Whole home audio 1 zone multiple speakers

[butlerbd21]

Just moved into a home that has multiple rooms with ceiling speakers. All speaker wires converge in basement in a bank/stripe with left & right separated (9 pair). 2 larger gauge wires with +/- go to the entertainment center in basement and labeled AMP on bank. Nothing left from previous owners. I have two wall source selectors in the house. Also have 2-3 pushbutton with volume knob & others with just volume knobs. System seems to be only 1 zone from what I can tell. Granted, likely wouldn’t have all speakers on at same time. What kind of power wattage & amplifier do I need to power the whole home? Any receiver recommendations?

Thanksi

 

[americanaudiophile]

Sounds like the remains of an old school system.
Since you have separate speaker pairs home run you can easily create a zoned system. How much power you need will depend on the make and model speakers, room size, and you own taste in music and volume. Your budget also has a great effect on how to set this system up. Multi-channel amps tend to come in 30-40 or 60-70 watts per channel which is usually fine except for an outdoor zone that can suck up power.
I would suggest you use one or more Sonos Connects or Denon Heoslinks. Each will be a zone that you can stream music from and control with your phone, tablet or computer. You can start with one and add more later if you get a multi-channel amp. If you get a stereo amp you would have to add more amps and Connect or Link to create zones.
This kind of system gets much more use because it's easier to access music and select source and volume for each area.