- Juke-8: 8 Zone Multi-Room Amplifier | Built-in Music Streaming & Wireless App Control | Supports 8 Audio Sources Simultaneously | Whole Home Audio System | Airplay 2, Spotify Connect, Bluetooth

This device has been designed by somebody committed to the KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid) principle, and this device proves the value of that approach. We bought a house three years ago with in-wall, wired speakers in many of the rooms terminating in a storage space in the lowest floor. The prior residents left the speaker wires relatively well labeled, but of course took their expensive Control4 whole home system with them. I dilly-dallied getting something else installed b/c I wasn't sure of the value of the high-end Crestron and Control4 systems, which require professional installation and, from what I understand, are a bit finicky and hard to update. They also cost 10x the cost of the Juke! Granted, the high-end systems are really whole-home automation systems and can do other A/V tricks like pipe TV audio through the speakers and distribute video from centralized sources. But with the proliferation of soundbars and inexpensive streaming devices that tuck into ports behind your TV, some of that centralization seems like a dated concept. (I do have a 4.1 speaker TV system in our family room with the biggest screen, so I understand that traditional speaker setups will sound better than soundbars with wireless subwoofers--I just don't think you need them everywhere in the house you have a TV). The Juke is easy to install, easy to use, sounds greats and works great, and so we use it all the time. It is the holidays now, and we routinely play holiday songs from Spotify in multiple zones--our kids love it. It also appears to be a high-quality device. The one knock you see in the current most popular review for this item is that it could use a little more power. Well, guess what, Juke introduced a new box, the Juke+, with 100 watts per channel. For me, the power on the legacy boxes was no issue for the indoor speakers, but I did use Juke's instructions to wire in a Fosi amplifier for some outdoor speakers. (Part of the problem might have been the speakers or the wire I inherited from the prior owners, not the Juke). And even that review was just asking for a bump up from 20 to 40 watts per channel, which I think the legacy Juke 6 and 8 provide--a bit of confusion on this point. This manufacturer must really listen to customers, b/c the other improvement they did in the Juke+ wereadd an equalizer for each zone, something I saw reviewers asking for. They also added a few more connections, although not the crazy variety of connections you see on typical single or low zone A/V receivers. This may seem like it violates the KISS principla, but we must also keep in mind Einstein's admonition that "[e]verything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler"! Anyway, if you are in my situation and are reluctant to dump five figures into a Crestron or Control4 or other high-end home system b/c 95% of what you want is just to play music over your wired in-wall speakers, go ahead buy the Juke and stop spec'ing other alternatives. Life's too short. (And if you want to play your TV audio over those speakers, heck, the Juke folks probably have a hack for it that will cost a lot less than the high-end systems).

I am a electronics installation technician and I have a broad range of experience installing these systems. I have been certified by a dozen industry groups (ESPA, CEDIA for example) and I have installed Crestron and Niles systems in high end houses to give you another example. This unit by far is the best and has been exactly what I have been looking for. I have spent years installing and then reinstalling or removing or upgrading systems because the units either failed expectations, were too complicated to use, or were just plain bad in terms of software and build qualities. This unit just skips that by leaving the software to the actual software houses and builds a simple zoned audio unit that just acts as a bridge for you to use your favorite app-lication to play music to your speakers in your house. Fantastic! You don't need to download any horribly designed app that tries to piggyback another app into their app and limits their function or doesn't even have the availability to be used in their software. This just works. Easy to install, easy to setup (even for an untrained individual), no proprietary anything to make it difficult. Easy. I can't say it enough. I had a Niles system in my home, an old GXR2, and if you wanted to make a change I had to pull out a confusing software suite and make a connection and then pull out my hair when it took a half dozen attempts to get it to work right. NO MORE! I'll run down the cons and pros below to help you make a decision about this music player you might want to add to your home. Cons; 1: Ultimately the most important one I came across is that it is a bit under powered for me. 20W per channel nominal isn't a whole lot. But I'm also used to installing units that weigh 50lbs. and will push 80W per channel. Never thought about it until I got this one. It was so light and small but there was a compromise. Not a deal breaker. Good for bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms. You may want some extra power for larger areas but in a normal house an average person lives in I think you will be OK. I just like my music player blasting in my rec room. Hey Juke, if you're listening, may be a 40W per channel unit? Just a suggestion. I'll test it for you. In those situations when you need more power I added an extra amp for the zone with more wattage. It's just something to consider. 2. Minor disconnection issues with the unit to my phone. Just seems to happen with my phone and not my pad. I'm in the Apple product suite if you are wondering. Drops out after some undisclosed time, 20 to 25 minutes, and I have to restart my music again. Not a deal breaker, just a strange problem. But I haven't had a problem with my tablet. Something to look into and it happens randomly and then after I turn it back on it doesn't happen again. 3. Minor website refinements for the user interface on the tablet side. You barely look at it, and only use it to turn on zones and that's it, but it would be nice if the text was formatted correctly. 4. That's it really. Which is amazing! Pros 1. Small/compact and light. It almost feels tiny but the feel and construction is quality and it feels tough and ready to go. 2. Easy to install. No proprietary software or hardware. Anybody can do it. Even you. 3. The overall sound quality was good and although I didn't run any tests on that, it was clear - loud when I maxed it out and overall it should satisfy anyone looking for some back ground music to cook or clean to or house party to. 4. Easy to use. Make the homepage your favorite through the browser you use and then you can access the zones. Turn the zone you want on and then start your player (Pandora, Spotify, YouTube) and cast your player to an available Juke input. Adjust volume on phone. Done. Almost too easy. 5. Inexpensive. By far the cheapest one I've used and yet it seems like it's expensive. And it's actually useful and easy to access. 6. 8 Zones! My Niles was 6 and I installed a Legrand for twice the price as a Juke and it was only 3 zones. You can get 8 on one unit! Enough for a 1-kitchen, 2-bedroom, 3-bedroom, 4-bathroom, 5-office, 6-rec room, 7-patio, and you still have 8-for whatever you want. Configure any way you want. Overall I am very happy with the unit and because of the ease of use I actually use it regularly and am eager to add speakers all over my house to use those zones up! You should too! I hope this helps you in your quest to find a zoned audio player.

I am not an electronic person...literally the one time before this I tried to do ANYTHING with electronic I shocked myself and vowed to never do electric things again. Fast forward 2 years...we purchased a house with speakers wired into 6 different rooms (we have plans to add an additional zone so we were looking for a system that could support at least 7 zones). We got quotes (one from a smaller electronic firm and one from Best Buy) ranging from $4,500 to $7,300 to get an amp system (some required multiple amps/ports) that would allow for 8 different zones *this also included installation/set up*. That was WAY outside of our budget. I found this system and decided if I couldn't figure it out, we would just return it. Holy crap is this easy to set up. The longest/most frustrating part was that our wires were not labeled, so we had a trial and error process to figure out which cords went to which speakers and grouping them together. But seriously, set up was SO simple (and required 0 shocks on my end)! Other reviews mention the power concerns. We listen to music at regular volumes (not looking for the base to drop and shake our house or anything) and we have had no issues in terms of the power/sound volume is no issue in any room. For the price vs. performance, ability to make up to 8 zones, good quality and volume level, and compatibility to run it all through your music app (Spotify in our case), there is seriously a game changer. We would have never been able to afford a system from another company, and the fact that have absolutely 0 experience in setting up ANYTHING electric (besides plugging something in) and was able to set up our whole system in less than an hour, so great.

This unit works perfect! Worth every penny. Don't be fooled by the lower priced music players on Amazon. We have a large number of speakers in different rooms of our house and wanted to be able to have "through the house" music. It's easy to install, easy to understand and just makes all around "good common sense". The sounds are crisp and clean like they should be. Five Stars to this company. I hope they make more products as their design engineering / management know what they are doing. One of my favorite parts is that we can skip songs from our phone and use our favorite music players - Spotify and Apple Music. Way to go Juke!

very low power, poor quality. The app is great, and functionality good, but acoustically its sounds like an old portable radio.

I bought the juke 8 and the more powerful Juke plus together during a complete home remodel when all of the ceilings were exposed. Figured I could run in-ceiling speakers in my house. My wife hated my old stereo system and all the speakers and wires running everywhere and I needed a solution because I’m an amateur but a glutton for music and sound. After purchasing the juke 8 I was concerned about whether it had enough power to push the outdoor speakers and I had a good month at work so I bout the Juke Plus too. So between the juke plus and the juke 8 I had enough zones to do whatever I wanted. I figured this will be the last remodel and with exposed ceilings for a limited time this was my one and only chance to make an epic whole house system before the workers installed drywall. The Juke plus is the newer model and has more power than the juke 8. So I used the juke plus to power my outdoor setup (4 zones outside (8 speakers)) and also two zones (4 speakers) in my living room where we watch tv. For outdoors under a covered outdoor kitchen I used 2 Klipsch AW 650’s, 1 Polk Atrium 8, and a Klipsch Subwoofer that’s connected by a long subwoofer cable that I ran up some conduit into my soffits and down into the rack in the office closet and plugged into the RCA port of the Juke plus. Outside the outdoor kitchen pointing out to the backyard I have 2 Polk Atrium 6’s. Under a separate back porch I have 3 Polk Atrium 8’s. 2 of the back porch 8’s are powered by the Juke Plus and 1 of the 3 is powered by the Juke 8. The Juke plus also powers 2 zones with 4 Polk 8” in-ceiling speakers in my living room. You have the option of making a zone a pair or each speaker mono in the Juke app. I made pairs where it made sense and mono for single speakers when it made sense. With the juke 8 I ran a 2 speaker zone near my wet bar, a 2 speaker zone in the dining room, a 2 speaker zone in the kitchen, and a two speaker zone in my bedroom. I still have some zones to play with but I’m done spending money on this project for now. Everything works exactly as intended. All the zones show up in Apple Airplay and I can control each zone independently or group them up when I want. I also have many Apple homepods and minis around the house and also a sonos arch ultra soundbar at the living room tv. They, along with each Juke zone, show up in my airplay list and they all work together seamlessly and I can pick and choose whatever zones I want to activate whenever I want. I have apple tv boxes for each tv and I can put ceiling speakers and homepods on together in whatever room I’m in while watching tv in that room. I can put on a game in the house and have every speaker (or whatever combination of speakers I want) on playing that game and control the volume of each zone from my phone. The zones hooked up to the juke plus have equalizers which is a bonus. Because I’m an amateur I was concerned I would mess something up somehow but it all just worked and I was stoked I was able to install all of that without paying the contractors a penny. I highly recommend the Juke amps. I am super pleased. I will add that often after not using the amp for a while, one or more of the speakers connected to the juke plus (not the older juke 8) won’t connect with airplay. I flip the juke plus switch off then back on again when this happens and it fixes it every time. This phenomenon only happens to the newer juke plus. Never with the 8. So I know this is an issue so each time I want to use the outdoor speakers I just flip the switch off, count to ten, then switch it back on again. Maybe they will come up with a fix for this with an update. I subtracted one star for that. I still don’t regret this purchase at all. I believe it’s still best for my money compared to alternatives. Other than that I can’t say enough good things. With the amount of zones I have and how easy they are to control with my phone I bet I would have spent way too much if I went with sonos amps or other competitors etc. I probably wouldn’t have even done it at the price sonos would want for this many zones. My wife probably would have divorced me. But juke is a more affordable system and I am really happy with the sound.

Love love love this. Easy to operate. Allows for each speaker to operate independently. Wife can play her music and clean house while I am in my office and am able to play my own music at the same time. Has two usb ports and we hooked up our record player that has a usb output to it and it works flawlessly.

So I had a legacy Nuvo system which wasn't working and I found the Juke-8 on amazon. I was nervous about installing it, but it was so easy. The app connected right away and I just unplugged the speaker wires from the Nuvo and plugged them into the Juke and I was up and running in less than 20 minutes. I wish I had found the just sooner as it's the best system I have used for multiform audio. Thanks!

Easy set up and user friendly interface