Looking for a cost effective music system for covered patio.

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woodyp said:
Please explain this.........."double up"...........technology to me to let you use more than 1 bluetooth speaker. Does it have to be two of the same ones with this "built in" so to speak? Is it a software app, or what?
Click to expand...

This is a new Bluetooth technology that my company is rolling out. No names...but basically we hacked Bluetooth to allow multiple speakers connected to one source...kinda. One speaker acts as the connection, and the second speaker connects to that one. It's a hybrid approach (we can actually do 1:7:7:7:7) but basic Bluetooth from phone (source) to speaker(sink) only allows 1:1.... But multi master allows 1:7:7 etc....the BT standard says only one device can connect to the phone as a master phone...but it doesn't say anything about the connecting speaker becoming a hub :) but it's all in the buffering of the audio stream.

oh...and we also have a way to connect 7 phones to one speaker so the family can fight over who's music is playing (super annoying!)
 
I purchased a pair of Russound outdoor speakers from Best Buy for about $150. They are MAGNOLIA certified through that store. I have them connected to my A/V receiver that I use for my home theater. That way I can just plug in my iPod or iPhone and use iTunes radio and listen to my purchased music or the different radio stations available. And these speakers rock!
 
My upstairs receiver has three powered zones, so I simply ran wires from Zone 2 to my Def Tech outdoor speakers (around $500 for the speakers I believe). I have Zone three going to garage speakers, so I'm pretty well covered if I'm working on projects or just lounging around. I can control everything from my phone/tablet and can listen to internet radio, pandora, stream music directly from my phone, etc. I've generally had negative experiences with Bluetooth speakers, so I prefer everything to be hardwired if possible.
 
This is a great thread and exactly what I was looking for. So a thank you to everyone.

Here is what I am looking to do. My pool and patio/outdoor kitchen is under construction right now (http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/93033-New-Pool-Build-League-City-TX-Help-and-opinions-welcome). My builder will install and wire for any speakers that I supply him. I am thinking of 2 speakers inside the ceiling of the 25'x15'. I could go with recessed speakers, but I really like the Definitive Tech AW6500 or 5500 Outdoor Speakers from what I've read. So 2 of the Definitive Tech speakers in the patio and then 2 Niles RS8Si rock speakers in the landscaping.

I would connect the 4 outdoor speakers to an amplifier inside the house that I would connect to a SONOS Connect (buying that soon) so that I could connect the whole system to my indoor Sonos. What do you think? IMG_1293.jpg
 
Like many of you, I wired my patio speakers back to an indoor receiver. Besides the built-in AM/FM that the receiver provided, I had an XM satellite radio tied into it. Worked great, but I got tired of running in to change sources, etc.

I had tried one of the wireless outdoor bluetooth speakers that I picked up at Lowes, and while it worked well, it didn't give me stereo (you can't pair to more than one device/speaker at a time). It also had fairly limited range (bluetooth typically has a 30' range).

Then, a couple of summers ago, I bought a Miccus Home RTX Long Range Bluetooth Transmitter/Receiver, which I put into receive mode, and attached to one of my receiver's inputs. I had an old iPad that I repurposed to hold nothing but my music files. Now, pairing my iPad to the Miccus allows me to wirelessly control my music from my patio, and I can set the volume level from the iPad. Fidelity is great.

An added bonus is that, in conjunction with my home's WiFi, I've also downloaded and use the Sirius/XM and Amazon Prime Music apps, giving me virtually unlimited content. One thing led to another, and I've since added a Slingbox inside, and with their app, can also watch all my cable channels on the patio, too, if I just want to kick back of an evening.

But whatever the source from my iPad (I call it my PatioPad), it all connects via the Miccus Bluetooth and routes all audio to my patio speakers.

I've been thinking of turning in the iPad's heavy duty Otterbox case for a waterproof one, then I could take it into the spa...

Note that my Miccus and receiver is in the family room, just inside from the patio, but it seems to have longer than normal range, as advertised, as I can walk to the gazebo on the far side of the pool with no signal loss.
 
I used to have two outdoor speakers under our patio and two pool speakers connected to zone 2 on my Onkyo 7.2 receiver inside the house. They each had their own separate in wall volume control that impedance matched so I could run two speakers off each channel for 4 speakers total. It worked fine.
Then about two years ago, I wanted to revamp everything. I got a new receiver for inside the house and had another old 7.1 receiver from a friend.
Now I have 5.1 surround in the patio covered area where the TV is (2 front, 2 back, center channel and a subwoofer) for truly awesome movie nights, I added two speakers each to one of two arbor areas and upped the power to all the speakers by giving each their own separate channel. Each pair of speakers has its own in wall volume control.
I did this by using the main receiver as the 5.1 system and running the second receiver as the unpowered zone 2 from the main receiver - the main passes rca signals to the sub receiver which operates in 7 channel stereo. It is all hooked in to an Apple Airport Express that we stream wirelessly to from our phones, ipad, etc. Each
What all this means is that I have 11 speakers plus a subwoofer that can all be playing the same source at one master volume but you can adjust each zone manually with the volume control down from that volume. Keeps it simple because you don't have to break open the phone to adjust the volume that way.
Also, the TV area can be playing a movie, etc. and the arbors and pool speakers can be playing music simultaneously at their own independent volume.
We live in the country so it can be played as loud as I want. I LOVE this setup. It is really convenient, didn't cost much (you can get multichannel dedicated amps but they are expensive as heck) since I already had most of the gear and it is perfect for what we need. I also have more channels available if I can figure out where to put more speakers!

The one thing I will say is that if you don't have a subwoofer outside, add one before anything else. It makes the music sound so much better.

If I were you, I'd add all the wiring now to hook up full 5.1 or 7.1 system plus subwoofer in your new patio. It is cheap to run now and you will have the option if you wan to add more speakers later.
 
Also, in my experience it is better to have a larger system playing at less than its max volume vs. having a smaller system turned all the way up to try to get the appropriate volume from it.

I initially undersized my system and regretted it. Not that I needed it louder, bit I WANTED it louder. I ended up redoing it because of that reason. I did it all myself, including the wiring and it would have been much easier to just get all the extra wires run the first time and add speakers as I desired.

Good luck and I'm sure you will enjoy whatever you end up going with.
 

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Im a polk guy. Run two of their stereo surround speakers and buy a cheap receiver. If you decide to do add ons later like connecting them to TV or adding full 5.1 etc... you will have no problem.

Ive seen name brand recievers with built in wifi and bluetooth for $300-400. Worth the investment for an outdoor setup. Good stereo surround speakers are about $300-400 as well. The rest is plug and play and concealing wires.
 
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