outdoor architectural speaker help!

[cutter]

Soooo... I'm doing a remodel on my back patio. I currently have Niles outdoor speakers on the wall of the house (which are part of my whole house audio/zone 2 on Denon 5308CI receiver) and they are awesome. my whole house audio distribution hub is full, so I'm going to need to do something a bit different with these new outdoor speakers.

my patio and fire pit areas will be about 40 feet from the house, and I am looking at some rock speakers for the landscaping. Speaker wire runs will be about 120 feet. I am thinking about purchasing four Niles RS8SI PRO Speckled Granite 2 way speakers. (can handle 200w, and are 8 ohm when used as single "stereo" speaker, 4 ohm if used as mono speaker) and 14G 4 conductor speaker wire.

two speakers will be in the fire pit area, and two in the patio area.

Each speaker has two tweeters and can reproduce "stereo" sound. based on my limited research, this is a better option for filling a large space with evenly dispersed sound...

They require 4 conductor wire for each speaker, and are essentially four "pairs" of speakers.

I am planning on powering these speakers with my basement receiver, denon 2805 with zone 2 preouts to Emotiva UPA-1 monoblocks (200 wpc 8 ohm, 300 in 4ohm).
I am having trouble deciding how to control volume/impedance match these speakers, and am looking for advice.


Is it better to have a speaker distribution hub that has the impedance matching built in, and in-wall volume controls that do not? does it matter that most in wall volume controls are only rated to 100w? I read somewhere that impedance matching reduces the sound quality and puts more strain on the amp???

Or would it be better to buy a distribution hub that does not have impedance matching, but in wall volume controls that DO have it?

I'm not excited about needing 4 wall controls.. (one for each speaker since I'm using each speaker as stereo), and most in wall controls are rated to only 100W.

I have all of my indoor sound integrated with the SONOS music system, and it is awesome. I could do volume controls for the outdoor speakers from my iphone, but I would not be able to select an "area" to control, it would be all or none for those 4 speakers... and a universal remote could be used to control the receiver zone 2 volume, but it's the same dilemma...

I could install a speaker selector with impedance matching volume controls inside, but that would likely be somewhat inconvenient. (although I could turn each speaker on or off, and then control volume with my iphone)

I might be over thinking this. Or not smart enough to know what is important for this set up. Suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated!

I was looking at this:
Leviton SGAMP System Matching Module (For Use with Non-Impedance Matched Volume Controls SGVST), White - Amazon.com

and this:
Amazon.com: Leviton SGVST-W Decora Strauss Transformer, Free Volume Control, White: Home Improvement

or this:
Amazon.com: Niles Audio HPS-4 Four-Pair High Power Speaker Selector: Electronics

or this:
Niles SSVC-4 4-pair speaker selector with volume control at Crutchfield.com

(but only 100wpc)

or maybe this:
Amazon.com: OSD OVC300Grey 300-Watts Outdoor Volume Control with Impedance Matching (Grey): Electronics

there are a lot of choices, I am completely overwhelmed.
I apologize for the long post-

 

[ImcLoud]

Im not sure I understand, you are going to have 4 speakers, thats a driver and tweeter for left and then another set for right? I would just put a monoprice speaker selector that does imped matching and jamo volume controls...

Or how about using either an APA150 or minix and install them near the listening area and use there intergrated volume controls to control volume, just run rca from the amp to the receiver.... do you really need that much power? My outdoor speakers may get 30 watts each and they are loud...

You can buy 4 carver 200w monoblocks MA202's for less than the emo's were going to cost you, then just use their volume controls...

 

[BMXTRIX]

I would recommend using a multi-channel amplifier. Then using the A/V receiver to feed it variable audio. That way, you can adjust the volume of the entire outdoor area together through a RF remote control while you are outside.

Something like this:
Sonance Sonamp 1250 MKII Amplifier 12 Channels Bridgeable to 6 Channels | eBay

Or this:
Niles SI 1260 Systems Integration High Power Amplifier 12 Channel Multi Room 760514008151 | eBay

You will get discrete amplification to each speaker in your setup - up to 6 stereo zones can be used at 8 ohms, and these amps are 4 ohm stable which means you could do a lot more if you wanted to. Plus, if one channel goes, you aren't out of music completely.

As well, because you aren't attenuating the audio after the amplifier, you will be able to provide the highest quality audio to the speakers possible.

 

[cutter]

Im not sure I understand, you are going to have 4 speakers, thats a driver and tweeter for left and then another set for right? I would just put a monoprice speaker selector that does imped matching and jamo volume controls...

Or how about using either an APA150 or minix and install them near the listening area and use there intergrated volume controls to control volume, just run rca from the amp to the receiver.... do you really need that much power? My outdoor speakers may get 30 watts each and they are loud...

You can buy 4 carver 200w monoblocks MA202's for less than the emo's were going to cost you, then just use their volume controls...

Thanks for the reply- I already have the Emotiva monoblocks that I'm not using, so I was trying to save some $$ and use them for this application.
Each individual rock speaker has two tweeters, and supposedly can reproduce full range stereo sound from one speaker. They require two pairs of speaker wires because of this. This eliminates the small sweet spot seen with outdoor stereo pairs, and apparently provides a more uniform sound across a large area. I have no personal experience with this, just been researching online. I'll look into your suggestions, thanks!

 

[cutter]

I would recommend using a multi-channel amplifier. Then using the A/V receiver to feed it variable audio. That way, you can adjust the volume of the entire outdoor area together through a RF remote control while you are outside.

Something like this:
Sonance Sonamp 1250 MKII Amplifier 12 Channels Bridgeable to 6 Channels | eBay

Or this:
Niles SI 1260 Systems Integration High Power Amplifier 12 Channel Multi Room 760514008151 | eBay

You will get discrete amplification to each speaker in your setup - up to 6 stereo zones can be used at 8 ohms, and these amps are 4 ohm stable which means you could do a lot more if you wanted to. Plus, if one channel goes, you aren't out of music completely.

As well, because you aren't attenuating the audio after the amplifier, you will be able to provide the highest quality audio to the speakers possible.

Thanks for the suggestions! I already have the monoblocks, so I'd like to use them. But you are right, a multichannel amp would be ideal...

 

[cutter]

I think I found the solution to my problem:

ATON - Technology in reach™

RF remote, can select speaker and volume levels. also compatible with universal remote. Only down side is they recommend only 16G speaker wire. My runs are going to require 14G.

Anyone use Pin connectors? do they work well?