Outdoor sound system.

L

LoyC

Audiophyte
Getting ready to setup a sound system for the outside of my house. I want to do it in 3 separate phases. 1st phase is under my 30' x 34' carport. Thinking maybe 4 wall mounted speakers on the 4 corner post (or speakers on all 6 post) & eaither a wall mount or underground sub. Would like it to jam pretty good as far as volume & definitely want it to sound good. It will pretty much be for streaming music with the occasional movie night outside with the granddaughters. Want to plan setup for future addition of two other zones. One (2nd phase) at firepit which is the yard on one side of carport & the other (3rd phase) is the area on the other side of carport which will include part of my yard & maybe my shop. Need recommendations on equipment & setup.
 
TheWarrior

TheWarrior

Audioholic Ninja
Are any of these locations already wired for electricity or sound?

@DigitalDawn is a distributor for a number of brands and is awesome to work with. Triad is her main speaker brand I believe and they have a couple straightforward speaker designs for outdoor applications. FWIW Triad builds all their speakers in Oregon. I would go for speakers mounted on the posts as in ceiling designs tend to have that 'voice from above' effect.

You'll want to have a location for the amps and electronics to be indoors tho. Streaming is easy and if you don't have a good Wifi connection at your desired listening locations, I'm sure there are routers for this type of application that you can hide up in the ceiling of the carport, for example.

Make no mistake tho, internet is great when its wireless, speakers ARE NOT. If you are not already wired at these locations, you will need a contractor that understands how to wire electricity and speakers, separately.
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
Getting ready to setup a sound system for the outside of my house. I want to do it in 3 separate phases. 1st phase is under my 30' x 34' carport. Thinking maybe 4 wall mounted speakers on the 4 corner post (or speakers on all 6 post) & eaither a wall mount or underground sub. Would like it to jam pretty good as far as volume & definitely want it to sound good. It will pretty much be for streaming music with the occasional movie night outside with the granddaughters. Want to plan setup for future addition of two other zones. One (2nd phase) at firepit which is the yard on one side of carport & the other (3rd phase) is the area on the other side of carport which will include part of my yard & maybe my shop. Need recommendations on equipment & setup.
What's the distance to the nearest neighbor and how loud will it be when you're using the system? If you don't want to disturb the neighbors, aim the speakers toward the wall, from the far side of the carport- it will use the wall to reinforce the sound and limit the SPL as you move farther from the wall.

Do you want strong bass? If so, expect the neighbors to complain- it's almost impossible to stop bass being heard at long distances.
 
L

LoyC

Audiophyte
Are any of these locations already wired for electricity or sound?

@DigitalDawn is a distributor for a number of brands and is awesome to work with. Triad is her main speaker brand I believe and they have a couple straightforward speaker designs for outdoor applications. FWIW Triad builds all their speakers in Oregon. I would go for speakers mounted on the posts as in ceiling designs tend to have that 'voice from above' effect.

You'll want to have a location for the amps and electronics to be indoors tho. Streaming is easy and if you don't have a good Wifi connection at your desired listening locations, I'm sure there are routers for this type of application that you can hide up in the ceiling of the carport, for example.

Make no mistake tho, internet is great when its wireless, speakers ARE NOT. If you are not already wired at these locations, you will need a contractor that understands how to wire electricity and speakers, separately.
It's wired for power. It's all open so easy to add/run wires, mount stuff, or whatever is needed. I will either put the equipment in the room that backs up to the carport or cut & sink it in to the wall & put a pc of glass to keep moisture out. I have plenty of room in the electrical sub panel that I added just for the carport. Pretty much unlimited as far as options on where to put stuff.
 
L

LoyC

Audiophyte
What's the distance to the nearest neighbor and how loud will it be when you're using the system? If you don't want to disturb the neighbors, aim the speakers toward the wall, from the far side of the carport- it will use the wall to reinforce the sound and limit the SPL as you move farther from the wall.

Do you want strong bass? If so, expect the neighbors to complain- it's almost impossible to stop bass being heard at long distances.
Neighbors are cool & pretty much far enough away they shouldn't be a problem.
I want to be able to turn it up sometimes & jam but mostly normal listening while hanging out under the carport, playing cornhole, darts, or shuffleboard which is right outside the carport. And yes I want to feel the bass lol. I like a big variety of music, mostly country, rock, some pop, & even a little rap.
 
TheWarrior

TheWarrior

Audioholic Ninja
It's wired for power. It's all open so easy to add/run wires, mount stuff, or whatever is needed. I will either put the equipment in the room that backs up to the carport or cut & sink it in to the wall & put a pc of glass to keep moisture out. I have plenty of room in the electrical sub panel that I added just for the carport. Pretty much unlimited as far as options on where to put stuff.
Well, if you want to 'feel' the bass outdoors, you'll likely need that power. Without an enclosed space, getting strong bass outdoors requires alot of amplification.

Check out Triad: https://triadspeakers.com/product-tag/outdoor/ I have some of their in wall speakers in my bedroom. Have also been to their factory which was pretty cool. They build a high quality and reliable product.

Speaker wire just needs to not ever run parallel to electrical wiring, without a sufficient gap. A perpendicular cross is fine, but otherwise you sound capable of hiding some speaker wire without needing to hire someone. Yay, more money for speakers!

I do recommend sending Dawn a message, she works with a lot of brands and knows way more about outdoor sound systems than I do. If nothing else, she can definitely help you put together a plan.
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
Neighbors are cool & pretty much far enough away they shouldn't be a problem.
I want to be able to turn it up sometimes & jam but mostly normal listening while hanging out under the carport, playing cornhole, darts, or shuffleboard which is right outside the carport. And yes I want to feel the bass lol. I like a big variety of music, mostly country, rock, some pop, & even a little rap.
Crank the stereo in your car with the windows open and walk away, so you can get an idea of how the sound will travel. If you want to play rap, I would suggest setting up the system so the low end level and/or EQ can be altered for certain times- I would also make sure than any kind of speakers that will provide the low end be horn-loaded and not produce much below 50Hz, to prevent the sound being a problem. You're not trying to get home theater special effects low end, this is for music and most PA systems that provide killer sound don't usually go much below 50Hz, but they "sound like they do". The reason I used quotes is because we hear low frequencies differently from the rest of the range and what sounds like low frequencies is actually significantly higher.
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
It's wired for power. It's all open so easy to add/run wires, mount stuff, or whatever is needed. I will either put the equipment in the room that backs up to the carport or cut & sink it in to the wall & put a pc of glass to keep moisture out. I have plenty of room in the electrical sub panel that I added just for the carport. Pretty much unlimited as far as options on where to put stuff.
Glass without a weather seal won't keep moisture out if you need to access the equipment from outside, for any reason. It would be better to mount the equipment inside and use a sealed port/junction box for feeding the cabling outside (make sure its diameter is large enough).
 
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