Planning / implementing HiFi in a renovation project?

Hello everyone,

unfortunately, I have only just now really gotten around to revisiting this thread and of course thank you for your advice.
My underlying thought is as follows;

Loudspeakers in the ceiling are planned for both the kitchen and bathroom, given that a "simple" sound system is sufficient there and I do not have to place loudspeakers or similar in the room. The whole system is supposed to be controlled via BT receivers, with the respective smartphone (Spotify) serving as the source.
But this is exactly where the question arises about the right receiver and possibly a smaller amplifier.
Maybe someone knows a suitable solution? (maybe a Pi3?)

A solution in the living area around the TV/couch etc. is a completely different issue and will probably result in a higher-quality solution.

A solution in the living area around the TV/couch etc. is a completely different matter and will probably result in a higher quality solution.

I certainly hope so, if it is actually supposed to be about high fidelity.

Speaker boxes are planned in the ceiling in both the kitchen and the bathroom, with the background that a "simple" sound system is sufficient there

I would like to introduce the thought whether one should even want that: a sound carpet is not an oil film, so it may also "tear" sometimes - if you are not aiming for early retirement, you should allow yourself a small dose of silence several times a day. Music accompanied by the buzzing of a shaver or toothbrush is acoustic stress. One rarely showers in the middle of a piece of music, but one goes to the kitchen rather more often. That is why I would only equip the kitchen with speakers – however wired (preferably also in the ceiling).

As for the speakers in the bathroom, this is more my wife's project and it is no secret that they do tend to stay there a bit longer.

Currently, the music is played via a smartphone speaker and this should definitely change.
Whether and how intensively the sound is used in the bathroom is another matter.

As for the kitchen; wired yes, but it must be transmitted from the source (usually [Tablet or Smartphone]) to the receiver.

Currently, the music is played through a smartphone speaker and this should definitely change.

What can truly be called music (regardless of the style) would refuse to be played over something like that.

As for the kitchen; wired yes, but it has to be transmitted from the source (usually tablet or smartphone) to the receiver.

Why does it have to? - you can certainly also feed MP3 or other newer digital formats into decent hi-fi amplifiers (?).
Or do you only listen to songs that you have freshly downloaded in the last few days, and after the weekly synchronization of smartphone / USB stick they are already too old for you, so they absolutely have to be pumped into the speakers “in real time”?

Compulsion is in this case purely a personal opinion, as we generally only listen to/stream music via Spotify.

It is not about always having to download the newest, but rather that this allows much more flexibility in breadth and depth. You find and listen to "old" forgotten songs again, you discover new (old) songs you didn’t know before, and of course, you usually have the latest releases from the start. The best thing is, you can easily put everything into different playlists, move, sort, delete, and save again, all on every device simultaneously.
The desired playlist/podcast is immediately available at home, in the car, on the train, on vacation, and so on.
I ask myself why save everything locally?

Do I understand correctly: You only listen to music online? - I can still imagine that "within" the smartphone itself with its speakers or with speakers docked to it. But if it then continues via another wireless link to built-in speakers, I see the limit reached. Beyond that, switching to cables, maybe also via Bluetooth is still okay since there is no protocol break. But if it then goes into LAN/WLAN, I could imagine an hourglass at one point or another ;-)

With earphones, all this still works because no heavy amplifiers are needed in the sound conversion path. Speakers are a different dimension; small dropouts do not "just disappear" so easily. Calling something "HiFi" there, I have reservations...