I'm pretty green when it comes to home audio systems. I want to have a system that I can control from my phone (android) or tablet and be able to play different things in different zones if need be. Right now I'd like to have 3 zones but be able to expand. All 3 zones have TV's that I would also want to play out of the in ceiling and wall speakers. I don't want to go with sonos speakers because again, I'm wired for ceiling/wall and one zone is outside on the patio.

I've seen that you can get a sonos connect amp for about 499 - but that would only work 1 zone, correct? I currently have an amp that is single zone that i'd like to use in one of the rooms with surround sound. So I would like something that worked with it to receive from the phone. Is there a cheaper option to get this effect without buying 3 sonos connect amps?

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Posted by VABuckeye

Naples, FL

Member since Dec 2007

35472 posts

Posted on 2/3/14 at 11:50 am to Beef Supreme

What are you currently using to control these zones? IOW, is there a current control system in place. Are they really zones or are they all independent of each other?

Budget? Roughly?

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Posted by drbaseball

Member since May 2013

389 posts

Posted on 2/3/14 at 11:50 am to Beef Supreme

I have an audio system with 6 zones, and one has a TV. You have to plug the TV into the back of the amp via HDMI. there is a switch on the back of the amp to switch inputs, so i can play one TV through all zones, or switch inputs on each individual zone and play radio on some zones and TV on the others. I'm not sure if you can buy one system and do exactly what you're talking about, but i'm sure there has to be a way.

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Posted by meauxjeaux2

watson

Member since Oct 2007

60283 posts

Posted on 2/3/14 at 12:01 pm to drbaseball

quote:
but i'm sure there has to be a way.

SONOS got that.

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Posted by Beef Supreme

Member since Apr 2008

1907 posts

Posted on 2/3/14 at 1:01 pm to VABuckeye

quote:
What are you currently using to control these zones? IOW, is there a current control system in place. Are they really zones or are they all independent of each other?

Budget? Roughly?

New House. Don't have a system but do have the wires run.

No budget in mind just looking for a cheaper alternative than spending $500/per zone on the connect amp.

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Posted by Beef Supreme

Member since Apr 2008

1907 posts

Posted on 2/3/14 at 1:02 pm to drbaseball

quote:
I have an audio system with 6 zones, and one has a TV. You have to plug the TV into the back of the amp via HDMI. there is a switch on the back of the amp to switch inputs, so i can play one TV through all zones, or switch inputs on each individual zone and play radio on some zones and TV on the others. I'm not sure if you can buy one system and do exactly what you're talking about, but i'm sure there has to be a way.

Can you stream directly from your phone?
What amp do you have?

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Posted by rotrain

Member since Feb 2013

390 posts

Posted on 2/3/14 at 2:03 pm to Beef Supreme

Just went through something similar, except i wanted to cover 4 zones. Amp/receivers got very expensive quickly for anything more than two zones. So I went with a less expensive receiver that could power 2 zones; bought one for upstairs and balcony and a 2nd identical receiver for downstairs and porch. Also be sure the receiver you choose can output multiple sources to each zone; in other words i can watch the game inside but have spotify/pandora stream outside. I went with the Onkyo nr-626...it retails for about 450-500, but i got mine refurbished for 370 from accessories4less.com which is onkyo certified. By doing it this way, i didn't need a more expensive amp, speaker selectors, wall volume controls, etc. Each setup is just a simple speaker > receiver connection. The setup was easy, the onkyo interface is intuitive, the remote programmed easy w/ other devices....etc.

This post was edited on 2/3/14 at 2:05 pm

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