So I built a core with an Intel NUC and have it hooked up directly via HDMI to my Yamaha RX-A850 in my main media room and it works wonderfully…Love ROON and how I’m able to now organize my thousands of CDs on NAS and streaming with Qobuz. Love the interface.
Here’s my problem…I have a great outdoor area and currently have 3 zones out there; 1) Def Tech speakers powered by Zone 2 of the Yamaha; 2) a pair of Yamaha MusicCast 20 speakers; 3) a Yamaha Bar 400 w/sub. All three of these zones are within approximately a 25’ sq area and obviously need to sync when all turned on. If you are thinking “overkill” then maybe yes 
However, with MusicCast I can control all my zones and it’s solid as can be since I ran ethernet out there so everything is wired and it’s solid. Sounds pretty amazing as wherever you are you can tune it in volume wise for immersive sound. Trust me it’s nice!
Those of you using MusicCast know it has some shortcomings and since I setup ROON in my main media room I just have to have ROON able to control my outside area also. Problem is using Airplay and grouping is not possible because I can’t sync.
Suggestions? The little research I’ve done has me considering going to a Marantz receiver like the SR6015 as it would be ROON Tested. I would then also need to replace one of my Yamaha MusicCast zone speakers with HEOS supported or ROON supported speakers, right? The SR6015 has two powered zones so I could go with another set of wired speakers, end result in two zones from the receiver and a ethernet connected “wireless” pair.
I’m also looking at NAD as an option… would love the 778 but a bit over my budget.
Sorry for the length of this but am on a mission since my current setup works so well with MusicCast…I’ve got to be able to accomplish the same using ROON.
TIA!