[[email protected]]

So I wired up my new house so I could have patio speakers. I've got
speaker wire (in-wall, 14gauage) running from the reciever ("B"
speakers) to a impedance-matching volume control, and then on from
there out to the patio. When I got it all hooked up, the speakes (which
are fine, I checked...) play sound, but much lower than they should
(maybe 10-20% of the speaker volume inside on the "A" speakers). Any
suggestions?

Thanks

[GregS]

In article . com, wrote:
So I wired up my new house so I could have patio speakers. I've got
speaker wire (in-wall, 14gauage) running from the reciever ("B"
speakers) to a impedance-matching volume control, and then on from
there out to the patio. When I got it all hooked up, the speakes (which
are fine, I checked...) play sound, but much lower than they should
(maybe 10-20% of the speaker volume inside on the "A" speakers). Any
suggestions?

10 to 20% does not mean anything except to you. 10%, I don't even know
if one can detect that small of a change. If they sounded like 50%, then
they would be getting about 1/10th the watts Perhaps you need to measure voltages
in back of your receiver or amplifier and compare that to in back of the speaker.
Have you set up the speakers in the same room as the equipment and compare
the same hookup without the long wiring run?

greg
..

[Richard Crowley]

adil.hoxha wrote ...
So I wired up my new house so I could have patio speakers. I've got
speaker wire (in-wall, 14gauage) running from the reciever ("B"
speakers) to a impedance-matching volume control, and then on from
there out to the patio. When I got it all hooked up, the speakes (which
are fine, I checked...) play sound, but much lower than they should
(maybe 10-20% of the speaker volume inside on the "A" speakers). Any
suggestions?

Your "impedance-matching volume control"s only *reduce*
the level from whatever the receiver is putting out. Are you
saying that you are getting "10-20%" with the volume all the
way up? What do the patio speakers sound like connected
directly to the "B output"? How long is your wiring run?

[[email protected]]

Richard Crowley wrote:
adil.hoxha wrote ...
So I wired up my new house so I could have patio speakers. I've got
speaker wire (in-wall, 14gauage) running from the reciever ("B"
speakers) to a impedance-matching volume control, and then on from
there out to the patio. When I got it all hooked up, the speakes (which
are fine, I checked...) play sound, but much lower than they should
(maybe 10-20% of the speaker volume inside on the "A" speakers). Any
suggestions?

Your "impedance-matching volume control"s only *reduce*
the level from whatever the receiver is putting out. Are you
saying that you are getting "10-20%" with the volume all the
way up? What do the patio speakers sound like connected
directly to the "B output"? How long is your wiring run?

Sorry about the 10-20% comment, guess I shouldn't have put a number on
it, I just meant that I do have to crank up the volume on the receiver
to hear the "B" speakers (I had the volume on the receiver one third up
- in the house on the "A"'s that lots of loud, on the patio with the
"B"'s and the volume control up all the way, I could just make out the
sound). I'll pull down the speakers and check them on B (I listened to
them when I first got them on the A channel - but I didn't think that
would make a difference.) The run is only about 20-25', goes up the
wall and across the ceiling, down to the volume control, then back up
the ceiling and out - probably closer to 30-40' or actual wire.
Shouldn't the A and B speakers sound similar at the same volume (and
assuming the volume control is up all the way)?

[Laurence Payne]

On 8 Aug 2006 15:21:16 -0700, wrote:

Shouldn't the A and B speakers sound similar at the same volume (and
assuming the volume control is up all the way)?

Perhaps the patio speakers are a completely different design to the
house speakers. Some speakers are much louder than others for the
same input.

[[email protected]]

Laurence Payne wrote:
On 8 Aug 2006 15:21:16 -0700, wrote:

Shouldn't the A and B speakers sound similar at the same volume (and
assuming the volume control is up all the way)?

Perhaps the patio speakers are a completely different design to the
house speakers. Some speakers are much louder than others for the
same input.

Okay...so while I've got the patio speakers down, I'll try them on "A"
(again) and I'll bring out a house speaker and try it on "B" and update
later. Thanks for help so far

[Jeff Findley]

wrote in message
ups.com...
So I wired up my new house so I could have patio speakers. I've got
speaker wire (in-wall, 14gauage) running from the reciever ("B"
speakers) to a impedance-matching volume control, and then on from
there out to the patio. When I got it all hooked up, the speakes (which
are fine, I checked...) play sound, but much lower than they should
(maybe 10-20% of the speaker volume inside on the "A" speakers). Any
suggestions?

You might want to consider putting the volume control on the A speakers in
the house. Due to the long wire run to the patio (more resistance), and
highly likely differences in room acoustics (especially if the patio is open
to the outside in any way), you might just need more power going to them
compared to the A speakers.

Jeff
--
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a
little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor
safety"
- B. Franklin, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (1919)

[Laurence Payne]

On Wed, 9 Aug 2006 10:01:07 -0400, "Jeff Findley"
wrote:

You might want to consider putting the volume control on the A speakers in
the house. Due to the long wire run to the patio (more resistance), and
highly likely differences in room acoustics (especially if the patio is open
to the outside in any way), you might just need more power going to them
compared to the A speakers.

Or do your neighbours a favour and throw the bloody things away!

[Mike Coatham]

wrote in message
ps.com...

Laurence Payne wrote:
On 8 Aug 2006 15:21:16 -0700, wrote:

Shouldn't the A and B speakers sound similar at the same volume (and
assuming the volume control is up all the way)?

Perhaps the patio speakers are a completely different design to the
house speakers. Some speakers are much louder than others for the
same input.

Okay...so while I've got the patio speakers down, I'll try them on "A"
(again) and I'll bring out a house speaker and try it on "B" and update
later. Thanks for help so far

What brand/model are the "A" speakers and what are the "B" speakers?
Likely reason the volume levels are different is because one set is more
efficient than the other set.................. e.g. A pair of Lowther horns
on the "A" set and a pair of Quad ESL's on the other set

[Gareth Magennis]

"Jeff Findley" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
ups.com...
So I wired up my new house so I could have patio speakers. I've got
speaker wire (in-wall, 14gauage) running from the reciever ("B"
speakers) to a impedance-matching volume control, and then on from
there out to the patio. When I got it all hooked up, the speakes (which
are fine, I checked...) play sound, but much lower than they should
(maybe 10-20% of the speaker volume inside on the "A" speakers). Any
suggestions?

You might want to consider putting the volume control on the A speakers in
the house. Due to the long wire run to the patio (more resistance), and
highly likely differences in room acoustics (especially if the patio is
open to the outside in any way), you might just need more power going to
them compared to the A speakers.

Jeff



Hmm, for a noticable loss of power, you would need the wire to have a
resistance comparable to the impedance of the speakers. A rough calculation
shows that for 14 guage wire to have a resistance of 4 ohms, it would need
to be about 675 feet long. Considerably less than the 40 feet the OP is
claiming, which would in fact have a resistance of 0.237 ohms.



Gareth.

[Bob Quintal]

"Gareth Magennis" wrote in
:


"Jeff Findley" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
ups.com...
So I wired up my new house so I could have patio speakers.
I've got speaker wire (in-wall, 14gauage) running from the
reciever ("B" speakers) to a impedance-matching volume
control, and then on from there out to the patio. When I got
it all hooked up, the speakes (which are fine, I checked...)
play sound, but much lower than they should (maybe 10-20% of
the speaker volume inside on the "A" speakers). Any
suggestions?

You might want to consider putting the volume control on the
A speakers in the house. Due to the long wire run to the
patio (more resistance), and highly likely differences in
room acoustics (especially if the patio is open to the
outside in any way), you might just need more power going to
them compared to the A speakers.

Jeff



Hmm, for a noticable loss of power, you would need the wire
to have a resistance comparable to the impedance of the
speakers. A rough calculation shows that for 14 guage wire to
have a resistance of 4 ohms, it would need to be about 675
feet long. Considerably less than the 40 feet the OP is
claiming, which would in fact have a resistance of 0.237 ohms.



Gareth.

Or a staple that's causing a partial short (say 1 or 2 ohms)


--
Bob Quintal

PA is y I've altered my email address.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

[[email protected]]

So I did a speaker test:
I took the inside floor speakers outside to the patio and they were
more quiet as well. (Not as quiet - they are better speakers, but still
significantly more quiet...). Could it be the way I've got something
wired? I think I've got all the +/- in the right spots, but if I
didn't, would that make a difference? Is there a standard for where
in-wall volume controls "match" what is coming through the line? (Is
"10", full volume = regular volume coming through the line?) I didn't
solder the connections yet - would that make a diffence? Can you tell
from my questions I am both new to this and at a loss for what to do?
I'm sure I'll figure something out - could always have the inside
volume up higher - just remember to turn it down before I put the
inside speakers back on...

[Gareth Magennis]

wrote in message
ups.com...
So I did a speaker test:
I took the inside floor speakers outside to the patio and they were
more quiet as well. (Not as quiet - they are better speakers, but still
significantly more quiet...). Could it be the way I've got something
wired? I think I've got all the +/- in the right spots, but if I
didn't, would that make a difference? Is there a standard for where
in-wall volume controls "match" what is coming through the line? (Is
"10", full volume = regular volume coming through the line?) I didn't
solder the connections yet - would that make a diffence? Can you tell
from my questions I am both new to this and at a loss for what to do?
I'm sure I'll figure something out - could always have the inside
volume up higher - just remember to turn it down before I put the
inside speakers back on...


Put the speakers right next to each other (touching) and try reversing the
connections of one of them. You should hear a big difference. The wiring
that gives you most bass is the correct one. When they are out of phase,
the bass cancels and the rest just sounds plain weird.



Gareth.

[Laurence Payne]

On 11 Aug 2006 07:39:49 -0700, wrote:

Is there a standard for where
in-wall volume controls "match" what is coming through the line? (Is
"10", full volume = regular volume coming through the line?) I didn't
solder the connections yet - would that make a diffence?

Obviously the volume control can only REDUCE volume, not boost it.
Confirm that you are making the comparison with it set to maximum?
What happens if you take it away altogether?

[Karl Uppiano]

wrote in message
ups.com...
So I did a speaker test:
I took the inside floor speakers outside to the patio and they were
more quiet as well. (Not as quiet - they are better speakers, but still
significantly more quiet...). Could it be the way I've got something
wired? I think I've got all the +/- in the right spots, but if I
didn't, would that make a difference? Is there a standard for where
in-wall volume controls "match" what is coming through the line? (Is
"10", full volume = regular volume coming through the line?) I didn't
solder the connections yet - would that make a diffence? Can you tell
from my questions I am both new to this and at a loss for what to do?
I'm sure I'll figure something out - could always have the inside
volume up higher - just remember to turn it down before I put the
inside speakers back on...

This should not be that complicated. If the speakers sound about right when
connected directly to the amplifier, then they should sound about the same
in the remote location with the same amplifier settings and the L-Pad turned
all the way up. Anything else means something is very wrong, and if I were
you I would turn off the amp and disconnect the wires going to the remote
speakers before you burn something up. A few things spring to mind:
-- you might have the L-Pads mis-wired. If you hook them up backwards you
could burn out the L-Pad or the amplifier if you turn them to *either*
extreme (depending on the number of terminals, and how they are mis-wired).
-- your ground return to the amplifier might be open (not connected)
somewhere. Then you would only hear L-R, which would be much lower in volume
and hollow-sounding, or near absolute silence if the program is mono.
-- make sure you turn off the main speakers when listening to the remote
speakers. Some amplifiers connect the speakers in series when both are
turned on. That can cause all sorts of poor performance.
-- it is unlikely that the speakers being out of phase would cause extremely
low volume, but they should be in phase with each other for proper stereo
imaging and decent bass response. Plus on the amplifier should track all the
way to plus on the speaker for each channel; ditto for ground.