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04-02-2003, 08:19 AM
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#2 of 6 
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Member
Join Date: Sep 1999
Local Time: 02:38 PM
Local Date: 10-14-2008
Posts: 1,132
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First things first....what kind of receiver do you have? Some receivers (probably older ones) may not allow both your main speakers and the "B" set to run at the same time.
That being said, many new receivers have a "multi-room" function that allows for a separate source to play to the other set. But in some of these cases, you'll need a separate 2-channel receiver to amplify that signal. This does give you flexibility, though, in that you can control the volume independently of what is going on at the main source location.
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04-02-2003, 11:20 AM
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#3 of 6
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Member
Location: Katy, TX
Join Date: Aug 1999
Local Time: 09:38 AM
Local Date: 10-14-2008
Posts: 6,487
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Jeff is right – the first thing you have to address is powering the speakers.
Once you get beyond that:
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Could I put a hole in the wall to the outside and put a speaker terminal on both sides? Or should I juse drill a hole and run outdoor speaker wire through the hole from the inside to the outside of the house, then caulk it up.
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Any speaker terminal you use should be designed and intended for outdoor use. I wouldn’t use any of the indoor HT stuff unless it’s installed in a waterproof box, and that would have to account for the cabling going out to the speakers, too.
I think your best bet would be straight-through wiring. Less hassle, less expense.
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If I wanted an outdoor volume control, is there a stereo knob I could install outdoors?
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An L-pad is what you want. It installs in-line with the speakers and controls the volume by adding resistance. You can get them from Radio Shack.
A more elegant (albeit more expensive) solution would be to get a Radio Shack RF/IR remote control like this discontinued one. You could take the remote outside and command the inside equipment. You can find other similar models on eBay, to keep costs down.
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And if I was to run PVC pipes as conduits for running underground speaker wire, how do you terminate the PVC pipes with the speaker wire coming out the ends? I suppose I could use 2ft deep burial wire but I'm afraid it could get damaged.
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You can avoid all that hassle by simply using wire rated for direct burial. It’s typically black and looks like regular zip cord. Look for it in the outdoor lighting section of your hardware store. Best of all, it comes in heavy gauges like 14 and 12ga.
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As for the installation of outdoor wire, what do I use to attach the wire to a wall? "U" shaped staples?
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The “U” shaped staples are for round wire – telephone, coaxial etc. For flat wire like the direct burial, a staple with a flat top might be preferable if you’re really concerned about aesthetics, although the former would certainly work. I use an Arrow T-25 (“U”-shaped) stapler with the long staples (forget the size) exclusively. Get painted staples if you can find them - they won’t rust and look crappy in a year like the regular ones.
Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
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04-03-2003, 12:16 AM
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#5 of 6
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Member
Join Date: Feb 2002
Local Time: 07:38 AM
Local Date: 10-14-2008
Posts: 1,939
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Thanks guys, tomorrow I'm visiting a landscape architect so I wanted a little insight before we planned out the outdoor audio system.
I actually don't have a receiver right now, but am planning ahead to see what would be practical.
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04-03-2003, 08:04 PM
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#6 of 6
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Member
Join Date: Feb 2002
Local Time: 07:38 AM
Local Date: 10-14-2008
Posts: 1,939
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Backyard Drawing
Ok, I have the plan now and am open for suggestions. First I am going to try mounting the JBL S36AW speakers under the eaves in positions a. and b. and see how that sounds.
I was also thinking ahead and plan to install the burial wire so there can be additional speakers in the locations c,d,e, and f as well. Are these locations good? Because the backyard is in the process of being built and it's very easy to install the speaker wire. However, I can only install the JBLs in the indentation to the house under the eaves because it doesn't look good anywhere else attached to the house.
The wires will all go to the same source which will be a CD player and receiver that has not yet been purchased. Wires can be routed through the attic, or wall/crawlspace. If I plan to use the additional speakers, I could simply use additional amplifiers to power them.
Do you guys think that speaker C,D, and A,B will be enough and there's no need to prewire the E,F speakers in the veranda? The veranda has concrete pillars that have yet to be filled and right now there are conduits and pipes I can easily run wires through.
Speakers C and D will likely be Rockustic speakers because there will just be plants and rock and nowhere to mount an additional pair of S36s. Will this sound OK even though the speakers arn't timbre matched? I figured the spacing between the speakers is so large that they don't have to be matched. Do you think mono would sound better for an application like this? The goal is simply ambient noise to add to the backyard. (No critical listening, or cranking the volume)
What I may end up doing is installing 2 outdoor volume controls. one to control the stereo volume of speakers C and D. The other to control the volume of A and B. Is there a good (stereo) L-pad or attenuator that works outdoors? It would be nice to have sound isolated to just the jacuzzi on some nights.
Anyways, I'll be sure to post pics once everything is up and running.
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