Outdoor Theater

[ivseenbetter]

It's been a long time since I have hung around on this forum. Life got busy and hobbies got put on hold. But, I'm back and since I had received such great advice here in the past I'm hoping to get more of it now.

My newest twist is that I want my theater to be outdoors. I have a great setup so far. A big screen (16' x 9') with a bright projector. It's fairly simple to set up and take down...except for the sound. Right now I drag out my indoor theater equipment when I want to play outdoors and I'm getting tired of that. I have a couple of Rocket RS850 speakers that I use in a 2.0 config when outdoors. These are heavy speakers...it's a pain to move them.

What would be a good alternative to these for outside use? It has to go loud but I want it to sound good. Should I consider a PA system? Can monitors hooked on the side of my screen frame (married to some large subs) be able to match what the rockets can do? I'm just not sure what type of speaker solution would be the most cost effective and still give me good outdoor sound like the rockets can give.

 

[markw]

Outdoor sound follows different rules than indoor sound.

Good, loud sound outdoors is gonna require some big, heavy speakers. You're not looking to keep 'em outside pernanantly, are you?

Powerred PA speakers on tripods would be a good, moveable compromise. Here's some ideas to start with.

 

[ivseenbetter]

Oh heck no. I'll bring them inside at the end of each showing. I just hate bringing out my Rockets because they are 100 lbs a piece and I have to carry them down from the second floor to the outside when I want to use them and then back upstairs when I am done. I would rather have something I can leave in my garage when not in use. I was thinking PA speakers were my best bet...but I was afraid the sound quality would suffer. I don't imagine PA speakers are designed for detailed sound reproduction and I want my outdoor movies to still sound good. </SPAN>

Thanks for the link. I will take a look.</SPAN>

 

[markw]

You're not gonna get the same "quality" outside that you can get indoors.

If that's what you're looking for, you're setting yourself up for a big disappointment.

 

[ivseenbetter]

Well, how about the same quality as what the Rockets produce outside? When we watched "Wreck it Ralph" (yeah, we keep it very kid friendly) the explosions were great and the sound was crisp. It sounded good all the way on the other side of our house. Of course, there is a lot of background noise the speakers are competing with (crickets, kids playing, fans running, ac kicking on)...perhaps I'm just over thinking it. I basically just need loud voice and big booms.

I like that link to the Behringer loudspeakers. I have been looking at those on Amazon.

 

[walter duque]

These untitled3 are awesome, if you can handle the price. I did hear them indoors but not outdoors. They rock, that's for sure.

 

[tcarcio]

Where are you located? I have a pair of speakers but I don't want to ship them. I am in Mass.

 

[ivseenbetter]

Walter, those look amazing and would probably be an amazing system outside. I hadn't thought about budget yet as I still wasn't sure if I should go with PA type speakers or if there was some alternative solution that I could run off of a regular surround receiver. Those speakers would probably be out of my price range. I'm not even sure what a fair budget would be though since I wasn't sure what "type" of setup I should pursue. <o></o>
<o> </o>
Tcarcio, I'm in Virginia. I do know a few people up in Mass but I hardly get a chance to swing through there. What speakers were you looking to sell? <o></o>

 

[tcarcio]

They were made by a private builder from Conneticut and I used them for about 6 months. They sound great. I only replaced them because I bought some Chase Home theater speakers that are a little smaller and fit my room better. Here is a pic of one of them.

 

[ivseenbetter]

Wow. Those look impressive! I bet they sound amazing. That is definitely a quality product! I wish I lived closer. Fate is working against me on this one. Is your room rather large? These look like they could fill a room. I'm trying to get scale off of the other items in the room and they look pretty large.

 

[tcarcio]

They are 44" high 10" wide and 17" deep. My room isn't that large, it is 15'x13'x8' that is why I went with the CHT speakers. They were just a better fit.