Sonos Port & AV Receiver Zones

How many speakers are you installing for the kitchen, patio, and bath? Do you want each of these rooms to act as a separate zone?

Yes I would like each to be a separate zone. Kitchen, patio and bath will be a pair of speakers for each. 
 

I’m wondering if it would be possible to use a 7.1 receiver with 1x Sonos Port for living room 5.1 on Zone A and then Kitchen on Zone B. That way I can watch tv on the main zone and stream music on the second zone through Sonos port Or use the Sonos port on main zone and second zone at the same time. 
 

if this is possible then that would be one less Sonos amp to purchase?

If you wired your 5.1 system and pair of kitchen speakers to the 7.1 receiver, will the receiver allow you to control those two channels in the kitchen separately? If so, then it could work. But if not, the best option would be to get a Port for your living room setup and three Amps - one for the kitchen, one for the patio, and one for the bathroom.

I’m researching receivers now and it seems that if the receiver has to have a powered zone 2

I wouldn’t try and squeeze an extra zone into your system by mixing a multizone receiver with Sonos zones.  It’s going to be a more complicated setup that isn’t as easily controlled and enjoyed.  If budget is a concern, than I might look into using Sonos speakers instead of amp+ceiling speakers in some locations.  You can always put in speaker wire to switch things up at a later date when budget allows.

if you have a receiver that can power two zones, like said above, is there any drawback in having two sonos ports? one serving the main 5.1 living area and a second serving a pair of speakers in another room? two ports is certainly cheaper than a port and an amp. 

But they do different things, so it depends on what is required.  If the other pair of speakers are active (amplified) speakers or have a conventional amplifier  they require a second Port to run them as a separate ‘room.  If they are just passive speakers playing a separate stream they require an Amp.

If the same stream is to play on both zones from the existing receiver, then just a single Port is needed.

all speakers would be hooked up to the receiver, so they’re all passive. can two ports suffice in that case? 

the overall question is intended to ask if the receiver zones can effectively act as the amp while the port is the device pushing and syncing music between them.

That doesn’t make much sense to me I’m afraid.  If the receiver is capable of playing speakers in two ‘zones’, but they are playing a single stream, and that is what you want, then all you need is one Port.

If the receiver can play different streams from two different input sources, then you need two Ports if you want to play those streams from Sonos.

If the receiver can only play one stream and you want to play different music for the two sets of speakers, then you could just use the Port and receiver for one room, and get an Amp to run the passive speakers in the other room.

I think it really depends on the receiver in question, whether it can do that well, and whether or not your comfortable with that level of control.  Part of the advantage of using Sonos is the ability to use the Sonos app/voice control to change sources, volume, etc.  If your relying on a receiver for two zones as you suggestion, you will likely need to have volume, possibly input control, done through the receiver.  It makes it more complicated.

So I would personally rather just pay the extra for a Port and Amp rather than 2 ports.