JPete9 Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 I have a mate who is looking for a simple solution to the following for 2 channel passive listening. 3 zones of or music. Imputs are streaming youtube, apple music or spotify from mobiles and ipads. 2 zones are adjacent and will play same music at the same time. 3rd zone needs to be able to play a different source. These areas are semi outdoors. eg bar, dining and firepit. Sometimes wants to play it loud. Havent selected speakers yet. Is an AV receiver with Spotify and Airplay and maybe an appletv/airport express going to the simple, lowish cost and fair decent solution for this? Any recommendations for use devices to handle this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoopy8 Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 Suggest looking at Sonos or Bluesound. They are designed for multi zone, easy to set up and easy to use. Just plug them in, follow the App instruction to connect to WiFi and you are ready to go. Will cover all requirements but may be more than budget. These will give your mate trouble free music to be used with phones and tablets. Most AVRs will not do a third zone and they are not flexible. Requires setup and Apps are not easy to use. Denon Heos and a Denon AVR can do the job, but not as easy to setup and use. Yamaha have something similar. Unless your mate already owns one, suggest not taking this route. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Old Man Rubber Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 If Kogan are still selling the refurbished Chromecast Audio devices, they are excellent for this kind of thing. Can be grouped arbitrarily too and they fairly recently integrated them with the HDMI chromecasts. I have two Chromecast Audio in my house (each on an older system, one running optical, the other plain RCA with an adapter). Lounge has a chromecast, plus there are a few of those little Nest speakers lying around. I have a couple of different groups and one big one called "Music" that uses all the devices. They seem to have solved the sync issues too so you can move seamlessly around the house and have the same thing coming out everywhere. It's very neat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPete9 Posted November 17, 2020 Author Share Posted November 17, 2020 You guys mean a chromecast or bluesound plugged into an amp? I was thinking, what amp will be able to easy power this, trouble free. Rather than running A and B speakers on a regular amp, better to look at receivers that have multiple amps for this stuff and the spotify and airplay built it? But as you say, failing the built in, Chrome-cast solves it easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoopy8 Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 I think you should reconsider your proposed setup. Why have amp, cabling, separate speakers? Sonos and Bluesound Pulse are standalone units, no need for amps, using wireless (no cabling). Just connect to power and use phone/tablet App to setup. You cannot get more trouble free than that. And I can vouch for local Sonos support (Sydney?). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPete9 Posted November 17, 2020 Author Share Posted November 17, 2020 I was looking at these ;last night, does look nice, assume it has enough power for the space, these are not tiny space, more your small warehouse or very large room space. They seem to get very spendy very quickly. Plus we already have 2 pairs of speakers mounted. So will continue to look into your suggestion, but also need to explore the gumtree sourced used options of something like a receiver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPete9 Posted November 23, 2020 Author Share Posted November 23, 2020 Seems like the Hyberboom is fairly affordable and designed for larger spaces. he is going to try these. I did a search on this forum, they dont get a mention. Has anyone tried them in person. Loud in large spaces, good enough sound? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoopy8 Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 First time I have read about Hyperboom. I have Sonos Play 5 in a large open plan family room with high ceilings and no problems getting them loud. Agree, dollars mount up quickly. But with fuss free setup, trouble free operation for many years and easy to use, Sonos (& Bluesound Pulse) make excellent multi zone systems. Others are trying, but I think are still playing catch-up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blybo Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 36 minutes ago, JPete9 said: Seems like the Hyberboom is fairly affordable and designed for larger spaces. he is going to try these. I did a search on this forum, they dont get a mention. Has anyone tried them in person. Loud in large spaces, good enough sound? I agree with @Snoopy8. Many multi room speakers are glitchy or not much better than little portable speakers sound wise. Your mate would soon wish he'd invested a few more dollars for a foolproof set up when things go pear shaped. Sonos is the best brand for ease of use and set up, whereas Bluesound probably has slightly better sound quality, but not quite as easy to use. I have a Sonos Play 3 in a decent sized kids retreat up stairs and the wake up playlist it plays each weekday wakes up the whole house. I also use a Sonos amp to run Krix outdoor speakers in my alfresco area, and a Sonos Play 1 for background sound in my shop. Caveat: I haven't used a Bluesound device since Covid hit, so their app and integration with other streaming options may now be on a par with Sonos. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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