I've read too many forums and have my self confused. Below are my details and questions. Any input would be extremely helpful!
Speaker Locations:
1. 3 zones w/ two speakers each: Kitchen, Dining Room and Back Patio. The wires for these three zones terminate in a utility closet near the kitchen and family room.
2. Home Theatre: 5.1 surround setup, with the two rear speakers in the ceiling. The wires for these speakers all terminate in a cabinet by the TV in the family room.
Other / Misc. Info:
1. Family room TV on wall, HDMI wires fished through wall into cabinet with speaker wires, etc.
2. Xfinity / Comcast box is in cabinet.
3. 4K Ultra HD Blu Ray is in cabinet.
4. Outdoor TV on back patio. Has cable running to it and CAT-5
5. House is (mostly) wired w/ CAT-5 and switch is in upstairs closet (this was done by previous owner)
6. CAT-5 is loose-end in utility closet and in TV cabinet
7. Xfinity modem / WiFi is located upstairs near switch
8. We use Amazon Echo / Alexa
9. Music streaming is mostly Amazon and iTunes, also MLB app and some other misc ones
10. Save kids shows and movies using Comcast box/DVR
11. Streaming has only been Netflix (so far)
Goals:
1. Four speaker zones for audio: Kitchen, Dining Room, Back Patio and rear in-ceiling speakers from surround system
2. Play same music in all four zones at once.
3. Play TV sound (ie baseball games, etc.) to all four zones at once.
4. Play music and TV sound in independent zones (ie kids watching TV with surround, different music in dining room, different music outside)
5. Cable access on outside TV
6. Is it possible to get the outside TV to play audio on outside speakers? (I’ve been told no before…)
7. Is it possible to somehow play a blu-ray movie from the player in the TV cabinet to the outside TV?
What I was thinking of doing:
1. Install three Sonos Connect AMP in utility closet
2. Install Sonos Connect in TV cabinet
3. Do I need a Sonos Boost?
4. Install Denon AVRS930H as AV receiver
5. Install Panasonic 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray Player in TV cabinet
6. One Xfinity cable box in TV cabinet
7. One Xfinity cable box for outside TV (if I need to do this?)
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Many ways to hook this all up. If this were me, from a cost and ease of use standpoint I would do the following..
Use a good quality 5.1 receiver for the living room with a Sonos Connect. The receiver should obviously have enough inputs for all your components including the connect.
Sonos Connect for other zones wired into a multizone amp. This will give you full control for all other zones including independent volume.
This setup will not give you the ability to play different sources in different zones, other than the TV room. If this is truely important you would need to scrap the connect and multizone amp in the other three zones and go with three connect Amps one for each zone. Sounds expensive.
Use a good quality 5.1 receiver for the living room with a Sonos Connect. The receiver should obviously have enough inputs for all your components including the connect.
Sonos Connect for other zones wired into a multizone amp. This will give you full control for all other zones including independent volume.
This setup will not give you the ability to play different sources in different zones, other than the TV room. If this is truely important you would need to scrap the connect and multizone amp in the other three zones and go with three connect Amps one for each zone. Sounds expensive.
Hi Mike,
Sounds like a complicated setup but I think it just sounds that way.
First point to simplify your needs is to separate music from TV and deal with each separately. You can then look into bridging them later.
Another caveat is that I am assuming cost is not an option, otherwise it gets more complicated as your options increases.
1, For your music needs in the 3 zones, you will need a connect amp for each zone. This will allow you to listen to the same stream across all 3 zones or listen to a separate stream in each or any combinations in all 3. The connect amps will be located in the utility closet. Do you have CAT5 cables there?
2, For your Home Theatre: 5.1 surround setup, you have not specified what type it is except it will be driven by Denon AVRS930H as AV receiver. Are you planning on having a play bar or play base in the mix? If not you cannot natively communicate with the rest of your audio speakers. you will need a connect attached to a suitable audio out and in ports on the AV receiver. this will allow you to play your TV sound across all 3 audio zones although I would expect it to be slightly out of sync with the 5.1 speakers it also will allow you to play any of your audio stream across your 5.1 speaker set. Not sure about just the 2 rear speakers though as that will depend on you AV receiver.
Same will apply to you Patio TV (How are those speakers connected to the TV). if you want Audio from it playing across your other speakers you will need a connect there as well
With regards to your plan
1. Install three Sonos Connect AMP in utility closet (This is fine)
2. Install Sonos Connect in TV cabinet (This is fine)
3. Do I need a Sonos Boost? (Depends on if you will be hard wiring one of the connects via CAT5 if not then yes)
4. Install Denon AVRS930H as AV receiver (This is fine)
5. Install Panasonic 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray Player in TV cabinet (This is fine)
6. One Xfinity cable box in TV cabinet (This is fine)
7. One Xfinity cable box for outside TV (if I need to do this?) (This is fine)
I hope this helps
Sounds like a complicated setup but I think it just sounds that way.
First point to simplify your needs is to separate music from TV and deal with each separately. You can then look into bridging them later.
Another caveat is that I am assuming cost is not an option, otherwise it gets more complicated as your options increases.
1, For your music needs in the 3 zones, you will need a connect amp for each zone. This will allow you to listen to the same stream across all 3 zones or listen to a separate stream in each or any combinations in all 3. The connect amps will be located in the utility closet. Do you have CAT5 cables there?
2, For your Home Theatre: 5.1 surround setup, you have not specified what type it is except it will be driven by Denon AVRS930H as AV receiver. Are you planning on having a play bar or play base in the mix? If not you cannot natively communicate with the rest of your audio speakers. you will need a connect attached to a suitable audio out and in ports on the AV receiver. this will allow you to play your TV sound across all 3 audio zones although I would expect it to be slightly out of sync with the 5.1 speakers it also will allow you to play any of your audio stream across your 5.1 speaker set. Not sure about just the 2 rear speakers though as that will depend on you AV receiver.
Same will apply to you Patio TV (How are those speakers connected to the TV). if you want Audio from it playing across your other speakers you will need a connect there as well
With regards to your plan
1. Install three Sonos Connect AMP in utility closet (This is fine)
2. Install Sonos Connect in TV cabinet (This is fine)
3. Do I need a Sonos Boost? (Depends on if you will be hard wiring one of the connects via CAT5 if not then yes)
4. Install Denon AVRS930H as AV receiver (This is fine)
5. Install Panasonic 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray Player in TV cabinet (This is fine)
6. One Xfinity cable box in TV cabinet (This is fine)
7. One Xfinity cable box for outside TV (if I need to do this?) (This is fine)
I hope this helps
Contemplative,
Thanks for your input! This is very helpful. At least I know I'm on the right track.
To answer some of your questions:
Yes, there is CAT 5 in the utility closet where the Connect AMPs will be.
Didn't plan on using a play bar or play base in the home theater system. Was just going to use existing speakers, unless there is a significant benefit to making the change.
No speakers are attached to the outdoor TV. I'm guessing I wont be able to get the audio from the TV to the outdoor speakers unless I add a connect to the outdoor TV. This may be a later part of the project if i can get the indoor system dialed in first.
Thanks again!
Mike
Thanks for your input! This is very helpful. At least I know I'm on the right track.
To answer some of your questions:
Yes, there is CAT 5 in the utility closet where the Connect AMPs will be.
Didn't plan on using a play bar or play base in the home theater system. Was just going to use existing speakers, unless there is a significant benefit to making the change.
No speakers are attached to the outdoor TV. I'm guessing I wont be able to get the audio from the TV to the outdoor speakers unless I add a connect to the outdoor TV. This may be a later part of the project if i can get the indoor system dialed in first.
Thanks again!
Mike
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