Help with outdoor speaker system

  • 7 June 2023
  • 9 replies
  • 806 views
J
Badge

My current set up is a Connect:Amp hooked to a Monoprice 4 speaker selector (https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=9995T) which is then connected to 2 pairs of Polk RCi80 ceiling speakers in my kitchen and one pair of Polk Atrium 6 for my patio. The current system works well as I rarely need to play them all together so in the winter the speaker selector is programmed to my kitchen and in the summer it's programmed to my outdoor speakers

I am building a large covered patio and thinking I can keep my existing set up and replace the Polk Atrium 6's with one pair of outdoor ceiling speaker (non-Sonos brand) and then add another pair for ceiling speakers (also non-Sonos) and that will fill out my speaker selector (2 pairs outside, 2 pairs inside).  The Sonos Connect:Amp is located inside in a media closet and the TV will be outside under a covered patio

I want to add a soundbar to the system so that I can play TV audio out of the soundbar but also hear the TV sound coming from the ceiling speakers as well (less concerned with a proper 5.1 setup but rather thinking if I have the ceiling speakers why not utilize them for the TV as the space is large)

Few questions:

  1. If I add a Sonos soundbar can I somehow group this to my non-Sonos outdoor speakers to get sound out of just my sound bar or combined with my ceiling speakers if I want?
  2. The Sonos Soundbar will be connected via eARC to my TV and will be playing content off of an Apple TV / Shield TV / Roku etc. Does the soundbar somehow wirelessly speak to my Connect:Amp to ‘sync’ the TV sound to the wired speakers in my Connect:Amp?  The Amp and the TV won’t be wired together so I’m confused how they communicate.
  3. Any reason I need to upgrade the amp to the new Sonos one or will my Sonos Connect work just fine? My Connect:AMP is on S2 currently
This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

9 replies

melvimbe
  1. If I add a Sonos soundbar can I somehow group this to my non-Sonos outdoor speakers to get sound out of just my sound bar or combined with my ceiling speakers if I want?

 

You soundbar would be setup as one Sonos room while your Connect Amp will be  a second room, both in the same system. You can group them together as needed to playing streaming music and TV audio, however, they will not be in perfect sync for TV audio.  The speakers connect to the Connect:Amp will be slightly behind for buffering reasons.

 

  1. The Sonos Soundbar will be connected via eARC to my TV and will be playing content off of an Apple TV / Shield TV / Roku etc. Does the soundbar somehow wirelessly speak to my Connect:Amp to ‘sync’ the TV sound to the wired speakers in my Connect:Amp?  The Amp and the TV won’t be wired together so I’m confused how they communicate.

 

The Sonos devices will communicate with each other wirelessly over 2.4GHZ wireless network (either Sonosnet or your WiFi).  That’s the reason for the buffering I mentioned earlier. 

 

  1. Any reason I need to upgrade the amp to the new Sonos one or will my Sonos Connect work just fine? My Connect:AMP is on S2 currently

I would recommend getting a Sonos amp instead of a soundbar actually if at all possible.  The Amp also has a ARC port for use with TV audio, so you could wire the TV directly to the Amp  via ARC (use a longer cable obviously) and have the amp power both pair of outdoor speakers.  Use your current Connect Amp to power the inside speakers A couple positives to this.

  • Sonos soundbars are not built for outdoors.  Amps are not either, but they can be safely inside like your Connect:Amp is.
  • No audio delay for TV audio in your outside speakers.  Your inside speakers don’t need to be in perfect sync with the TV
  • You can play different audio outside than inside, and different volumes
  • You will need to run a long HDMI cable from TV to the amp, but perhaps not an issue since you are already running more speaker wire.  You could also run a 2nd HDMI cable (and maybe IR extender cable) so that your AppleTV, Shield, etc are also safely inside the house.
  • You are splitting the work load of the 4 pairs of speakers to two amps (new Amp being significantly improved), which should give you better audio performance.

 

An amp costs more than a Beam or Ray, but I think you’ll get better results.  Generally, you want audio to come from the direction of the TV, rather than ceiling speakers, but this doesn’t bother me personally in an outdoor area.  You could always use the Polk speakers you already have as front speakers to the sides of the TV.  You could still use the 2 pair of ceiling speakers you were planning if you need to since you have the speaker switch already that the Connect:Amp won’t need it anymore.

 

And something to think about, if you have your  AppleTV, etc located inside the home, perhaps it’s possible to get an HDMI matrix in place so that your single source can feed both the outside TV and inside TV(s) at the same time, so you have both audio and video in sync if you wish.

Danny
J
Badge

Ok thanks for this lengthy response, super helpful. To your point, maybe the best solution is 4 ceiling speakers for the TV connected to a new Sonos amp with no soundbar.  I can then use those for music as well when the TV is not in use and I can repurpose my Connect Amp for indoor speakers only and remove the selector from the equation   I have a few more questions now

  • I will have wired internet out side via a network switch, if I plug the Sonos Arc in to my switch and wire it up, does that help with the delay?
  • I think having an Amp inside connected to the TV would require a really long HDMI run (100+ feet), I guess I can also do it via an HDBaseT / Ethernet run?
  • If I do go that route and just have just 4 ceiling speakers for the TV and music (when the TV is not in use), will this just play in stereo out of all 4 even if the movie I am streaming has a Dolby Digital soundtrack?
  • Can I have the TV on mute and play music out of the speakers at the same time (e.g. put on a baseball game and mute it and have some background music)

 

melvimbe

Ok thanks for this lengthy response, super helpful. To your point, maybe the best solution is 4 ceiling speakers for the TV connected to a new Sonos amp with no soundbar.  I can then use those for music as well when the TV is not in use and I can repurpose my Connect Amp for indoor speakers only and remove the selector from the equation   I have a few more questions now

  • I will have wired internet out side via a network switch, if I plug the Sonos Arc in to my switch and wire it up, does that help with the delay?

 

No, not really.  You can tweak some settings to reduce the delay (and potential risk more drop outs) and some people don’t really notice the delay much...however, it’s really not the right speaker for the job.

 

  • I think having an Amp inside connected to the TV would require a really long HDMI run (100+ feet), I guess I can also do it via an HDBaseT / Ethernet run?

 

I don’t have any experience with that and can’t really recommend for or against that idea.  You definitely need to make sure whatever setup you have supports HDMI ARC.  Some have opted to buy an outdoor enclosure built specifically for the Amp so that it can be placed outside near the TV/speakers and be more protected.  I have not heard any issues with that strategy.

 

  • If I do go that route and just have just 4 ceiling speakers for the TV and music (when the TV is not in use), will this just play in stereo out of all 4 even if the movie I am streaming has a Dolby Digital soundtrack?

 

Yes. If you wanted to setup more of a surround sound setup, you would need 2 amps, one for each pair of speakers. With that setup, the rear speakers would be silent for TV audio that doesn’t have rear surround channels.  For music sources, you can have front and rear play stereo.

Each amp only has left and right speaker connections, but you can connect 2 speakers to each connection as long as they are 8 ohms each (common).  That’s how you can connect 4 speakers to one amp, but is still only 2 audio channels.

 

  • Can I have the TV on mute and play music out of the speakers at the same time (e.g. put on a baseball game and mute it and have some background music)

 

Yes.  Technically, you won’t mute the TV audio, you’ll just switch the audio source to a streaming service or some other audio source, the same way you switch sources with your Connect:Amp currently.

Danny
J
Badge

Ok awesome, so I think the solution is 4 ceiling speakers, a new Sonos amp and then perhaps an enclosure for the amp to shorten an HDMI run

buzz

You’ll have some difficulty finding a 100’ HDMI-ARC cable or HDBaseT over Ethernet that supports HDMI-ARC.

J
Badge

You’ll have some difficulty finding a 100’ HDMI-ARC cable or HDBaseT over Ethernet that supports HDMI-ARC.

Indeed, I think an enclosure is the only way

J
Badge

Actually I am going to use an ARC capable HDBaseT and run the ARC connection over ethernet so no need for long HDMI runs.  I need to run network wires anyways so this will solve that problem

melvimbe

Actually I am going to use an ARC capable HDBaseT and run the ARC connection over ethernet so no need for long HDMI runs.  I need to run network wires anyways so this will solve that problem

 

I would try and do some testing on this plan before fully committing to it if possible.  It may not work well, or it may work but add a significant delay to the audio.

Danny
J
Badge

Actually I am going to use an ARC capable HDBaseT and run the ARC connection over ethernet so no need for long HDMI runs.  I need to run network wires anyways so this will solve that problem

 

I would try and do some testing on this plan before fully committing to it if possible.  It may not work well, or it may work but add a significant delay to the audio.

Why would HDMI signal over Cat6 have a delay vs just over HDMI?

Terms & ConditionsCookie settings