Best setup for outdoor stereo system

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And5555

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Sep 19, 2015
144
Austin, TX
Does anyone have a great setup for outdoor stereo setup that they can recommend? My pool is a little bit away from my covered patio, so it would be great if there's a solution that can be outdoor uncovered.

My only two requirements are bluetooth enabled (which I can do with an adapter) and loud.

Thanks!
 
We love our SONOS speakers. Not rated for outdoor uncovered though. Great sound quality and easy. And you can put as many as you want everywhere and play the same music everywhere or different music in different areas. We have them all over now. We leave 3 of them outside on covered porches.
 
i like the CSW outdoor speakers but never heard of an outdoor-rated amplifier. you may have to build an enclosure for the electronics (e.g. BT-enabled receiver) or leave them indoors. there is speaker wire rated directly for burial, no conduit needed. you won't pass code doing that for mains power though.
 

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Google Chromecast audio is the perfect solution for outdoor audio. It cost 35$ and allows wifi control, tune-in app integration, and recently allows multicasting.(you can use multiple chromecast that will sync) Basically a Sonos for 35$. It's not the same as the chromecast for video and allows hi-def audio... up to 24/96 if you stream from you device and use the optical output. I added Klipsch AW-650's and an old Sony amp for great sound and control.
 
Here is my setup. It's a Raspberry Pi with a Hifiberry DAC running Volumio the amp and speakers are a set from parts-express.com. The amp and raspberry pi are contained in a sprinkler box mounted to the same pole my pool light switch is on. With Volumio you can use a locally attached USB drive or I have it connected to my NAS via Wifi where all my music is at.

IMG_1611.jpg

Speakers and Amp

Sprinkler Box
 
I have Kicker KB6000 speakers tucked up into the underside of the balcony decking and the pool is 25' away. Sounds great. They are wired into the B channel of my receiver in the family room. Hooked up to AppleTV and DirecTV so I can listen to music from AppleTV or watch TV outside. Controlled via smartphone by Harmony Hub.
IMG_7777.jpg
 
So it's funny after several months to come back to this thread that I started and see all of these great ideas.

What I ended up doing I am really happy with. I got 4 rock speakers from Amazon ($100 total) and wired them up (buried wire) through our laundry room into a Denon 4100w receiver. The receiver is way overkill I think, but I got it at a Goodwill auction for $420.

This setup really jams loud. It's awesome.

For future onlookers, I really struggled with which wireless option was best for the iPhone. After wrestling with Bluetooth, I ultimately decided that AirPlay was the best. This is built in to many receivers right now. Only thing is that I had to get a $20 repeater to get my signal out to my pool stronger for streaming. When I start playing music, it turns the receiver on automatically. When my friends come over, I just give them the wifi password and they can play their Spotify playlists.

Thanks for all the ideas.

- - - Updated - - -

Forgot to mention that the reason rock speakers worked really well for my project waste that I had a rock wall already in the landscape and you can't even see them.

Next step is to get a projector screen and projector. :)
 
I second the use of chromecast Audio. I use it with a old garage sale stereo reciever and Yamaha outdoor speakers on the deck and it sounds great. Whole setup cost me maybe $300 including 200 ft of in wall speaker cable as the reciever resides in the living room. The range is only limited by your WIFI range and works with most music streaming services. Best part is the phone battery lasts a long time as the actual streaming is done by the chromecast and the phone is only a remote control. Very easy to setup and use. I'm getting ready to run another pair of speakers to the pool.
 
I do A/V for a living and I think SONOS is the best option, hands down. I will say this, their amps are extremely underwhelming. I have a pair of Speakercraft OE8's connected to an old Yamaha amp with a SONOS connect and it really jams. My backyard is pretty big and I can clearly hear all of the audio from the property line. The only bad part about SONOS is that you have to have a pretty strong network for you to maintain connectivity for control. As always, there are a 10 different solutions that can accomplish the same result. It's all about how much functionality you want.
 

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