2 x pairs of speakers ?

I know it doesn't answer your question , but since it's going to be a kitchen extension and you'll be more interested in background music have you considered ceiling mounted speakers. A friend of mine has this arrangement and it sounds more than capable.

My kitchen is 24 sqm and has two Monitor Audio ceiling speakers (3-way, with 8" bass drivers) driven by a SuperUniti. No problem with hearing them at the end of the flat either, let alone in the kitchen

So unless you have a massive kitchen I recommend two speakers, possibly hidden in the walls or a ceiling.

Last year we extended our kitchen it is now 35 metres square and a Muso works perfectly. It resides on a shelf above the TV and so is at head height when standing cooking or when sat at the breakfast bar. Also doubles as a sound bar for the TV. 

It fills the room with sound. 

My house came with four surprisingly good Niles ceiling speakers wired to an in-wall attenuator knob.  The right amp for this job is purpose-built to deliver to such a setup.  I use two channels off of a 12-channel NAD amp, which is served by Tape Out from my main system NAC.

How were you planning to control volume?

Nick

Long speaker runs are well done with standard in-wall-rated speaker wire; recommended gauge is fairly uncontroversial, depending only on length, as I recall.  For long line-level runs, generic RG-6 (CATV) cable seems to be the best bet, according to pro installers, if the Kitchen amp is not close to the source.  That is what I use, as my whole-house amp is in a central utility room, rather than in the Living Room, where my sources are.

Nick

Thanks - Maybe I'll look at a Muso instead or just stick with my Ushers on an Atom. Kitchen will be about 45m2

In a previous home, my kitchen cabinets did not extend all the way to the ceiling and I installed two bookshelf speakers on top of the cabinets.  It filled that ~40m2 kitchen with plenty of sound.  Wall or ceiling mounted speakers are great for that application; they are essentially invisible.

Bart posted:

In a previous home, my kitchen cabinets did not extend all the way to the ceiling and I installed two bookshelf speakers on top of the cabinets.  It filled that ~40m2 kitchen with plenty of sound.  Wall or ceiling mounted speakers are great for that application; they are essentially invisible.

40m2 kitchen: were you living in a restaurant?

MontyMusic posted:

Thanks - Maybe I'll look at a Muso instead or just stick with my Ushers on an Atom. Kitchen will be about 45m2

I think your four Ushers would be happier off of a decent Japanese stereo integrated amp, designed with four speakers in mind (A+B).  Wiring that amp to your main system Tape Out will sound better and be more reliable than any wireless alternative.  I have found this to be true, even running through an AV Pre midpoint, used as a Line-Level-audio distribution box!

In my experience, this approach will allow upgrades at the source to deliver clearly audible benefits in the Kitchen, even if "backgound music" is the only goal.  

Nick

In my own large kitchen environment, I used the tops of cupboards where my speakers are discretely hidden.
I have four Q-Acoustics 2010i speakers - it means I don't need to play "loud" in order to hear them comfortably anywhere in the space.