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I’m currently looking to begin my outdoor landscaping project and that comes with installing my outdoor speakers. There is no doubt these speakers will tie in to my home system as it currently has 9 amps. 2 arcs, and a port powering various different areas throughout my home. That being said I am tossed up and quite frankly not educated enough to make the right decision.

 

Best Buy is currently packaging and selling the Sonance MAG series with an Amp at some pretty great prices. My confusion comes with the pricing. To the naked eye, the Mag 4.1 system and amp is $2,700 while the 6.1 system is $1,500. My fear comes that the power on the 6.1 will not be sufficient and being that the yard is very large, and there are no neighbors nearby, I want some good volume. The 4.1 system is rated for 250W @ 8 ohms while the 6.1 is 150W @ 5ohms. Can someone shed any light and knowledge on this for me? Which is the best system for me? Should I forgo the amp and use a port with a more powerful amplifier?(I’d prefer not as the amp is significantly superior to any port even with “works with sonos” compatibility) 

 

Some extra info: all my tech is stored in a very large home server rack and I do all installs myself. Whatever is powering my system will also be stored in there. Ultimately, I will need 4 outdoor systems. 1 will power a small private garden, the one I am currently installing is going around a large pool and deck area, one will surround a second lower level with outdoor kitchen, and the final is currently powering two ceiling speakers above a covered hottub.(If anyone has tried the sonance extreme series, let me know if they are worth it!)

 

Thanks for all the help everyone, any light that can be shed on this topic would be very helpful.

I don’t know that either of those two systems is a good option to use with the Sonos Amp.  The Amp is designed primarily to use with 2 8 Ohm speakers, and can be used with 4 8 ohm speakers (presented 4 Ohm to the amp).  Neither of those fit Sonos requirements.  That said, I see that Best Buy is selling this speaker sets bundled with Sonos amp….so IDK.

Also, people have mixed feelings about using a sub outdoors.  They generally don’t work as well, and from what I’ve seen, many of these speaker packages have speakers that don’t goes as low as normal outdoor speakers, while the sub makes up the difference.  The result is that you aren’t really getting much better range than normal outdoor speakers alone.  Then again, I don’t have a setup like this, so perhaps it does create a better environment.

I used to use 4 pair of speakers (Polk Audio Atriums)  + 3rd party amp + connect (port) for my backyard.  It was good, but became difficult to deal with when I added a TV.  The Sonos amp was a much cleaner setup and easier to use.  No issues with that, although I added a 2nd amp + outdoor ceiling speakers and 2nd TV later on...kind of because I could.  The old 3rd party amp + port are now in the garage, because it’s what I had.  

Not that it’s terribly relevant here, but my Atriums are not mounted under the eaves of the house.  I put them on fence posts out in the landscaping, facing inwards.  That was to keep music from going in the neighbors yard too much, avoiding drowning conversations near the house, and because I don’t care for music coming from the ground as much.  It blended into the landscaping pretty good...till the great freeze killed everything.  :disappointed_relieved:  The speakers work just fine though, through freezes and hurricanes.

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