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diyr

Audiophyte
i am looking to add some outdoor speakers out on a deck. I have a Yamaha RX-V 2300 in the house. It has a B channel that has two porch speakers already hooked up to it. The rest of the channels are used in surround for the house. I would like to set up two more speakers on a deck outside which would be a 200 foot run of wire from the house. I fugure a 14/4 speaker wire with a volume control near the speakers would get the job done. I am not extremely concerned on the sound quality but i want it two play the same source as the other two porch speakers hooked into my B channel.

Here is the big question. Can i hook up these two new speakers on the deck to the same pole of the B channel porch speakers. I know you audiophiles will freak on this, but will it work? I dont mind the reduction in sound quality but i dont want to blow stuff up either. I also have a Zone 2 not being used on the reciever but it doesnt have an amp and dont want to spend to much $$$$$. The 250 feet of speaker wire is already $$$$ enough. The speakers, wire, and volume control have not been purchased so i am open to your suggestions.

Thanks for yall input.
 
WaynePflughaupt

WaynePflughaupt

Audioholic Samurai
Unfortunately, you’ll need to spend some more money on an amplifier for the deck speakers if you want to do this right. Theoretically you [i[could[/i] use a simple speaker selector switch connected to the Yamaha’s “B” terminals that would let you use the porch or deck speakers separately, or both at the same time. However, with that you’d lose independent volume control of the deck.

For instance, if the speakers you choose for the deck end up being less efficient than your other ones, or if you have some signal loss due to the long speaker cable run, you might end up with your deck volume being lower than you want. A local volume control (between the speaker selector and the speakers) would allow you to reduce the volume, but it won’t boost the signal if it’s too low.

I’d suggest a simple stereo receiver or integrated amplifier, fed by to the Yamaha’s Zone 2 RCA outputs. I’m sure you can find something cheap at a pawn shop or on eBay. That would give you an independent level control of the deck speakers. You could also wire in an L-pad at the deck, to give local volume control w/o having to run all the way back to the house.

For speakerwiring, you’ll want to use cable that’s rated for direct burial. Some 14-gauge wiring for low-voltage lighting will do the trick. It looks like standard zip cord, only it’s black. If you can't find any in the length you need and have to do a splice, use waterproof splices rated for direct burial as well. You can probably find those on the electrical aisle at the hardware store.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
 
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D

diyr

Audiophyte
what is an L pad? and what kind of wiring would be involved. I am going to run my wires in conduit along with some coax so i want to get all right on the first dig.

Going back to my original plan, would it help if the speakers on the dock had a built in amp
 
WaynePflughaupt

WaynePflughaupt

Audioholic Samurai
what is an L pad? and what kind of wiring would be involved. I am going to run my wires in conduit along with some coax so i want to get all right on the first dig.
An L-pad is a speaker-level attenuator. Get a stereo L-pad rated for at least 50 watts, and you’d run the speaker wires to it, and out from it to the speakers.


Going back to my original plan, would it help if the speakers on the dock had a built in amp
Probably just complicate things for you. That would mean you’d have to run electrical power out to the deck, and line-level signal cable instead of speaker cable. I don’t think you’re going to find any 200 ft. line-level cable that come with RCAs on the ends, so you’d have to terminate them yourself. If you’re really wanting to go that route, you could use coax (RG-6 or -59) for the line-level signal, and use some RCA compression connectors.

For conduit I’d use PVC, as I expect that with glued couplers it’ll be more watertight than metal conduit.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
 
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Rickster71

Rickster71

Audioholic Spartan
Do you have a basement?
I put a separate setup in my basement to run my patio sound. The speaker wire runs are much shorter than if I ran them back to my main system.
Maybe a used receiver as suggested by Wayne.

200 ft is a very long run for speaker wire. What speakers are you using and what is their ohm rating?
Check this wire table:http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm#wiretable
If the speakers are to be mounted on the deck rail or under the soffit, you can possibly run the wires around the sill or the J-channel of the siding and under the deck and avoid burying conduit and wire.
 
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