerous challenges, in design, manufacturing, and scaling. Each one taught us valuable lessons. We iterated relentlessly, refining the product to ensure it met our core mission: to deliver an affordable, customizable, and high quality whole house audio system that integrates with the modern smart home.
The Product
Originally, this project was simply named AmpliPi. However, we soon realized it was important to differentiate the hardware we sell from the open-source software we developed, which is freely available for anyone to use, here. Thus, AmpliPro was born. AmpliPro is our product line, and AmpliPi is the open-source software.
The system runs locally on a Raspberry Pi, putting privacy first. By design, AmpliPi doesn’t listen to you or spy on you — it just plays your audio! Control is straightforward through either our app or web interface, and the system integrates seamlessly with Home Assistant, Spotify, and AirPlay 1 & 2 to provide the flexibility modern users expect.
We’ve made the entire project open-source on GitHub, including all source code, documentation, and hardware schematics. With the open-source model, you as the end user have complete control over your system. Of course, most of us will use and enjoy AmpliPro without ever adding our own custom hardware or writing a line of code. But as designers and tinkerers ourselves, it was important to create something with the option to be hackable. That’s also why we made the back panel removable - designed to support future upgrades.
From the beginning, our goal was simple: make great whole-house audio accessible to everyone. We stuck to our core beliefs - keeping it affordable, open-source, and putting users in control. We built it with privacy in mind, made it sustainable and upgradeable, and most importantly, created something that can grow and adapt as our users’ needs change.
Here is what we created: The base AmpliPro controller can stream up to 4 simultaneous sources to 6 stereo zone outputs. For larger setups, we offer AmpliPro Expansion units, one unit offers an additional 6 zones. They are stackable, allowing one AmpliPro controller to create a massive whole house audio system with up to 36 stereo zone outputs! For a more modest approach we also created the Streamer unit. It’s capable of streaming up to 4 simultaneous audio streams.
The Future
What started as a personal frustration in a home renovation project has grown into something much larger, but our story is just beginning. We see this project as not just a product, but a community of informed users who can adapt and grow their systems to meet their evolving needs. We’re excited to see how you continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible with our system. Whether you’re a tech enthusiast, an audio lover, or someone looking for a better way to enjoy music throughout your home, we invite you to join us on this journey. Together, let’s redefine what whole-house audio can be.
Links
Visit our store AmpliPro: https://www.amplipro.com/shop
Discourse Forums: https://amplipi.discourse.group/
AmpliPi’s Github: https://github.com/micro-nova/AmpliPi
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFaiSA-Gc4gMjiNPM9ld8Fw
Home Assistant: https://www.home-assistant.io/
MicroNova: https://www.micro-nova.com/