Outdoor setup question

[tmurnin]

Hi all -

I currently have a pair of outdoor speakers on my ground-floor deck that are connected to a whole-home distributed amp in my family room. We are adding a patio directly behind the deck, and I'd love to add some speakers out there, but I don't want to have to do major construction to the home in terms of trying to add a new speaker-wire run tied back to that amp. Couple of thoughts:

1. Can I splice a new speaker wire run right where my existing outdoor speakers are connected and add the new speakers on essentially the same line as the new one, or will that cause impedance or other issues (I'm aware that I'd be dealing with having to use the same volume setting for both setups) with either the speakers or the amp?

2. Is there a better way to set up this new zone? It doesn't have to be connected to the existing whole-house setup if that's easier, but again, I'm trying to avoid major construction. I've checked out Sonos, and it doesn't appear that any of their speakers are outdoor-friendly, so I'd still have to connect a passive speaker setup to some kind of amp, which would have to be located inside the house, so again, I'd be dealing with fishing wire and hiding the amp someplace (is there such a thing as an outdoor amplifier?). I had considered potentially locating a new amp in the garage (which is right behind the house), but it feels like the temperature swings in an un-insulated garage is probably not great for electronics.

I'm open to any thoughts here. I'm not an expert on outdoor setups, so would love any advice or recommendations people may have.

 

[Pogre]

Hi there!

This is a little bit outside my comfort zone, but your #1 is generally not a good idea. Tapping into the existing speaker connection to add more is called a parallel connection and halves the impedance the amp sees, which makes it work a lot harder and hotter. There are caveats and maybe a couple of exceptions, but as a rule it's not recommended.

@BMXTRIX is pretty good with this kind of thing as well as @TLS Guy and @WaynePflughaupt. We have a couple of other gurus but those 3 are the ones that pop to my mind first. I just summoned them for ya. I don't know enough about home audio distribution to give any advice with confidence.

*Edit: They will probably want an equipment list, number of rooms and total number of speakers, right down to the wire gauge, volume controls and amplifier. Assuming you're doing stereo in each room since you mention 2 speakers?

 

[tmurnin]

Hi there!

This is a little bit outside my comfort zone, but your #1 is generally not a good idea. Tapping into the existing speaker connection to add more is called a parallel connection and halves the impedance the amp sees, which makes it work a lot harder and hotter. There are caveats and maybe a couple of exceptions, but as a rule it's not recommended.

@BMXTRIX is pretty good with this kind of thing as well as @TLS Guy and @WaynePflughaupt. We have a couple of other gurus but those 3 are the ones that pop to my mind first. I just summoned them for ya. I don't know enough about home audio distribution to give any advice with confidence.

*Edit: They will probably want an equipment list, number of rooms and total number of speakers, right down to the wire gauge, volume controls and amplifier. Assuming you're doing stereo in each room since you mention 2 speakers?

I already have the rest of the home wired the way I'd like. I'm only trying to add sound to this one outdoor area and am fairly open to any easy way to do it. My thought is that attaching two more outdoor speakers to the outside of the deck, broadcasting over the new patio would be the best/easiest, but I'm open to rock/landscape speakers/whatever if that makes more sense. The existing whole-home distributed amp is a Speakercraft BB-1235, and I'm only using 5 of the zones currently. 14 gauge wire throughout.

Obviously, the easiest way to do this would be to just bring out a portable BT speaker but trying to get something that sounds a little better than that....

 

[tmurnin]

I just found this - looks pretty interesting

Terrapin Outdoor Solutions

Supplier of premium outdoor housings for placing audio video equipment outside. Easily convert your Sonos Amp or Sonos One into an outdoor product. Put your Heos 1 outside. Install your Amazon Echo Link Amp outside. Solutions for Apple, Control 4, Crestron, Sonos, Heos, Bose, Episode and so much...

terrapinoutdoorsolutions.com

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

Your splicing idea is certainly the simplest. If your amp is rated for a 4-ohm load, you could parallel-connect two 8-ohm speakers to each channel. Alternately, if your amp is rated for 8-ohms, you could connect two 4- or 8-ohm speakers in series.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[BMXTRIX]

Absolutely, if there aren't extra wires run to the outside location and there is no easy way to get them there, then just daisy chain off the wiring which is already there. Now, I'm not sure of your amplifier or the impedance allowance of your current setup and wiring, so that's something you will need to look into, but it is common in setups that I've been a part of to simply add a couple of extra speakers to an outdoor stereo zone to add a bit more volume to the space. Works quite well and typically people are happy with the added coverage.

The speakers you choose are entirely up to you. Typically they will be 8 ohm speakers, and with your current speakers and typical wiring, you will create an impedance load of 4 ohms. So, not an issue for decent whole house multi-zone amplifiers, but not all of them are up to the task, to check out what you have carefully to ensure it will all work right.

This is one of those examples I always try to use to explain to people how over-wiring is never a bad things. Pulling a few extra wires outside at the beginning for $300, and you have them there forever. Don't pull them, and you will never have them available. If you use just one 'extra' wire, then you've paid for all the spare wires you may pull in a home.