Hook up outdoor speakers
Dating > Hook up outdoor speakers
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Dating > Hook up outdoor speakers
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The longer the wire, the more degradation will occur. This is similar to the series-parallel wiring above, but it all happens in the box for you.
If you need to wire more than four speakers, particularly in a commercial installation, see the article on. However if your amplifier is used while watching TV or movies and the volume is constantly being social with the remote control, then the other speakers in house will also be adjusted accordingly. What should I buy. If you need to connect just 2 pair of speakers to a HiFi stereo amplifier that is, 2 speakers to 1 ampsee my article on. I have had many caballeros over the years tell me it is easy to connect multiple speakers — all you have to do is wire the speakers in series. Run a speaker cable probably two, one for left side and one right side from the amplifier to the volume control. It is also gusto to want to have some speakers in the family hook up outdoor speakers, outside patio or pool area and in the workshop or garage. I about choked on the estimate.
A pair of speakers covers two channels: left and right. Is your property close to neighbors, where volume and projection might be a concern? Avoid mounting on cedar or aluminum siding, otherwise the speakers may start to sag.
- In reality this wiring needs to be duplicated for the right side speakers too. NAD M25 7 Channel Amplifier and manufacture relatively affordable control boxes, and we think it makes sense to have multiple units if you are going to install more than one pair of speakers outdoors.
In an earlier we looked at the issues involved in connecting multiple speakers to one amplifier. In this article we look at some of the practical ways of wiring four speakers to each amplifier left and right. For example, it is normal to have your main HiFi amplifier in the lounge room. It is also common to want to have some speakers in the family room, outside patio or pool area and in the workshop or garage. If you need to connect just 2 pair of speakers to a HiFi stereo amplifier that is, 2 speakers to 1 amp , see my article on. I have had many people over the years tell me it is easy to connect multiple speakers — all you have to do is wire the speakers in series. In the following diagrams I will only show the wiring for one side of a stereo amplifier, lets says the left side of the stereo. In reality this wiring needs to be duplicated for the right side speakers too. Four speakers wired in parallel This diagram shows how to wire four speakers in parallel. It is the same as wiring each speaker directly from the amplifier, like this: Wiring speakers in parallel is not a good way of connecting three, four or more HiFi speakers as it puts too much load on the amplifier as explained in earlier Four speakers wired in series This diagram shows how to wire four speakers in series. Again this is not a recommended way of wiring four speakers although it will work , nor is it very practical. Apart from the hassle of having to wire from one speaker to the next, if one wire is disconnected, then all speakers will stop working. Also each speaker affects the total load seen by the amplifier which will only allow it to work up to one eighth of its potential. This is closer to a daisy chain as each speaker and corresponding single wire forms part of a daisy chain loop. Four speakers wired in Series-Parallel This diagram shows how to wire four speakers in series-parallel. This is a safe way of wiring four speakers without a switch box or separate volume controls. It is a combination of series and parallel. Providing all the speakers are 8 ohms, this will work as the total impedance is also 8 ohms, While this will technically work, it is often not practical as you need lots of wires interconnecting all the speakers and there is no control over any one speaker — they all are controlled by the amplifier volume control at the same time. Speaker Selector Switch The easiest and a safe way to connect 4 pairs of HiFi speakers is to use a 4 zone speaker selector switch. This is relatively simple to wire, just run a wire from the central location lounge room to each speaker. The box should also look after any impedance matching to prevent amplifier overload. It is normal to locate the selector switch adjacent to the amplifier. Remember to connect the lounge room speakers to one switch so they can be turned off when you only want music outside. Please note, speaker selector switches are designed for multi-room installs in a home. They are generally suited for low power under 100 watts amplifiers. They should be not be considered in a commercial install or for use with high output power amplifiers. They are normally good for lower powered speakers, and the resistor can get hot at high volume levels. If this switch is not selected, you have no protection when running all the speakers together. This is similar to the series-parallel wiring above, but it all happens in the box for you. All these methods allow multiple speakers, but at a lower volume than using just one speaker. This is logical as the signal is being shared by more than just the one speaker. To see how the power is distributed by the different types of speaker selector switches, see my. If you are interested in using a speaker selector switch, check out my summary article on — it discusses the features and uses in more detail, and summarises all the units bought from Amazon through this web site. Speaker Selector with Volume Controls A more practical and a little bit more expensive way it to substitute the selector switch with a unit that also has volume controls. This allows the volume in each zone area with a pair of speakers to be controlled at the central location. Some volume control units also have impedance matching. This means they have a switch normally on the back panel — but sometimes inside which allows you to tell it you are connecting 2, 4 or 8 pairs of speakers to the one amplifier. These units rely on you probably not needing to run all four sets of speakers flat out at the same time. While this is not as safety assured as using impedance matching, it may suit some installations. If you only want low level music in the workshop and family room, then this will be fine. If you are having a party and want loud music outside, just make sure the workshop and lounge room are turned down — this reduces the total load and this effectively means only one or two pairs of speakers are connected to the amplifier. Remember to allow a volume control for the lounge room speakers so they can controlled also. Therefore it can be useful to have a volume control in each zone area where there are speakers. This way, the volume for the speakers for the workshop is controlled in the workshop. The disadvantage of this is if you leave the volume control up say for the outside speakers and the next morning you play music without going outside — you will be entertaining the neighbours with your music in the morning as well as the night before. In-wall volume controls are similar to the volume controls mentioned above — they come with impedance matching or without impedance matching. If you are having two zones two pairs of speakers or four speakers then you will select the x2 on the back of the volume of the control. Similarly, if you are using 3 or 4 pairs of speakers, you will select x4. If you need to mount them on a solid brick or concrete wall, you will need a big mounting block, or a deep recess in the wall. The transformers on these volume controls are normally deeper than a standard mounting block for solid walls. The greater the power handling ability of the volume controls, the larger the recess required and the more expensive the control. Wiring these volume controls is fairly simple. Run a speaker cable probably two, one for left side and one right side from the amplifier to the volume control. Then run a speaker cable from the volume control to each speaker. Remember to allow a volume control for the lounge room speakers so they can be controlled also. You can use this method for 2 speakers, 4 speakers or more. Practical Considerations in Wiring Four Speakers The above installations will work, but they have some limitations. The biggest limitation is the volume control on the amplifier. This controls the maximum volume to all four speakers. This means the amplifier volume control needs to be set at the level of maximum volume you want for any given speaker. However it is not wise to set it at full volume. The above method will work fine until someone uses the remote control and changes the volume. There is a better solution, but you may not need it. The installations above with the speaker selector switch, or with the volume controls suit a number of situations. I have installed many of these systems in houses where the amplifier is only turned on in the morning and turned off at night. Sometimes the amplifier is installed in a ventilated cupboard so it is never seen nor touched. This allows the household to move around the house listening the same music in every room. However if your amplifier is used while watching TV or movies and the volume is constantly being adjusted with the remote control, then the other speakers in house will also be adjusted accordingly. The easiest way to solve this problem is with a second amplifier. This is my preferred method. This way, the program is the same in every room, but the HiFi amplifier volume can be changed as much as you like, without affecting the other speakers. The volume on the slave amplifier can be set as outlined above and then never touched. Some HiFi main amplifiers have a power socket at the back to allow other equipment to be connected. If this is the case, then plug the slave amplifier in to this power socket and it will be turned on and off with the main amplifier. In Closing… I hope this has helped you understand how-to, and how-not-to, wire four or more pairs of HiFi speakers around your house. The video in the article explains how each of the different types of Speaker Selector Switches provides impedance protection or impedance matching. Also my provides an interactive way to see how they treat impedance and power sharing. For a practical discussion on how to wire just 2 speakers to an amplifier 4 speakers to a stereo amp , see my article on. If you need to wire more than four speakers, particularly in a commercial installation, see the article on. Keep in mind that changing the total load impedance of an amplifier will increase or decrease the power output of the amplifier. See for more details. Also different speakers may sound louder or softer than others due to there sensitivity — see for a better understanding. Also if the speakers each have a different impedance, then there will be different power levels available to each speaker. For more detail see Many practical examples of the methods outlined above have been explored in the comments below. If you have a different situation you would like advice on, please read the before submitting your question. Hi Geoff, I am in the process of building a new home and we are trying to configure the audio system. I about choked on the estimate. I can do a home-run from each speaker to the speaker selector. Could a single Sonos Connect:Amp run through a speaker selector I described? We would not plan on playing music loud and we are not connoisseurs who need premium sound quality. Hoping you can advise. Thanks in advance and we love the site and will support. Michael Hi Michael, It seems you have a good handle on how to connect your speakers — all good. As to the amplifier, the connect amp could work although I think it is only 55 W per channel which could be a tad low depending upon how loud you do want to listen to the music. While that would work there are some other options. Most of the major manufacturers like Yamaha or Denon also have wireless connections and an app. Depending upon how far away you are, you could also simply use a Bluetooth connection from your phone or MP3 player to control the selection and volume of the music. Through the speak selector switch you are probably only going to get 2-5 Watts at any one speaker. So any speaker that is rated at 10 to 15 W would seem to work well. Hope this helps, Geoff Hello, regarding speaker selectors with impedance matching, I want to run 4 zones through a selector in all mono configuration. Our amp is mono. Thanks for your post Good Day Geoff, I own a Sony STR-K760P sound system and I would like to get speakers left and right channel in 3 other rooms than my living room. I was thinking about getting two 8 ohms speakers in each room and connecting them in series as I understood it on the website. Tell me if I am already doing wrong here, because I would also like to step up the game with a potentionmeter knob to adjust the volume of each room. So maybe setting them in series will get me stuck at only having all of the speakers on or off, right? What is the right way for me to be able to have a pair of speakers in each room AND to control their volume by room and maybe just mute them with just one amplifier system? Thank you very much. Hi Émil, Wiring each room in series is not a good way to go. It is better to wire them all in parallel. To have a volume control for each room is not difficult. There are two options for you: 1 to use a switch box at the amplifier with a volume control for each room 4 zone speaker selector with volume controls , or 2 to have a volume control on the wall of each room. Both these methods are outlined in greater detail in the article above. Hope this helps, Geoff.
