Running outdoor speakers off my indoor HT/Stereo system??? (1 Viewer)

[Ryan Peddle]

Aside from how to actually set up the wiring and where to mount the speakers outside, I would like to know the best way to go about this. The reason I would like to have it running off my indoor system is to have a consistency of music durring BBQs and parties. My birthday is coming up and the other residents of the house (parents) are kicked out for a weekend so that I can enjoy myself with my friends (thats my birthday present, no parents)(and it's sad cause I turn 23 this year)...Anyhoo, I would like to have a nice outdoor BBQ and would like to have some fun 80's retro music playing and am looking into getting speakers for outdoor use. Here are my questions:
1) what speakers, and we'll say with a budget of $300 a pair
2) what wiring, if there is anything special
3) can I run them from the receiver (yammy Rxv800, 100X5)
___or should a buy a cheap 2 channel amp for them
Hopefully there are some outdoor BBQers out there that can give this young partier a hand.
Thanks in advance
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Oops, I dropped my eardrums.
Could you pick them up for me.

 

[Marty M]

I have also been looking into this. We recently purchased a house with a nice back deck. Running speaker wires to the back is not an easy task. I have looked at the Advent wireless outdoor speakers. They can be powered by batteries or AC. I saw them at J & R Audio for $80 each US $. Let me know what you come up with for your situation.
I noticed that Home Theater magazine's current issue has an article on outdoor speakers. I just glanced at it in a local bookstore. This might give you some ideas, also.
[Edited last by Marty M on July 13, 2001 at 05:09 PM]

 

[Justin Lane]

Well at my house (I should say my parents house as well), we have a couple of speakers mounted under the outside overhang. These are currently running off the B channel of the receiver with no problems.
This was actually an easy run wire wise, due to the outside deck being adjacent to the primary listening room where the quipment rack is located. Wires are run through the wall, to the attic and then out from the overhang through a couple of drilled holes to the spakers mounted there. If you do not have an attic or basement near your primary room, running concealed wires will be a real pain in the ass as I am sure you know.
As for outdoor speakers on a budget, JBL puts out a nice pair in the Northridge series that should be well within your budget. Also, though they are not looked on too highly here Bose indoor/outdoor speakers are not too bad, and if you have a Sam's club near you, you may be able to get a pair there for about $120 total.
Another option I have been thinking about is doing some flush mount in wall speaker into the outside overhangs in a few locations for a more concealed look as well as more sound output overall.
Let us know how far away you have to run wires and any obstacles. If it is too much of a hassel you might just be better bringing a couple of speakers with a receiver outside, especially if you do not have alot of time.
J

 

[John Morris]

Speakers: JBL N24AW or JBL N26-AW speakers from J&R Audio.
Wiring: if running through wall, make sure they support your building code, otherwise, anything 16 ga or larger will do.
If you have a multiroom output from your receiver that may be the easiest method for powering and sourcing your outdoor music. Otherwise, a cheap 2 channel amp would work nicely but make sure it has a front panel power switch unless you want to always play music outsides when you play it insides...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
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Take Care,
merc

 

[BlaineJ]

I have mine running off of the B channel from my Yamaha RX-V596. The only thing I miss is an outside subwoofer!
I have a couple of Bose 501 (I think that's the model). Can't remember the price but I want to say it was around $250-300 about 2 years ago.
They're okay. I'm sure you could do better.
Mirage makes a nice pair of outdoor speakers, from what I hear.
'twas easy to run (a lot of *work* but easy, relatively speaking). I'm going behind the wall to a nice little face plate, running 16ga into the attic, around the corner and out of an overhang where the speakers are mounted.
It's nice to have speakers on the deck.
Sometimes we screw with our neighbors and put a thunderstorm CD on.