Outside Stereo System Design

D

Donnie

Audiophyte
I want to install outside speakers on my wrap around front porch and have no idea how to do this, I need help.

I have an L shaped covered porch 30 feet across then a 90 degree turn to another 20 foot long section. The porch is 8 feet wide from house to railings. I figured I would place 2 in ceiling speakers in each section so I can have stereo sound no matter which side of the porch I was on. But I have several questions on the design and equipment.

I have an amplifier with the following specs: 90w Max, 45w X 2 @ 4OHM Rms, Freq Resp: 20Hz-20kHz, Speaker Imp: 4OHM -8OHM

What speakers should I buy, include specs (In-Ceiling)?
Will the amp I have work or should I upgrade the Amplifier?
Sitting at each side of the porch I will have stereo between the speakers but how will the corner of the L sound?? (I have a seating area on the corner I like to sit at with a cocktail or 3)
Should I go Left speaker Right speaker across the front then Left speaker Right speaker down the side to get a consistent L/R configuration no matter where I sit??​
I have seen these single stereo speakers that take a left and right connection in 1 unit (speaker is split in the middle) and was thinking maybe put that at the corner and then 1 speaker at the end of each part of the porch for the L/R speaker therefore using 3 speakers instead of 4. Will this even work??
(Right speaker at the end of the porch followed by the left side of the single speaker on the corner of the L, then Right side of the single speaker followed by a Left speaker further down the next side of the porch)​
Any and all help on how to get quality loud music outside on the porch no matter where I am sitting will greatly be appreciated. Also I am not very fluent in audio lingo or knowledge so simple is best for me to understand.

Thanks
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lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Personally ceiling speakers don't appeal and are a bigger pain to install, I'd likely go with wall mounts up near the ceiling aimed down (what I have on my deck, but only a stereo pair suited for my seating out there where I can appreciate the stereo image, too). Stereo will likely be lost with more than two speakers in the ceiling (along with a good seat to appreciate the stereo image)....running mono could likely be a better way to go overall. The amp sounds good for two speakers, four could be problematic depending on impedance and how wired.
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
I would use in-ceiling speakers and would recommend them without hesitation in such a nice looking patio space. You don't want big ugly outdoor speakers intruding and in-ceiling speakers end up looking very nice in that soffit area. Typically audio outside is more about just adding background music or just 'music that plays at a decent volume' out there. It's not an audiophile space, and should be treated as practical over perfection. So, this is mostly just my thought/counterpoint to @lovinthehd - which is fine. We can have different points of view.

I would wire them L/R L/R in the two areas. It's not going to be a huge stereo imaging gain/loss in an open environment really. But, pick where your left/right ears are, and wire them accordingly.

That said, I would purchase two pairs of 8-ohm speakers. I often pick up my outdoor speakers from outdoor speaker depot. Their price is very good and the quality is quite acceptable and even very good for the price. I try to get 8" speakers for most of my in-wall/ceiling stuff as it helps to add a bit more low end. This is especially nice in an outdoor setting where bass can really be lost.

I would wire these speakers in parallel with each other. This will create a 4 ohm load to your amplifier. This is perfect as that's what your amp is designed to handle. So, run a single 14 gauge speaker wire pair to each speaker (14/2 wiring).

I have also put speakers UNDER decks to keep them completely hidden and to allow slightly better access to the wiring.

Be aware, that getting wires into that soffit space may be extremely difficult if the home is completely finished.
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
The first questions that need an answer are:

How will you get the speaker wires into the porch ceiling?
How is the ceiling of the porch ceiling framed?

If you had the ceiling material installed (looks like it may be aluminum, judging by the seam at the corner), was the old material covered, or replaced? If it was replaced, maybe you have a photo of the work in progress, to use as a way to jog your memory and make running the wires easier.

One way to get the wires to the speaker locations would be to run the wire up from below in a corner that's somewhat hidden from view when looking from the front of the house and from the photo, it looks like this could happen around the corner trim at the right of the door. Once the wire is high enough, a hole can be drilled upward and into the space above the porch, so the cable can be fed in and brought to the closest speaker location- you'll need a tool often called 'fish sticks' because you can't push wire if it's limp, like this stuff (these sticks are available at Harbor Freight and they're not expensive). Because this kind of framing is usually constructed of 2x material in a triangular form, feeding cables should be easy once the cable is there and the speaker holes have been cut. See the image for what I mean.


You would then use the fish sticks to feed the cable from hole to hole. Because the distance between the speakers is so large, I would run the system in mono because drastic use of stereo separation and panning would be very annoying and this results in a 'ping pong' effect WRT the sounds bouncing between the channels- listen to old Beatles records for some good examples. Another way to avoid this is to use dual voice coil speakers that connect to both channels- you will need to use an impedance maintainer in order to avoid ending up with a speaker impedance that's too low for the amplifier and unfortunately, they waste a bit of power. This could be OK if you don't plan to listen at high SPL, but in reality, 45W isn't a lot of power when outdoor speakers are involved, even at moderate levels- you are trying to fill a large area even if that's not the plan because the perimeter doesn't have a wall to contain the sound.

If you decide to use some kind of small box speaker, I would think about putting them below the deck if the boards have a decent gap between them. If this isn't the case, they could be mounted at the outer edge of the ceiling and facing down at an angle, toward the house. Getting the wires would be similar, but they don't need to be fed above the ceiling material, just coming out at the point where the 4x4 and ceiling meet (drill from the porch side of the 4x4). Then, the cable can be stapled at the corner and fed to each speaker location and covered with some kind of moulding.

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D

Donnie

Audiophyte
Thanks for all the responses. To answer some questions from above.

The ceiling is vinyl tongue and groove panels over old wooden bead board. There is a 3 foot space in the ceiling at the house wall that narrows to a few inches at the outer edge.

I have run speaker cable (12 gauge 4 wire) inside the outer wall from the basement and into the space in the porch roof. I removed the vinyl panel closest to the house and made a small opening in the wooden bead board to get into the space and will just add the panel back to cover the hole.

Any suggestions on speaker manufacturers and models. Also size. I was thinking 6inch but a see a post suggesting 8”

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