Outdoor Speaker Set Up

I went the Sonos route as well. Sonos Amp linked to Klipsch outdoor speakers under the soffit. I already had Sonos components when I added these. I agree the new Sonos app was horrible. I lost access to my system initially and the new app was buggy and clunky. Updates have fixed the problems.
 
Another option that might apply to some that have a fairly modern Home theater receiver is HEOS. Often some of these receivers will support a separate "room" zone aside from the main x.1 HT TV setup via the HEOS protocol or just thier own proprietary means. You can hook an Echo up to that zone, then run speaker cable to your separate zone. Typically you sacrifice one of the surround channels speaker outs so you may need to drop from 9.1 to 7.1, etc. The main drawback of this is running speaker wire from the HT receiver to your new zone. Seldom is the unit anywhere near the speakers to be placed and running long lengths of wire discretely can be a challenge for some homes. Also, the volume controls may not always be ideal or even remotely adjustable. I pretty much wrote this one off in favor of the dedicated equipment options.
 
JonF said:
Another option that might apply to some that have a fairly modern Home theater receiver is HEOS. Often some of these receivers will support a separate "room" zone aside from the main x.1 HT TV setup via the HEOS protocol or just thier own proprietary means. You can hook an Echo up to that zone, then run speaker cable to your separate zone. Typically you sacrifice one of the surround channels speaker outs so you may need to drop from 9.1 to 7.1, etc. The main drawback of this is running speaker wire from the HT receiver to your new zone. Seldom is the unit anywhere near the speakers to be placed and running long lengths of wire discretely can be a challenge for some homes. Also, the volume controls may not always be ideal or even remotely adjustable. I pretty much wrote this one off in favor of the dedicated equipment options.
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I have this as my set up, but kept to myself because it doesn’t check all the boxes OP is looking for.
That said, I love it.

Denon HEOS/HOME WiFi integrated receiver, run through a 4-channel Tivoli speaker selector with independent volume control and on/off for each channel, essentially setting up 4 zones (screen porch, living room, kitchen, grill area/back porch).

Running the speaker wires wasn’t the worst, and was a better option than supplying power for speakers.

Aside from selecting zones/channels, it can all be controlled through phone app, which is awesome.
And as I said in another thread, I love the HEOS/HOME ecosystem, the receiver is basically like a Roku with lots of apps built in.

Denon also has HOME speakers that can be added- connect via WiFi, and can play same source or different source as the amp, and function as standalone smart speakers. Again also supporting lots of music services.

Edit: most of these do support 2 zones, that I think can be run independently
 
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Thank you all for the input. Ive been going down a rabbit hole.

I'm now leaning towards hardwiring as I believe I have a path to get to the soffit.

Turns out my neighbor is a pretty big audiophile and has amps dating back to the 80's that he runs in his basement. He mirrored most of the recommendations here has he has/or has had them all. His whole house and outside is wire by way of multiple Home Theater amps and multiple Sonos Amps and connect. He highly recommended picking up older gen 2 Sonos Amps on eBay and buying them based on the date code, he's had great success finding the newer versions. When I asked about when he wants use them, how inconvenient it must be to go turn them on in his basement. He said he just leaves them on all the time which was mind blowing to me and he has multiple dehumidifiers to handle the moisture build up.

@JonF those Yamaha speakers might just fit the bill.
 
ekuhn said:
He highly recommended picking up older gen 2 Sonos Amps on eBay and buying them based on the date code, he's had great success finding the newer versions. When I asked about when he wants use them, how inconvenient it must be to go turn them on in his basement
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Just make sure the ones you pick up are S2 compatible.

As for switching the amp, I have my outdoor speaker amp connected to an Insteon on/off switch so I can easily start it all up from my phone. This made sense to me since I was using the Insteon stuff across my house already.
 
So first step complete. Pulled the trigger on the S2 Sonos units from eBay. Wired up my Airport Express to one of them. Got sound out of both via Airplay and through the Sonos App, also hooked it into the switch in my basement to simulate the final product.

Not sure if its my phone or the app, or being in the basement, but it was slow to find the System if I flipped out to a text or what have you. From what I read, the app isn't always the best.

I need to order the speakers and looking to possibly get this all installed Thanksgiving weekend as Hot Tub/ Fire Pit (post state wide ban) season will be upon us. @Mathers I may have some questions that I'll DM you.

IMG_8743.JPEG
 
ekuhn said:
Not sure if its my phone or the app, or being in the basement, but it was slow to find the System if I flipped out to a text or what have you.
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It’s the app. It used to work great and then they completely revamped the app this spring to coincide with a product launch. No surprises, but the app was not ready for prime time so they wound up screwing up a bunch of things. They have been slowly rolling out fixes for them, but that latency getting back into the app is my biggest annoyance by far.

My cynical guess (and purely a guess) would be that the key people involved in the app dev either quit or were fired in the wake of the app shit show that ensued after that release.
 
rlb said:
It’s the app. It used to work great and then they completely revamped the app this spring to coincide with a product launch. No surprises, but the app was not ready for prime time so they wound up screwing up a bunch of things. They have been slowly rolling out fixes for them, but that latency getting back into the app is my biggest annoyance by far.

My cynical guess (and purely a guess) would be that the key people involved in the app dev either quit or were fired in the wake of the app shit show that ensued after that release.
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Isn't there bridge or something that expands the range? I thought I had one for my S1...My S1 stuff is great
 
Cole said:
Isn't there bridge or something that expands the range? I thought I had one for my S1...My S1 stuff is great
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I think the bridge is only required for the S1 stuff, and the earlier versions at that. I used to have one but pretty sure I unplugged it a while ago. Maybe I eBayes it because now that I’m looking at my wall of IT shit I don’t see it.

By the time I move away from the S1 stuff the app was super polished.
 
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