One word.    Sonos.

Upon reading and seeing a demo, it does exactly what I want in a music system.    Its just Expensive:

What does it do?

• Provide multi-room audio, with a ipod like controller - where rooms music can be linked together.    PC does not need to be on, it can pull the music off any CIFS share, meaning a NAS is all that is needed - it can read/index my entire music catalogue.
• Provide access to Napster’s library without your PC being on.
• Provide access to Internet radio stations
• Provide access to sources plugged into another Sonos box in another room from anywhere on the Sonos network..

I’ve specified my ideal system to cover the house, the downsides are it does cost a little more than I expected to pay.   Upsides are it will provide a small footprint that will mostly be hidden in the living room, and in the upstairs computer room & Bedroom area.   I then need a small additional investment to increase the coverage to the Kitchen.

Now I know the Squeezebox will do most of what Sonos will do but its currently missing the nice remote, the inbuilt amplifier and easy multi-room syncronisation (which will work lovely when I’m cooking).

So, I now just need to wait for the “xmas” bonus to pay for it all.   This will replace my old stereos around the house which have lasted the past 14 year - I do hope the Sonos system lasts at least 5 years.