Sonos as movie audio for backyard theater

Ouch. Not terribly practical. Are you looking for just stereo, or a full 5.1 setup?

Having asked that, I'm not even sure that a 5.1 setup can be done, to my knowledge there's no way to extract a 5.1 signal from the Sonos ecosystem.

What Sonos are you using for getting sound to the Amp and then the speakers? I have to assume that it's a Connect but if I'm wrong, it would be helpful to know that.

Stereo could be done, but you need to be aware that there's a delay when moving analog audio in to the Sonos ecosystem. So you'd end up probably needing another Connect, since you don't want to run wires between the computer and the Connect that is attached to your amp. You'd get a headphone to RCA cable, and run it from the headphone jack in the notebook (either PC or Mac, doesn't matter) to the analog on the new Connect. Once it's processed the signal (that ~70ms delay I mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph), it could then be sent wirelessly to the other Connect and then played through the speakers you already have. Some people might be bothered by that ~70ms delay, others might not.

There is another option, perhaps a tad more complex. If you can run HDMI out of the notebook computer, you could connect it to a audio extractor box (look on these boards, there are plenty of discussions about them, I don't use one, but Flexson has one) and then from that you would take the HDMI to the projector and the optical cable to the Playbar. You could then "group" the other Connect with the Playbar. The Playbar would be in sync, but the grouped speakers would have the ~70ms delay, which would sound odd, but at least you're getting the sound to them. You could mute the Playbar at that point, and just use the other speakers, with the delay.

You're really trying to do something that isn't what the Sonos devices are designed for. It makes it hard to come up with a practical solution. As someone else suggests, you're trying to go off-roading in a Ferrari. Yes, it has four wheels and an engine, but it's not really designed to go off-road.

Hi and thanks for the reply. I'm going to be showing kids movies to kids on an outdoor screen, so I don't really care about surround sound and don't expect to achieve it. I just want functional audio that the kids can hear.

I do have a connect. I actually have another connect in another part of the house that I don't use much, so option 1 might work. Not sure about the delay but I could try it.

I don't have a playbar so option 2 doesn't look as good. I'm trying to avoid buying more equipment (beyond the big projection screen). This is just something we'll do now and then and I've already got enough speakers. I have considered buying a 30W bluetooth speaker and having it handle all of the sound, but my guess it that it wouldn't be adequate, as this is a big area and the kids will be noisy. I've got an unused Onkyo receiver, so I've also considered buying some sort of 5.1 setup to use for the outdoor movies, but as mentioned I just don't want to buy more speakers. Besides the expense, this is all I'd use them for and I'd have to store them somewhere.

I get that this isn't what Sonos is designed to do. But I've got a backyard full of speakers that are connected to a Sonos, so if I can make it work, it would be nice!

A follow up question to make sure I understand: I get connecting the sonos to my notebook PC, but then how do I get that audio to the other Sonos and the speakers that are connected to it?

Also, it appears VLC player can correct for delays in audio so once I get the movie started I should be able to make adjustments.

You'd set the playback room for the line in on the PC connected Connect as the other Connect. I suppose you could just Group them, but not having one, I'm unsure as to whether that option exists. But for the Line-in on my Play:5 which is the same functionality as a Connect, you can assign the "room" where the line-in plays. It doesn't have to be in the same device. I have reminded quite a few people to think of a Line-in to be a separate device, that can be played anywhere on the Sonos ecosystem, not just the device it is part of.

I've done a modified version of what Airgetlam is suggesting as option 1. I have my outdoor speakers connected to the sonos system (CONNECT:AMP in my case, but irrelevant). I placed an echo dot outside along with a CONNECT then group the CONNECT with my outdoor speakers. Same situation as yours, just replace the dot with your laptop. It worked, but the sound wasn't as good quality wise as playing a sonos music source directly. Also, I can't speak to the audio delay since I wasn't matching it with video.

I've also done the second option. I have a playbar connect to the tv, then grouped the sound in that playbar zone to my outdoor sound. Thus I get tv sound outside. Again, not watching video so I can't speak for the delay.

A third option, is to connect the projector to your main tv, instead of using a laptop. Assuming you have some sort of amp/receiver where a CONNECT can get the audio out. In that scenario you can group your main tv audio to the outdoor speakers. Now all you need is a long hdmi cable from the tv to your projector. You do have the hdmi cable as potential tripping point, you will still have the audio delay and you won't be able to play something different inside and out. However, you get the advantage of having everything in sync (essentially) between inside and outside, and can play anything your tv can get (sports/shows/movies), not just what you have on the laptop.

And getting a good Bluetooth speaker isn't a horrible idea. They are great for things like this as well as using away from home.

But I would go with option 1 first to see how it works, since you have the equipment already.

Depending on what video player you use on the laptop, most have a way to sync video with audio by delaying one or the other till they are in sync. I know VLC Player does this very well and it is free. That will compensate for the line-in delay on the Connect. Just do a trial run to adjust the delay before the big show.