Our now or never point for installing network and audio wiring has stretched into now-or-some-time-in-the-next-three-weeks. So we have had more time to devise a solution.
This is the system I would have purchased had I been rushed. It is flexible and easy to install. Cost/benefit is pretty good.

Still, it’s not the ideal solution. There are multiple ways it is not right. The flexibility is just on the wrong axis. We don’t need 6 different sources of music in 6 different places, we need the music we want in about 2 areas. 1. Downstairs commons, 2 Master suite. We need access to internet radio and our iTunes play lists. And we need to know what we are listening to without walking half way across the house and kicking somone off the computer. It just looked like the ideal solution had not been invented yet. Until I stumbled upon Sonos.

It’s really cool to see interaction design that just knocks one out of the park. Everything I have seen about this product and the company tells me that they “get it.” The web site is sharp, and the FAQ answers actual questions.
We will be wiring standard speaker wires and volume knobs throughout the house. (Once again, I can thank commenters on this blog for a good decision.) We can plug our old component stereos into these and someday, a we’ll get set of Sonoses.