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Sonos One for sheltered outdoor use

  • 18 May 2020
  • 3 replies
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G
Userlevel 2
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Hi folks,

I have a few old Sonos devices that aren’t S2 compatible. After screaming “whyyyy” into the night for a while I’ve decided this may be an opportunity to adjust and streamline my setup.

My two Play:5 Gen1s are a no brainier. The new Sonos Fives it is.

Bye bye bridges (one still brand new in the box). Just switched the router cable from the bridge to the Playbase today and things seem to be working OK. In fact I think grouping/ungrouping rooms is a bit quicker. Maybe the bridge was a pinch point for some of the processing required. Or it’s just a notion of me. Anyway, I had the bridge on a shelf about 4 feet above the Playbase so hoping the SonosNet mesh holds up without it, especially with my outdoor plans.

lastly, and the point for the post, I currently have a Connect AMP (ZP120, circa 2010) driving a pair of Monitor Audio Climate 50 speakers. I only purchased the ZP120 (2nd hand) and Speakers last July, which added to the level of screaming above. At the time I couldn’t justify the cost of the amp, and even with the 30% off via trade up I still can’t. Previously I had been taking a Play:1 outside and was more than happy with the sound from it but just wanted a more permanent solution. What I’m considering now is a Sonos One mounted under a glass veranda roof and just wondering what he community think on the following points:

  1. From what I gather it is “humidity” proof/resistant so should be fine as rain will never reach it, unless the veranda collapses and then I’ll have more things to be worried about. For some extra protection I could silicon seal around the power inlet as I’m planning to mount upside-down. 
  2. I’m in Northern Ireland so can get quite humid here although never any extreme temperatures. The specs state operating temperatures from 0-40 degC. It does go below 0 some times but not often, and not by any more than a few degrees. Although the air temperature would never reach 40 here I would imagine it could get a bit toasty under that glass roof. Maybe having the white one would provide some protection against excessive heat absorption in the summer and heat loss during the winter? I could also fashion a sun shade for it I guess but would rather not spoil the look.
  3. I can route the power from an internal socket (out of sight above a kitchen unit) or install an external waterproof socket. The internal socket would be a neater solution.
  4. I’m planning to mount upside-down using the Flexson bracket, although I notice the new One doesn’t have the rear mounting screw so wondering how secure a hold it would have on the Sonos One? It can get windy here regularly (~60mph winds) and some, not all, of that could rattle the speaker if not secured properly.
  5. I’m thinking the One rather than One SL as it would be handy to have voice control when lounging on the patio. Not sure how good the voice control is outdoors? I appreciate it won’t hear me from the other side of the garden but hopefully as long as I’m in the patio area within about 5m of the speaker, and the neighbourly cows are keeping the noise down, it would still work?

Thanks for reading this far. I totally appreciate that the AMP and passive speakers are the proper way to do this but as mentioned I just can’t justify the cost of this at the moment. It seems a bit overkill for my current use. As well as looking much neater the Play:1, and I assume the One, sounds surprisingly good in an outdoor setting. In fact I prefer it to the Monitor Audio 50s at the levels I listen at. 

Thanks in advance for any replies :relaxed:

Stephen

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Best answer by GleannanIolair 10 July 2020, 14:42

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3 replies

Airgetlam

No idea why this forum waited until today to show me your post. But some comments, if not answers to all of your post. 
 

The BRIDGE was a SonosNet 1 device. Almost all subsequent to devices, including your PLAYBASE can use either SonosNet 1 or SonosNet 2. Think of them as the difference between 802.11b and 802.11g. Sort of similar, but the latter can be much ‘quicker’.

 

  1. I think mounting a device not rated for outside use in an outside environment would void any warranty for the device. The concern I see is that rain doesn’t just go down, it often goes sideways. The Sonos One is rated for humidity, not for wetness. To my knowledge, the only Sonos device that is rated for wetness is the Sonos Move.
  2.  All of the concerns in 1. And yes, white would reflect sun absorption better than black. But I don’t think this makes sense, I think you’re better off with true outside rated speakers, using a Sonos Amp to drive them. 
  3. This would be a question of electrical code. I have no idea what the codes are in Ireland, sorry. Ask an licensed electrician.
  4. I’ve never purchased a Flexson mount for the Sonos One, although I’ve had them for the Sonos PLAY:1. Given the quality of those, my suspicion is they would hold just fine. Flexson, being based in the UK, might be willing to give you more guidance. 
  5. No idea. I think it depends on the Wi-Fi connection, and the microphone capabilities, but I would expect 5 meters outside is fairly, although not exactly, similar to 5 meters inside. 
     

In summary, I don’t encourage this, in the slightest, I think it is rife with opportunity for failure and electrical dangers. I’d encourage you to consider a different direction. 

Bruce
Jean C.
Userlevel 5
Badge +16

Hello @GleannanIolair,

Welcome to the Sonos Community and thank you for reaching out with your question.

I’m glad that you were able to come down off the roof-tops and take the opportunity to upgrade some of your equipment. 

The choice of which speakers to get and where to place them tends to be subjective and personal but I can offer you some advice as someone who has done a fair amount of troubleshooting on these systems. If you were having any playback or audio difficulties, the Bridge was very likely at the root of this. They have become functionally obsolete as many other Sonos products can perform the same office more reliably and the Boost we now offer instead is far more powerful in case your Playbase is situated in such a place that it’s not the best first-wire option. If you are interested, you can submit a diagnostic report and I’d be happy to check things over for you. 

As far as your outdoor set-up is concerned, I could understand not wanting spend for an Amp (although they are nice) I’m not sure that keeping a Sonos One outdoors year round is a good idea unless you had a pretty good roof over it’s head. While they are “humidity proof” I’m not sure that they are Irish humidity proof nor can I say with any certainty that you will never see 40C in that part of the world going forward. If you are in love with the idea, make sure that you are able to reach and remove the speaker in case of any conditions that could adversely effect the speaker and/or void the warranty.  It’s also important to remember that the integrated voice services are only as smart and capable as the internet connection they have. 

 

Have you considered a Move? It’s a little more expensive but far more versatile and properly weather proof. 

I’d be interest to know what some of out other users might think since there are more than a few professionals and enthusiasts here that may be willing to offer some insight from outside the proverbial box.        

 

ETA @Airgetlam is following me again. *waves hi*.

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G
Userlevel 2
Badge +2

Thanks @Airgetlam & @Jean C. for taking the time to reply and share your thoughts.

Just to update I went ahead with a white Sonos One for outdoor and went the bit extra to get the official Sonos mount instead of the Flexson. It just seemed a bit sturdier and as I was mounting upside down I liked the idea that it has a “full wrap” approach which is also screwed. Seems very well made and also very easy to lift off the mounting plate and take inside when there’s a run of bad weather. 

During the unusual warm spell of weather we had recently (air temp ~23-25) I was checking the temperature on the top of the speaker (actually the bottom of the mount cover if you know what I mean) and it barely made it above 30 degrees so I think I’m safe there. 

The voice control works surprisingly well outdoors. I tend to just use it to skip tracks and adjust volumes.

Haven't noticed any network drop outs as yet so looks like the mesh is holding up nicely. The closest speaker to it is the Play5 Gen1 which I’ll be changing out for the Five soon so that should help rather than hinder I guess.

Lastly I continue to be impressed with the sound quality of this little speaker outdoors, especially the bass depth/response. Maybe the veranda roof (glass) is helping to bounce the acoustics in the right way but the Monitor Audio Climate 50s were mounted in the same location and the difference between them was significant. Appreciate everyone has different tastes.

So I’m happy for now. Will be interesting to see what the next year brings. 

Cheers,

Stephen

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