Audio Setup/Receiver Question - Blu-ray Forum

redstang93 · 05-21-2021, 03:55 PM

Seeing if anybody can help with an audio set up question. We are currently building and seeing the best way to accomplish what we want. We would like to have speakers in the living room, outside patio and bathroom to listen to music. Is there a receiver that has 3 or 4 zones? Would like to be able to choose 1 or all areas to have the music play through. Would also like it to be bluetooth or wi-fi, so we could control with our phone. Is something like this possible?

We will be doing a separate traditional surround sound setup in another room and I good with that setup.

Hopefully that all made sense.

Thanks!

pjb3 · 05-21-2021, 08:08 PM

It sounds like you are looking for stereo only which limits the equipment available. Most receivers these days are multichannel AV. All the receivers I can think of are two zones at the most. There are multizone amps for commercial applications that are more like PA systems. There are also speaker switches that would allow a single amp to cover multiple areas. None of this will work very well, at least not remotely.

I have all my music ripped to FLAC files that I could only listen to when I was at my computer. Last fall I decided to try one of the Yamaha MusicCast receivers. I bought the least expensive one since if it didn't work I wouldn't be out much. Basically the receiver connects to my network and I can play music from my server ( computer or NAS ), Pandora, internet stations as well as the traditional CD, phono, FM etc. The receiver is controlled by an app on my phone so I am able to control almost everything. MusicCast also allows you to link multiple receivers so they all play the same if you want. A Yamaha MusicCast AV receiver as well as 2 other MusicCast stereo receivers would give you control over your surround sound as well as 2 areas per receiver. I did have some issue with MusicCast losing the connection to my phone but that was due to me adding a mesh Wi-Fi system and my phone being on the mesh while the receiver was wired. Basically they were on two different networks. Since I corrected that it has been solid. I don't think the Yamaha software is the best but it works.

There are other similar systems that you should look into as well such as Denon Heos and Bluesound. I believe the app and interface are probably better with Bluesound but the cost difference was more than I wanted to spend on an experiment.

slimdude · 05-21-2021, 10:46 PM

My Denon X4400H has three zones, and it's a great A/V receiver that as Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and other premium features. You may want to reconsider putting speaker in your bathroom. A person really doesn't need to hear music while they're in the bathroom because they're not going to be in there that long, only just a few minutes and they're out. Any other rooms are fine (depending on the size of the house). There are specific speakers that are made for outdoor use, if you're planning on putting speakers on the patio.

redstang93 · 05-24-2021, 12:47 PM

Thanks for the input. I looked a little myself and something like this might work: https://www.outdoorspeakerdepot.com/multi-room/

I think I could find something to supply music to it that would be bluetooth or wi-fi and just manually select the zones.

The bathroom speaker is more for my wife getting ready at the vanity or relaxing in the tub.

05-21-2021, 03:55 PM	#1
redstang93 Member Member since:Feb 2018 Trading Score:62	Audio Setup/Receiver Question Seeing if anybody can help with an audio set up question. We are currently building and seeing the best way to accomplish what we want. We would like to have speakers in the living room, outside patio and bathroom to listen to music. Is there a receiver that has 3 or 4 zones? Would like to be able to choose 1 or all areas to have the music play through. Would also like it to be bluetooth or wi-fi, so we could control with our phone. Is something like this possible? We will be doing a separate traditional surround sound setup in another room and I good with that setup. Hopefully that all made sense. Thanks!

05-21-2021, 08:08 PM	#2
pjb3 Member Member since:Jul 2011	It sounds like you are looking for stereo only which limits the equipment available. Most receivers these days are multichannel AV. All the receivers I can think of are two zones at the most. There are multizone amps for commercial applications that are more like PA systems. There are also speaker switches that would allow a single amp to cover multiple areas. None of this will work very well, at least not remotely. I have all my music ripped to FLAC files that I could only listen to when I was at my computer. Last fall I decided to try one of the Yamaha MusicCast receivers. I bought the least expensive one since if it didn't work I wouldn't be out much. Basically the receiver connects to my network and I can play music from my server ( computer or NAS ), Pandora, internet stations as well as the traditional CD, phono, FM etc. The receiver is controlled by an app on my phone so I am able to control almost everything. MusicCast also allows you to link multiple receivers so they all play the same if you want. A Yamaha MusicCast AV receiver as well as 2 other MusicCast stereo receivers would give you control over your surround sound as well as 2 areas per receiver. I did have some issue with MusicCast losing the connection to my phone but that was due to me adding a mesh Wi-Fi system and my phone being on the mesh while the receiver was wired. Basically they were on two different networks. Since I corrected that it has been solid. I don't think the Yamaha software is the best but it works. There are other similar systems that you should look into as well such as Denon Heos and Bluesound. I believe the app and interface are probably better with Bluesound but the cost difference was more than I wanted to spend on an experiment.

05-21-2021, 10:46 PM	#3
slimdude Banned Member since:Apr 2009 4K collection:- Blu-ray collection:- DVD collection:- Blu-ray reviews:8	My Denon X4400H has three zones, and it's a great A/V receiver that as Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and other premium features. You may want to reconsider putting speaker in your bathroom. A person really doesn't need to hear music while they're in the bathroom because they're not going to be in there that long, only just a few minutes and they're out. Any other rooms are fine (depending on the size of the house). There are specific speakers that are made for outdoor use, if you're planning on putting speakers on the patio.

05-24-2021, 12:47 PM	#4
redstang93 Member Member since:Feb 2018 Trading Score:62	Thanks for the input. I looked a little myself and something like this might work: https://www.outdoorspeakerdepot.com/multi-room/ I think I could find something to supply music to it that would be bluetooth or wi-fi and just manually select the zones. The bathroom speaker is more for my wife getting ready at the vanity or relaxing in the tub.

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