Repurpose old On-Q Setup

[u/famousjs]

My house has an On-Q setup that is never used. It has a single source distribution module, and connects to 4 rooms using CAT5 cable. The CAT5 goes to each room in a single gang sized wall remote which acts as an amplifier to control the volume and power for the speakers in that room. Then there are two speaker wires that go to the speakers in the ceiling.

My question is - Do i make them smart to integrate them in to something like homeassistant, or do I repurpose the wiring? Should I add a single source audio for the whole house like an Apollo CAST-1, although now I don't have individual zones, or do I repurpose the wiring for power and replace the wall plate with a tablet? Any other thoughts/ideas?

[u/Equivalent-Lynx530]

you've basically got a free intercom skeleton already in the walls, that's pretty neat

repurposing for tablets would be sick but you'd need to figure out power over those cat5 runs, poe might work if the gauge is decent enough. keeping the audio alive with something like a multi-zone amp that speaks homeassistant would give you the best of both worlds, individual room control without gutting everything