Outdoor Speakers, Speaker Wire & Distance

[WaterWoman]

Hey there!

I have a question about running speaker wire to some speakers for use on the patio, and am hoping someone here might know something about this. We have some outdoor speakers that came with the house that can be put up under the eaves, but I've never tried them, so don't even know what they sound like. I may try them out, and if I don't like them, get something better to replace them. They'll only be outdoors in the summer, and it doesn't rain here in the summer, so weather isn't a problem. But that's really beside the point of my question.

We're having a Halloween party next month and, weather permitting, I'd like to have some outdoor sound. The pool will be too cold to swim in, but it won't be too cold to have a fire in the fire pit nearby and some dancing on the patio.

What I'd like to do is run speaker wire from the stereo system in the living room out to the patio. I have connections for a second set of speakers (A & B, can use either, or both), and it would make more sense for CDs and other equipment to stay indoors. But how feasible would it be to run speaker wire for a distance of 30 to 50 feet? What size wire would be best to use for such a distance? Or would I lose so much signal that it wouldn't be worth it? Any thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Guest]

Should be no problem. Get the largest size wire you can get (gauge) and you will be fine. My run is farther, and my situation sounds very similar (speaker outputs. I use my iPod or iPhone and put it on shuffle).

Party on

Bruce

 

[WaterWoman]

Cool! Thanks, Bruce!

 

[gman]

I ran 12 gauge ul Wall rated speaker wire about 50 feet, I installed 4 out door speakers (2 rocks and 2 under the over hang on my roof) they all sound great. I put them on Zone 2 of my receiver, with a speaker selector. So I can have someone inside watching a movie in surround sound, and play music outside, All on one receiver, its great.

Also Make both wires equal. Meaning Run your longest wire, Then make all your runs, that lenth. Makes the sound much more even.

 

[haybird]

I have been using the brown thermostat wire for 4 years with no problems. The one run is about 60ft and buried. I remember it was not that exspensive for a roll a of 100'.

 

[WaterWoman]

Thanks, John and haybird! Appreciate the advice!

 

[Durk]

I feed four remote speakers from the Zone B output of my Living Room Denon stereo amp through a Parasound 4-output speaker switcher. I bought a 500' roll of 12-gauge speaker wire from a local electronic supply house. The longest run is to the pool, through a separate conduit in the same trench with the electric, about 140' , where I have a pair of outdoor Paradigm speakers. There are tables as to gauge, wattage and distance, but 12-gauge is best for almost anything. I wouldn't use 14-gauge for anything more than a small speaker in the same room as the amp.

 

[MCR500]

When I wired my sound system from my outdoor kitchen, I used 12ga low voltage light wire from Lowes, from a tip I read on here.

It is direct burial, so no need for conduit. One lead is also marked with printing, so keeping "+" and "-" seperate is easy. Much cheaper (price wise) than a dedicated "outddor speaker wire".

My runs are about 50 ft from the receiver, and it sounds great!!! FWIW.

C-Ya!!