Embodiments described herein involve selecting a coordinator device for multichannel playback by a first playback device and a second playback device are joined into a zone group of playback devices that are configured to render audio content from an audio source in synchrony. An example implementation may involve determining that a wireless interface performance metric of the first playback device exceeds a wireless interface performance metric of the second playback device. Based on such a determination, the first playback device and the second playback device may be configured as a group coordinator and a group member of the zone group, respectively. The group coordinator (a) receives the audio content from the audio source, and (b) forwards at least a portion of the received audio content to a group member during rendering of the audio content by the zone group of playback devices.