Juke Audio Juke+ Streaming Multi-Zone Amplifier

Juke went back to the drawing board and made it even better. When you think of multi-room streaming you think of big equipment racks, tons of gear, and lots of headaches. What does the Juke+ Streaming Multi-Zone Amplifier do to change that? Read on and find out!

This is always the worst part of installing a whole house audio system, it’s never easy, and it never works the way the instructions say it will. But the Juke+ is different. The instructions for setup are on one page and just four steps. It’s literally a single sheet of paper simple. The single page is printed on cardstock which gives it an important feel, and the four steps are easy to understand. After you connect all the wires to the back you can simply use Juke’s app from your smartphone to complete the installation. That’s it! I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of it. I got it on my Google Network without any problem, the Juke 6 I tested earlier worked on both with no issues. No issues here on the new model either.

Whole house audio and DIY-friendly are not usually things that go hand in hand. But Juke is actually doing it. You don’t need to be a professional to install it if you know how to connect wires and use an app to set it up on your phone, it takes about 30 minutes to connect the wires to the Juke and you are all set! For $2,499, you can get a 6-zone/12-speaker system up and running with 100 watts per channel! Five years ago, I would have said that’s crazy. That is if you already have the wiring and speakers in place. If not, there’s a bit more work involved. Even if you don’t have an equipment closet, the Juke Amplifier doesn’t need to be rack-mounted. Its faceplate is clean and can blend in nicely with other much higher-priced gear. Difficulty and expense shouldn’t be an excuse for missing out on great home audio.

When it comes to whole-house audio, convenience, and cost usually come before sound quality, and since you’re typically using in-ceiling speakers, it’s often tough to tell how good an amp truly sounds. The Juke+ is far, far better than its predecessors. The previous model was noticeable when you cranked up the volume and quickly noticed the lack of power. The Juke+ definitely has the needed wattage to properly drive larger in-wall and ceiling speakers.

The new Juke app finally adds in EQ settings! The app is very simple, name the zones and go! In all honesty, it should be just that easy. It’s still not Sonos-level easy, as groups need to be set up beforehand and not on the fly like Sonos, but the app is definitely a step up from the competition. The big win here is with Airplay and Spotify as you can play audio without even using the Juke App, so up to 6 Spotify or Airplay sources can be used at the same time.

Also new for the Juke+ is the wired connections on the back, RCA, and optical are now available, the groups’ option can be used to configure groups ahead of time which helps with the ease of use of coming back to the app to continuously change the settings. It also allows for a home theater zone as you can run a receiver to the Juke from a receiver now.

As I mentioned in my last review, “I think for the Gen 2, offering a much more powerful amplification option would really make the audiophiles happy and open up more install options. Sound quality, as it is now, is OK, I would give it a 5/10 as it just gets the job done.” The Juke+ is the Gen 2 that really brought the power and a bit more price at a whopping $1000 more than the Juke 6. But the added power is worth the $1000, you can hear the added oomph and detail. I give the Juke+ an 8.5/10 this time around!

Juke Audio came out of the gates swinging with the first model. The Juke+ Streaming Multi-Zone Amplifier clearly shows that they listened to their users by upping the power while also adding EQ settings. If Juke can stay the course and keep making whole house audio easy for everyone, they will pull ahead of other brands with ease.