Am trying to lock down a client.
Started out as 20 zones of music, has now gone to 30 zones. (Client is a builder and has already had most of the speakers installed, so just equipment and set up required by me)
Not sure if new Sonos Amp for each zone is really the best way to go.
I was figuring on simple and easy to use from it's own app, but now adding 10 more zones means almost 10K added to the budget, which he was already being tight about.
There will be RTI used to control a bunch of TV's and cable boxes, client says he will have around 6 Ipads around the house too that he wants control of Vantage lighting HVAC and the three surround systems going in. So, if there is something out there that really works well with RTI, I could possibly change the system layout to a few streaming sources and Matrix audio switcher and amps.
I have stayed away from the RTI drivers for things like Sonos, but have used Fusion in the past, and have read somewhere (maybe here) that they have new and improved products. I did have some glitches with their older products, so would really need assurances before looking at them again. The matrix and amps are easy stuff to deal with. It's the stupid streaming boxes that concern me.

Thinking about it, is russound MCA 88x a possible solution?

First off, if he thinks he can add 50% more music zones without adding at least 50% to the music budget, he is on crack.

Secondly, 30 SONOS amps sounds good to me. Get a rack, and load those mothers in there. It would be epic.

Or a single SONOS Connect, a handful of amps, and volume knobs on the wall in 30 rooms. Simple, but cheap, like him. :)

why not use the RTI AD8 AMPS?

Our last job with 20+ Sonos pieces was a nightmare. I would never do it again. This was a couple years back but we had issue after issue (music dropping over and over and over and over) and this was with a $50,000 network in place.

Limited Connects w/amplification...that I could do happily.

On the equipment end, use separate power amps. Use 1:1 ratio for amp channels to speakers (rooms). So 30 rooms = 60 channels of amplification. Start with less than 30 sonos connects. Maybe 15-20. Gang groups of rooms together where it makes sense. Brings the cost of entry down, and if the client doesn’t like it, you can zone it out more down the road with more Connects.

Another approach is to use passive volume controls (for impedance matching) and fewer amp channels. So single source, multiple volume control for groups of rooms. Very cost effective but plenty of drawbacks.

How many different things does he want to be able to play at once? Then, ask him to imagine one year later, after everyone is used to the system and all novelty has worn off, how many different sources they will actually bother to use. Propose a quantity of sources between those two numbers.

But yeah, two amp channels for each zone. Otherwise the speakers won't actually be separate zones. Maybe you and he need to hammer out the exact meaning of "zone."

What sort of wiring? Did the builder anticipate individual wall mounted speaker level controls? If so, a hybrid approach can be effective while reducing costs. “Zones” to most of us means “separate source”, requiring its own amplifier and controller. There are areas, such as a guest bedroom/bath suite where level trim is desirable and this does not require a full separate Zone for each area.

You could look at Clare Controls and use 5 x MR8 ($1170) audio matrix units and 4 x 1640 amps ($1450).

If he truly has 30 zones, then you'll need that much amplification.

Clare can control all the automation and have RTI emulate all the buttons that Clare builds in the program.

Clare can control Nest or Ecobee but I am not sure about controlling Vantage. I know they can control Lutron.

You'll need a Clare Cliq Mini controller ($399) at the minimum and a cheap 5 port network switch for the MR8 Cobranet.

The Sonos Connects will auto-populate on Clare and controllable from the Clare app (clarehome).

We did a house that has 23 zones (4 x MR8 and 5 x 1640 amps) and it works flawlessly.

One Zektor 16 source, 64 out audio matrix - the odds of needing more than 16 audio sources is unlikely
Add in 4, sixteen channel amp of choice
How many people are actually going to be living there? That should be a good measure of how many sources you might really need, then add one or two for just in case
I would definitely avoid sonos since your using rti (or any control system)
You could even do a little mix and match for multiple audio sources to give yourself greater functionality. Perhaps automonics, plus Bluesound or a fusion unit ( if your feeling lucky) or perhaps Lode Audio. I don’t know what drivers you have or don’t have available
Maybe even a cable box - does anyone do that still?

is this a true 30 zone? or 15 with 15 sub zones (or whatever)? does he really envision (need) playing 30 different things in 30 places at the same time?
the app control interface alone would be a nightmare. gotta pay to play and with builders its often (do me this favor and Ill keep you busy) and broke.

Stop.

What does customer want to spend?

a thirty zone system is a robust project, and if your customer wants trouble free operation, you should have an idea as to what they want to spend. You'll end up hating life if you sell them too cheap a system, as you'll have service calls related to the wrong tool being used for the job.

Cheap solution like my dad had in our house growing up.
big amp + 2 big speakers. zone volume control = your door.

Is it really 30 zones? Or 30 pairs of speakers? 30 zones and "budget conscious" doesnt really go hand and hand. trying to design/build a cheap system for that never end well.. but hey, everyone needs to learn I guess.

Yeah, well, we're trying to lock down you.

Over and over, people are asking you to define what's meant by zone, how many sources, what the budget might be... this question is too broad for a good answer.