If I want to have music outside as well (can you run optical and HDMI audio at the same time?) can I run optical out from Apple TV to an optical to RCA converter and then plug that red/white RCA analog wires into the wireless transmitter for the speakers you linked to
http://www.amazon.com/Acoustic-Rese...112&sr=1-5&keywords=wireless+outdoor+speakers
Yes. I have my "zone 2" set up exactly that way:
TV optical out to optical-to-RCA converter, RCA (analog) audio into "zone 2" input on receiver, receiver via speaker wires to outside stereo speakers (but this could be receiver to wireless transmitter as well).
TV can output both HDMI and optical at the same time, so each can be used as needed.
OP, you are getting many variations of answers to your question because you haven't shared enough detail. Some people are trying to help you do it as cheaply as possible. They're thinking about wireless vs. wired because they don't know if you have any speaker wire already run out there, nor do they know if you are interested in running any wire. Do you want stereo out there or mono? Is it a big patio needing bigger speakers or small? Will these speakers get rained on or will they be under a ledge? Do you have a receiver/amplifier or will you need one? Are you chasing high quality or cheapest price? Etc.
Basically, you probably have a free audio out port on your
TV: the optical port. You could feed that into the optical in on an amplifier or receiver and then run speaker wire out to these patio speaker from the amp/receiver. If you have a home theater, you may have what is called "Zone 2" inputs on your receiver. If so, those usually need analog audio in so you may need to convert that optical to analog. There's many optical to analog converters on sites like Amazon for about $20-$30.
From there, it's a matter of deciding if you want wireless speakers or wired. If the former, you probably need a power source on the patio so whatever you already have out there will probably influence placement. If wired, you probably need to run some speaker wire up or down the inside wall, across the ceiling or basement and out at the patio locations where you want the speakers. This may be easy or difficult depending on the build of your house, weather you have sufficient space in the walls, attic or basement to route such cable, etc. If your
TV is right by an outside wall and you can't fish speaker wire through your wall, you might poke a hole through to the outside and then run the wire to reach the speakers on the outside wall (this won't look as good but it's done). Generally, you will need to get a wire to the speakers- either a wire routing the audio or power if you go the wireless speaker route (unless you try to make batteries work for a true wireless option) or speaker wire if you don't go the wireless route.
If quality is more important than cheapest price, I'd suggest the wired route. It's more trouble to set up once but then it's a solid, long-term solution. If price is most important, there are many good options including buying a stand alone, battery-based bluetooth speaker and routing audio to it from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod (leaving the
TV out of the equation). Not only would this be a cheap and easy way to get audio on your patio but its portability would make it easy to move it anywhere else (someone else's patio, your garage, your driveway, the yard, the beach, etc).
