Sound system for inside and outside

December 3, 2017 6:32 AM

I need to be able to have some speakers set up both inside and outside a building, all playing from the same audio source. How should I go about doing this?

Wireless would be a huge plus, unless of course it causes more problems than it's worth. The audio source will mostly be iTunes (both Apple Music and ripped songs that aren't available on Apple Music) and occasionally video, so something like Sonos is out of the question (as well as being out of my budget). Is there some kind of bluetooth- or wifi-bridge I should get? Or do I need to settle for wired (and in that case, what exactly should I know?) Thanks!

posted by ferdinandcc to Technology (2 answers total)

How far is your outdoor area from you audio source? Are wires impossible?

As an example: I have a pair of old speakers outside. The (5? year old) receiver that I use for indoors has a couple of extra outputs, so I can pick Speaker A (inside), Speaker B (outside) or both from the front panel. Wires are great because you don't have the vagueness of bluetooth or wifi. Bluetooth is great, except that it generally sucks in practice. Also, any "wireless" arrangement means you need to power the outside speakers.
posted by pompomtom at 7:12 AM on December 3, 2017

I'm a fan of Chromecast Audio, which just needs WiFi and a 1/8" aux port on any speakers or receivers to play to (or red and white RCA ports, if you grab a 1/8" to RCA converter). You can sync multiple devices together to play at the same time, or play from individual ones. Then you can use whichever speakers you have on hand, or have installed. It's controlled by your phone, computer, or tablet, but streams independently, so the phone that set up a playlist can leave, and the speakers will continue down the list on their own.

Unfortunately, I don't know if it works well with iTunes, though, as I haven't used that in several years.
posted by BevosAngryGhost at 1:24 PM on December 4, 2017