Second speaker solution... (Yamaha Music Cast?)

[Gimpymoo]

Currently using a Yamaha RX-V681 AV receiver.

I wish to add a speaker in the kitchen so can hear whatever is being played from the Lounge where the Yamaha is.

Any tips on how to achieve this?

A Yamaha Music cast device?
Can you play through main 5.1 and the Music cast at the same time, for example, have a program on in the lounge and play to the Music Cast device with the same content at the same time? *Obviously, tied to Yamaha if wish to change Amp in the future.

Any Bluetooth Speaker?
Distance is about 10 metres/32ft, is this too far for Bluetooth? Is open plan so no walls to pass through, just a doorway.

Run speaker cable into kitchen?
This is possible but with corners etc, cable run would be about 15 metres which with some decent cable is doable (I think?) and would have a good choice of speakers. *I could connect the speaker to the second zone on the AV system meaning could play seperate content too if needed.

Another option which I have no idea is possible, is connect the second zone outputs on the amp to a mini amp of some description then attach a bluetooth transmitter? No idea if this makes sense but kind of works in my head bot not sure of the practicalities. Can then use any generic bluetooth speaker for a dirty setup.

Thanks for anyone who has taken the time to read and thanks for any input.

 

[lucid]

I'll deal with wired speakers for your Zone 2 first.

This will work but it usually needs an analogue audio connection for any source other than the internal tuner and streaming services. To explain in more detail, any digital audio source - HDMI, Coax, Optical - will only be decoded* for the main zone (Zone 1). That sound won't reach Z2 unless there's a parallel analogue audio connection for it. The reason is that most amps in the midrange sector only have one set of decoding chips. Since Z2 is designed to be independent of Z1, even to the point where Z1 can be in standby and only Z2 operating, then you can see perhaps why there is this limitation.

As long as your TV audio source has analogue outs, or an Optical or Coax out that can be set to PCM audio, and then converted with an external mini-DAC to analogue stereo, then getting TV audio in to a second zone won't really be an issue.


Next, MusicCast speakers

This should be a one-stop solution for all your needs. The MusicCast 20 and 50 speakers do a lot. There's AirPlay, Bluetooth, local network audio access, streaming music services and internet radio, 192/24 HR music file support and even local line-ins on one model. One of my distributors websites also talks about the speakers being able to access audio from the HDMI inputs on a MusicCast-compatible AV receiver. (I presume the same goes for optical and coax) What I don't know is whether there's a catch if the Z1 source is running in multichannel.


The hotch-potch solution with a Bluetooth transmitter

Doable if you really want to, but messy. Yuck




* There are some higher-end AV receivers that will decode digital audio for Zone 2. It's worth checking the user manual.