Outdoor speakers and equipment I need

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heatdissipation

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Oct 13, 2014
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Central PA
I am not sure where to post this, but I'll put it here and if there is a better place could someone please move this there,

I am trying to figure out my outdoor sound system, I am not very familiar when it comes to AV equipment, so I thought I would ask you guys what I need to buy to get the result I am going to explain, I am going to mount two speakers on either end of my pool house, two speakers on either end of the deck, and two speakers at the deep end of my pool, so a total of six speakers and they will be spaced out equally around the entire perimeter of my pool area, I hang a projection screen off the deck for outdoor movie nights, I am trying to figure what I would need to get for a receiver to be able to control all the speakers without just wiring them in series and losing sound quality. What do I need to look for in a receiver/amp and speakers to be able to control different zones of audio, maybe not have to use all the speakers on movie night, but for music I could have different levels of volume in different areas around the pool. Like I said, I am not good with AV equipment so I am not sure if this is even possible??
 
I'd love to help with this! I've been researching options for myself and have found options at many price points.
Initial questions:
1. Can it sound decent or does it have to impress people? Like in my experience, when I have company - I don't have it loud enough to rock out, only as loud as I can without making people raise their voice much, or else people complain and get sore throats from yelling over the music. If you want amazing sound at even low levels, that costs more. If you just want a pretty good sound, you can save a small fortune.
2. Do you need bass (low notes, teeth rattling vibrations, kick drum feels like you're getting punched in the chest) or just a decent full range speaker that makes music sound good, like most car American factory base speakers?
3. Will they be left in the weather year round, left in the sun, wind, rain, snow?
4. Any budget that is just an absolute no more than $? Like even if you're going to give me the very best speakers on earth at 99% off I'm still not spending more than $____, period.
5. But really, I'd like to spend as little as possible or about $_____ for all speakers, wiring, amps, controls (if not doing installation, that too)
6. do you want to be able to play physical cds, records, and have tv/cable/satellite sounds too? or just digital music via cell phone/tablet/laptop?
7. Want something that will last for years or that will be good enough to start with now?
8. is there a power outlet near each place you want a speaker? will there be? or need everything battery powered rechargeable?
 
I don't want earth shattering rattling neighbors windows, but I want decent full range speakers, I'll probably have them out for 3 of 4 seasons, packed up in winter. I'd like to keep all the speakers under 500 dollars, and I will decide what to spend on the receiver when I see what options I have for what I want to do. Four of the speakers I want as mountable speakers, and the other two speakers I would like rock speakers that look decent. Most of the music played will be off of Sirius or digital music, and I'll have a blue ray player hooked up with the receiver that will be located in my pool house. I don't have power outlets near every spot I want a speaker, but I can run power if I need to.
 
for using only 2 or 4 of the six, check amazon for a speaker selector switch.
It goes in between your receiver and speaker and allows you to turn off speakers 1/2 and keep on speakers 3-6 for movie night.
I have one of these, but they make them for 6, 8, 10,etc...they also make them with zoned volume control to have some speakers louder than others...kind of like a mixer.

Amazon.com: 4 Zone Stereo Speaker Selector Switch With Impedance Protection by AVX Audio: Electronics

I also have 4 Yamaha outdoor speakers in my yard for BBQ's and such. Sound great and priced right. Not earth shattering, but can definitely hear the highs and lows.

https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-NS-AW150WH-Indoor-Outdoor-Speakers/dp/B0001VHARE/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1499722675&sr=1-1&keywords=yamaha+indoor+outdoor+speaker.

Also, if you're willing to run power to each speaker spot, I think you'd be better off running a good insulated speaker wire instead. In my opinion, it's a better sound quality, and more efficient, than wi-fi or bluetooth. And for movie nights, you can get a nice powered sub to pull out there for a few hours
 
I have a denon audio video receiver inside my house that powers my speakers. It can be controlled by an app on my phone or tablet. It is plugged into my router so I can stream music like Pandora.

Pool speakers, two TIC GS3s. They make a subwoofer, but I'm happy without it:
All - Speakers - Outdoor Omni Speakers - TIC

Deck speakers:
https://smile.amazon.com/Yamaha-NS-AW150WH-Indoor-Outdoor-Speakers/dp/B0001VHARE/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1499724040&sr=1-5&keywords=outdoor+speakers


Volume control, one for the deck speakers and one for the speakers by the pool. This allows volume adjustment for each area, so I can thumping by the pool yet quiet enough for folks to chat on the deck:
CE TECH Speaker Volume Control-5535 - The Home Depot

Box for the volume control:
2-Gang Weatherproof Extra Duty While in Use Cover-MM2420CB - The Home Depot

Pool speakers are wired using low voltage landscape wire. The deck speakers aren't too far from my receiver and I used speaker wire. My receiver powers each speaker individually. My receiver has zone capability so that you can play different things in more than one zone.
 
Thank you for all the replies so far, I had planned on burying an insulated speaker wire for the speakers, I read a little about the speaker selector switch and have that on my list of things I need to get. My biggest question I am trying to find the answers for is if everything is going to be 2-channel stereo, so I would have to designate a left and a right channel? And could I use it as surround sound for the movie nights without having to switch everything around? I hope that makes sense
 
I picked up 2 pair of Polk audio outdoor speakers before the 4th of July party we had. I had an old sony receiver that wasn't being use so they are hooked up to that in my pool house. It has decoding for movies, sports and music. Hung a tv on the pool house and hooked up a wireless directv box. Speakers sound great, plenty of low end for my pool area.

For speaker wire, tv mounts, etc I normally buy stuff off monoprice.com.

Most any receiver you buy today is going to have hook ups for at least 8 speakers including a sub woofer. Most are 5.1 or 7.1 channel receivers but the 2 channel stuff is still possible through the different sound decoders built into them. So you hook everything up for watching a movie and when you want to stream music or listen off your phone you can change over to one of the music decoders for sound you like.
 

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I have a pair of bose 151 along with a 12 inch woofer (got from a pawn shop) in the Flamingo lounge and a pair of rock speakers( Best Buy) in the pool area. The amp is an old amp that we used in the main house. It works great for us.
 
heatdissipation said:
I am not sure where to post this, but I'll put it here and if there is a better place could someone please move this there,

I am trying to figure out my outdoor sound system, I am not very familiar when it comes to AV equipment, so I thought I would ask you guys what I need to buy to get the result I am going to explain, I am going to mount two speakers on either end of my pool house, two speakers on either end of the deck, and two speakers at the deep end of my pool, so a total of six speakers and they will be spaced out equally around the entire perimeter of my pool area, I hang a projection screen off the deck for outdoor movie nights, I am trying to figure what I would need to get for a receiver to be able to control all the speakers without just wiring them in series and losing sound quality. What do I need to look for in a receiver/amp and speakers to be able to control different zones of audio, maybe not have to use all the speakers on movie night, but for music I could have different levels of volume in different areas around the pool. Like I said, I am not good with AV equipment so I am not sure if this is even possible??
Click to expand...

ok you are kinda all over the place so let's start with here.

3 zones. There are receivers out there that do 3 independent zones. They r rare but they r out there. Most do two. I say a receiver cause u are talked not about movies.

Lets say u find a receiver for 3 zones. Meaning same music playing from all 3 zones or even different. But you would not loose sound quality cause each speaker is on its own amp.

movies. If u wire this way u only have 2 channel for movies. Did u want surround? I assume no. It's outdoors. And ur speaker layout isn't for surround.

that would be cheapest route. 6 speakers. 3 pair. A receiver with 3 zones. Zone 1 would be for video and u can send audio to other 2 zones while watches no movie on zone 1.

if u got a nice budget. U want 6 speakers and no loss of sound quality. Get a sonance array or triad array. Meaning 6 ish speakers on stakes around the area or mounted with a buried sub. Has its own amp that handles this type of speaker array. It gets fed into a cheap hdmi receiver. Meaning u aren't using the amps in the receiver. U are using the receiver for video and to push the audio out to the sonance amp or crown amp if u went triad. 1 zone. All 6 speakers play with equal quality with a sub also and that's it.

arrays for outdoors are awesome. The hook up is easy. They r in series but they r built to be like that into an amp made for the,. You don't loose sound quality like regular speakers in a series. Don't do a series setup. They r just not good.

hit me back with questions. Arrays are expensive. But oh they sound so nice! Especially triads new one. American made and built in Oregon. Great company. Hood it up to a cheaper denon receiver and u are good to go for movies and audio. Triad will use a crown amp made for their setup.

their sub can be buried or sit out. I would bury.
jim
 
Some things I noticed reading this thread now from original post. If u have six speakers and want to use them all for stereo you have no center channel for surround. If you don't have a speaker under or above or behind screen you won't hear dialogue properly. If you don't have the front and rears set properly or watching from certain spots that will also be off. I would play movies in stereo. Forget about surround. Unless you set the speakers properly for surround but then when they r set for surround u will not play them all in stereo. You would be using a upmixer to push music out of all speakers which works fine in all receiversthese days out there. But again for surround you would be using five speakers or seven. When I say seven because u have center, front right and left, surround right and left and side surround right and left.
 
In my opinion, Sirius/XM audio is only of moderate quality at best, mostly due to it's low sampling rate which is beyond the scope of this discussion. Any streaming audio/video is pretty much the same. It's great for outside in the pool or hanging out in a lawn chair tho. Basic inexpensive equipment should be more than acceptable.

Another thought is...do you really need stereo separation? Outdoors it may be better to combine L/R and feed the mono audio to all speakers. Just a thought.

Check out mcmelectronics.com for speakers and amps. They have a 90W Stereo amp for $34. 3 of those would service 6 speakers, whether mono or stereo. AND they are powered by DC adapters, so you aren't dealing directly with 120V. They also carry outdoor speakers, including rocks.

Pyle Class T Hi-Fi Stereo Amplifier 90W | PFA300 | Pyle
 
BattleOfYakima said:
I agree, can we skip all considerations for surround please? Left and Right will give us the greatest flexibility in both speakers and receivers as well as wiring simplicity.
Click to expand...

amen! lol

if u get rip of surround then i would buy a 100 dollar wonder for a receiver for just movies and then buy 3 sonos amps and call it a day. 3 zones that all have access to internet streaming and all.

- - - Updated - - -

i know on many jobs we never do this. we try to position speakers L and R as to where people will be positioned. It's possible. that's why array's are so awesome. all you have to do it cover the required square footage of area. Triad pretty much tells us use these many speakers.

i think with careful planning he can keep stereo sound intact.

Those are some pretty nice prices though.

jim

kj5kb said:
In my opinion, Sirius/XM audio is only of moderate quality at best, mostly due to it's low sampling rate which is beyond the scope of this discussion. Any streaming audio/video is pretty much the same. It's great for outside in the pool or hanging out in a lawn chair tho. Basic inexpensive equipment should be more than acceptable.

Another thought is...do you really need stereo separation? Outdoors it may be better to combine L/R and feed the mono audio to all speakers. Just a thought.

Check out mcmelectronics.com for speakers and amps. They have a 90W Stereo amp for $34. 3 of those would service 6 speakers, whether mono or stereo. AND they are powered by DC adapters, so you aren't dealing directly with 120V. They also carry outdoor speakers, including rocks.

Pyle Class T Hi-Fi Stereo Amplifier 90W | PFA300 | Pyle
Click to expand...
 
While Sonos sound, especially for voices, is generally impressive, the drawbacks *for some people are* cost, difficulty syncing tv sound with picture, and single 1/8" input other than digital wifi music. If this system was just music and just indoors, it's a great option as long as cost and inputs aren't issues. But for outdoor, they are too expensive for that IMO. Perhaps a future version of the Sonos connect amp will be up to the level most people expect.

Side note: anyone with cash to burn - and a sound addiction - buy a sonos 5 (or two!) and put them in the far corner(s) of your bedroom facing your bed. Place a sonos sub under the bed *if you have the clearance*. Do the room setup tool. Lay down. Enjoy. You're welcome.
 

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