Ran 16 gauge wire 150 feet for outdoor speakers.

[Wynbnt]

I ran 16/4 , decent speaker wire , in conduit that electricians ran had 3 sharp turns.
Maybe 200 feet? Length of the house plus to the pool. Speakers on the ground. I could mount to a couple of trees. Speakers about 15 feet from chairs.
Speakers are 5.25 outdoor. Volume is set at next to nothing 'B' on Proficent volume control.
I believe 4-6 Ohm setting?
Amp is Episode 6 zone running 2 each zones with 2 volumes set at same setting. I will verify this.
Volume is a bit weak. Rack is full.Need a lot more volume. No headroom. Vol at 80% is quiet then distorts above that.
Should I add a small 50 watt per channel amp?
Hard to rerun wire with 12 Gauge 4 conductor and very expensive.
Bigger speakers, 8 inch, and Amp?
Help please.

 

[Whitey80]

I have 16g runs just as long for some of my outdoor speakers and they don't have this problem at all.
(running 30w/ch on 8ohm taps)

Are you running through transformers? If so, you may just be on the wrong tap

 

[markw]

actually, you should have posed this question before undertaking that project. There's quite a bit of loss in that length of that gauge speaker wire, particularly with the impedances you mentioned.

http://www.roger-russell.com/wire.htm

Perhaps a bigger amp might help but there's still going to be quite a bit of loss. In any case, those 5" speakers won't really move a lot of air, particularly in an outdoor environment.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

The devil is in details. How did you connect the wire to the speakers?
what is exact speakers impedance?
16/4 is not recommended for 150-200 ft, next time use 14/4, but it wont explain such big issues with volume.
How many outdoor speakers you have total?
It would be best if you draw exact connections diagram (including each conductor and every +/- of each speaker)

I suspect you connected speakers in series, thus creating too much impedance

 

[highfigh]

Shut it off and disconnect the wires for the outdoor speakers from the amp, then measure the resistance on the speakers from the end at the amplifier and compare that with the resistance at each speaker. Even if you don't see much difference, the next thing to do is measure the resistance from EACH speaker wire to something that's grounded- if the conduit was kinked after the wires were run, it could be shorting. Speaker - to speaker- is unlikely to cause this problem because most solid state amps use a common ground but if you short the + to ground or to the other hot and it has the benefit of added resistance, it won't necessarily launch the amplifier.

If you don't see any problems with the speakers or wiring, bypass the volume control and if the problem stops after bypassing it, replace that. Also, re-read the instructions for the volume control and make sure the control is made for outdoor use, if it's exposed to the elements in any way. Spiders like to crawl into electrical boxes and make their web on things that shouldn't have webs on them and when moisture collects on the web, it can cause problems. If the control in in a wall with just a rough-in ring, put it in a junction box and seal it from the back AND front.

 

[ARES24]

I'm not sure what you are looking for. If you are looking to have comparable volume to what you are used to inside then you are likely to be disappointed. Still I am going to opine that you have the speakers wired incorrectly.
What speakers are you using specifically?
What is powering them?