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Simple to use Patio Sound System Advise...

Cray Paper

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I spend a lot of time in the back yard and am just starting the search for a quality outdoor speaker system and amp/ receiver that can all be mounted on the back of my home and controlled either via WIFI (preferred) or via Bluetooth from a phone.

The plan is to mount the amp and speakers under the 2' overhang above the lower patio, but could mount the amp/receiver in the laundry room adjacent to the patio and run speaker cables through the exterior wall, but would prefer to mount everything under that overhang, outside. 110v power isn't an issue in either location, and I don't mind running speaker wires so wireless speakers aren't necessary.

SONOS seems to have a highly rated setup, but read some of the reviews mentioned the amp/receiver has to be inside. https://www.crutchfield.com/S-n2y6oxh2gKM/p_700ODA/Sonos-Outdoor-Speaker-Bundle.html

Best Buy has this for under 1K, still seems steep for what it is, but would go for it if the amp / receiver works well and can be mounted outside.

Any advise will be appreciated!
 

Mr. C

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I put my old 5.1 receiver in a Rubbermaid cabinet. Ran speaker wire through some pvc around the whole yard. Got some rock speakers for 150 pair and set up basically an outdoor theater type system. Hooked up a DVD player. Sirius and Alexa. With cables for a projector. Nothing elaborate but I can annoy the neighbors at all hours of the day and night. Lol. And not expensive considering.
Plus I like my speakers below my head and not hanging from the patio cover . I hate having to talk over the music.
 

King295

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I had a Sonos speaker mounted under my the eve of the house before I built my patio cover (mind you this was a powered speaker, not with an amp mounted inside to power it). It did fine in the reduced elements. Now its under the cover along with a TV and Sonos bar and haven't had an issue for 4 years.
 

WhatExit?

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I put my old 5.1 receiver in a Rubbermaid cabinet. Ran speaker wire through some pvc around the whole yard. Got some rock speakers for 150 pair and set up basically an outdoor theater type system. Hooked up a DVD player. Sirius and Alexa. With cables for a projector. Nothing elaborate but I can annoy the neighbors at all hours of the day and night. Lol. And not expensive considering.
Plus I like my speakers below my head and not hanging from the patio cover . I hate having to talk over the music.

I’ve been wanting to do this for sometime. What did you use to input Sirius and Alexa, etc. into your receiver?
 

Mr. C

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I’ve been wanting to do this for sometime. What did you use to input Sirius and Alexa, etc. into your receiver?
Just mini cable out of the units to rca and put them into the cd input or phono input or aux input it’s also a Bluetooth receiver so the little woman can just connect with her phone if she wants.
 

Shlbyntro

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I just Installed this system in an outdoor shopping center about a month ago.

its an fm receiver with bluetooth and aux inputs with a pretty descent sound quality. you can install as many or as few speakers as you want
Screenshot_20220831-203427_Amazon Shopping.jpg
 

steamin rice

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Just remember that your range with Bluetooth is limited to around 30 feet or so. Depending on the setup of your backyard that might be fine. For something cheap that you can control with your phone over wifi, get an echo dot for $30 and plug it into the aux input on your receiver. You can use the Alexa app on your phone to stream Spotify, Pandora, etc without worrying about the range.

If budget isn't a big concern, the Sonos stuff is plug an play and pretty easy to setup through their app.
 
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Riverbound

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I run a full Sonos system in my backyard.

Amp is in my BBQ island powering the rock speakers (1 in each corner for a total of 4) and a Sonos sound bar under the TV. I can use them separately or tie them in together when watching movies.

It will play way louder then necessary and my neighbors don’t like me as much as they used to…..but I don’t care, because I have enough friends already 😂😂

Another part to my setup is I have Alexa speakers and dots throughout so I can play the same music anywhere you are at my house. This feature is nice for parties.
 

Ace in the Hole

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I spend a lot of time in the back yard and am just starting the search for a quality outdoor speaker system and amp/ receiver that can all be mounted on the back of my home and controlled either via WIFI (preferred) or via Bluetooth from a phone.

The plan is to mount the amp and speakers under the 2' overhang above the lower patio, but could mount the amp/receiver in the laundry room adjacent to the patio and run speaker cables through the exterior wall, but would prefer to mount everything under that overhang, outside. 110v power isn't an issue in either location, and I don't mind running speaker wires so wireless speakers aren't necessary.

SONOS seems to have a highly rated setup, but read some of the reviews mentioned the amp/receiver has to be inside. https://www.crutchfield.com/S-n2y6oxh2gKM/p_700ODA/Sonos-Outdoor-Speaker-Bundle.html

Best Buy has this for under 1K, still seems steep for what it is, but would go for it if the amp / receiver works well and can be mounted outside.

Any advise will be appreciated!
I have the Sonos AMP with Polk Audio V85 speakers on the patio. @Shlbyntro and I installed the speakers to wiring that Sound Bank in Havasu ran in the ceiling (my fat ass was not about to do that 🤣). I can control it anywhere from the Sonos App on my phone..I have amazon music and youtube music subscriptions that I just tag onto it. It is LOUD (ask the fuckin airbnb renters that "cross the line" 😅🤣), and it sounds great. I would highly recommend putting the amp inside, control won't be an issue... I can jump in the car and drive away as the AMP is logged into the music source, my app just controls it. I can turn it on from where I'm sitting now 180 miles away if I wanted to. I intend to add an in-ground sub and 2-4 more speakers this winter in the yard.

Very happy with it. If you are in havasu you are welcome to check it out this weekend when I get up there..

We have a similar setup inside with in ceiling speakers, a sonos sound bar, and sub.
 

HOOTER SLED-

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Sonos is spendy...ain't nuthin simple about that. Nothing like having an actual sub somewhere outside. Shit, I just have a sound bar now with a sub going through my patio TV. Bumps good enough to let the neighbors know wassup. If I really wanna get loud, I'll just turn on my house amp with a 12" Klipsch and patio speakers to round it out. Good enough to shake the house. My patio soundbar has been good enough. 👍
 

DrunkenSailor

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Big fan of the Polk atrium outdoor speakers. I have a whole house amp running them hooked up to my living room receivers second zone that is hooked up to an echo. They sound great and with multiple echos I have full house coverage.
 

C_J_J_C

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I spend a lot of time in the back yard and am just starting the search for a quality outdoor speaker system and amp/ receiver that can all be mounted on the back of my home and controlled either via WIFI (preferred) or via Bluetooth from a phone.

The plan is to mount the amp and speakers under the 2' overhang above the lower patio, but could mount the amp/receiver in the laundry room adjacent to the patio and run speaker cables through the exterior wall, but would prefer to mount everything under that overhang, outside. 110v power isn't an issue in either location, and I don't mind running speaker wires so wireless speakers aren't necessary.

SONOS seems to have a highly rated setup, but read some of the reviews mentioned the amp/receiver has to be inside. https://www.crutchfield.com/S-n2y6oxh2gKM/p_700ODA/Sonos-Outdoor-Speaker-Bundle.html

Best Buy has this for under 1K, still seems steep for what it is, but would go for it if the amp / receiver works well and can be mounted outside.

Any advise will be appreciated!

Sonos outdoor speaker, wallmount, and Amp. All Bluetooth. Done

 

DB / HAV

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Sonos 100%! Havasu wiring set it up and it cranks. Super easy to use and I’ve never had an issue. Super crisp & as loud as you want.
 

Ace in the Hole

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Sonos outdoor speaker, wallmount, and Amp. All Bluetooth. Done

Pm'd you.
 

Gonefishin5555

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havasujeeper

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I have my Sonos set outside, next to my mesh wi-fi system, and I can play it anywhere in my yard or even the neighbor's house. Yes, they are pricy, but you get what you pay for.
 

TeamGreene

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I have my Sonos set outside, next to my mesh wi-fi system, and I can play it anywhere in my yard or even the neighbor's house. Yes, they are pricy, but you get what you pay for.
Are you using the S2 app? If so are having issues with it?
 

Cole Trickle

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sonos

I have 3 play 1's on the back patio and 2 in the garage.

I also did the arc sound bar/sub as well as the amp and surround sound in the living room.

Its just too easy sounds great and the app works great.
 

Mr. C

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Okay I get it I’m old. I like to just turn on my amp and select a device. Lol. I am jealous of some your systems. But at the same time I just press power and music happens etc. 😱😱👍😜😂😂🥃🥃
 

TeamGreene

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sonos

I have 3 play 1's on the back patio and 2 in the garage.

I also did the arc sound bar/sub as well as the amp and surround sound in the living room.

Its just too easy sounds great and the app works great.
I recently switched from the S1 to the S2 app and it's failed to find system a few times and drops out in the middle of playing. Never once happened with S1 app. Play bar two play 1's in living room two kicker wired speakers on patio running off sonos amp in living room.
 

MPHSystems

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Sonos is spendy...ain't nuthin simple about that. Nothing like having an actual sub somewhere outside. Shit, I just have a sound bar now with a sub going through my patio TV. Bumps good enough to let the neighbors know wassup. If I really wanna get loud, I'll just turn on my house amp with a 12" Klipsch and patio speakers to round it out. Good enough to shake the house. My patio soundbar has been good enough. 👍
You just pay more money, which should be really simple for anyone who owns a boat.


OP asked for simple, nobody touches sonos in the world of simple.

yes the amps need to be indoors but you can connect them to outdoor box or rock speakers.
 

Cole Trickle

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I recently switched from the S1 to the S2 app and it's failed to find system a few times and drops out in the middle of playing. Never once happened with S1 app. Play bar two play 1's in living room two kicker wired speakers on patio running off sonos amp in living room.

Weird...

I had to run the s1 at my old house even after the s2 came out as i was using the older bridge (non compatible) because my wifi sucked and wouldn't reach the back bbq island.

The new house has a mesh wifi system and I have no issues now and didn't even hook up the "new" boost.

Been running perfect but I started everything here fresh.
 

TeamGreene

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It kept prompting me to download the new app but I read the reviews and thought no way, but adding the amp I was forced to because amp won't work with S1.
 

ONE-A-DAY

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Sonos is awesome but spend. In our last house I had speakers in the garage, living room, kitchen, upper patio, and two rock speakers around the pool, 4 amps, I think I was into it about $5000 with Lorne at Havasu Wiring
 

Bigbore500r

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My in-home and outdoor audio is evolving and is a mixed setup - Some Sonos where it makes sense.

For outdoor I have a Sonos port as a controllable Sonos source (hardwired with Cat6), feeding a "Hand me down" Integra 3-zone big dog receiver that is in a rack in my garage. That rack will eventually house other AV equip for distibution. Those 3 zones from the integra run outside to Niles 5Si rock speakers, hidden in my planters around the pool. Only running 2 zones now (left yard, right yard, 4 speakers). Plan to add 4 more across my "future" covered patio bar, on zone 3.

The integra will be controlled via Elan and integrated into the rest of the house. Sonos will be driven by Elan also, so everything appears as a zone in Elan, regardless of Sonos, non-sonos, etc.
 
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Cray Paper

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Thank you for the input, I'm trying to not overdo this, and am fighting my instincts to do just that with this! I have an old Technics rack system in the garage that can shake my and the neighbors homes, 2100 Watt Denon / Klipsch 7.1 AVR system in the downstairs living room, girlfriend has a nice sound bar setup on the front living room TV and my desktop computer has 2.1 Klipsch sound system. Not looking to piss off the neighbors (would be nice to be able to if the needed though) just want want an easy to use ( for me, kid and girlfriend are way more tech savvy than I), high quality system that works in the shitty weather the PNW gets for 8 months out of the year.

Sound like Sonos with the amp is the way to go.
 

Mike K

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Buy a portable Bluetooth speaker …or 2 and pair them.
They are portable and sound great.
Side note: Unlike when we grew up with killer speakers and beefy amps and all that … todays kids “under 40” all buy the portable speakers now.
Soooo …. If you don’t want to date yourself … check out the Bose Revolver & the JBL Charge.
Ive even seen these portable speakers zipped tied to a bike frame. 🍻
 

2Driver

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So I kept it old school and simple.

Bought an old basic Sherwood receiver with good output power from Kiwanis thrift store for $20

Picked up a Logitech Bluetooth to RCA adapter to connect Iphone or iPad to the receiver

Ran hard wire to these outdoor speakers and buried them in the yard. Had to fish the wire up the wall across the attic and down the outside then small trench to the speaker. Would have been even easier if the receiver was outside I guess.



In the canana at the river house I just had a thrift store good output receiver and Bose outdoor speakers hardwired. The receiver sat in the cabana in a wooden cabinet where we stored boat stuff and cabana float toys where I’m sure it got moist and certainly ripping hot. Always worked, I’m sure it’s still there.
 

Ricks raft

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For quality in simple to use Sonos and Yamaha music cast. Yamaha is slightly less expensive, and I believe still the number one audio manufacturer. They make a single half rack unit(small can be hidden easily) audio receiver with all of the streaming apps, Bluetooth and auxiliary input, Wi-Fi. off the top I head about $499
 

DaytonaBabe

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We have Sonos inside the house and outside as well. Love it. Worth the $ 👍
The little add-on Sonos Roam speaker is perfect for poolside when we're not trying to play reggae for the neighbors too. Lol
 
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