Recommendations For Outdoor Speakers For Connect Amp

  • 10 January 2013
  • 22 replies
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Userlevel 2
Hi
I'm adding outdoor speakers to my sonos system. Have the connect Amp and have been researching outdoor speakers to buy for my house. Does anyone recommend any particular speakers? I see Polk is pretty good but most outdoor speakers don't get good reviews on bass. I'm not looking for booming but I don't want all high end either. Bose looks good but is that worth the money?

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22 replies

Userlevel 2
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Boston Acoustic Voyager 6. I've had them for a year, sound great including Bass.
Userlevel 2
those are out of stock. I've seen them on Amazon.. do you know what Boston Acoustics replaced them with?
Bose looks good but is that worth the money?

I am very happy with my Bose 251 pair. Ten years now, of excellent sound in an attached patio.
Userlevel 5
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I am very happy with my Bose 251 pair. Ten years now, of excellent sound in an attached patio.

These are the ones I would choose - excellent reviews - bit expensive.
Userlevel 2
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Voyager 60. Ebay has a black pair new for $275 if you act quick. Also the Voyager 7 has a 7" woofer
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Monitor Audio outdoor series
Hard to beat the performance of them
Userlevel 2
There a lot of speaker systems out there rated for outdoor use but that does not mean you not try your best to keep them out of direct contact with rain, sun, etc....best to go out and listen to them. Pay close attention to the mounting restriction locations for each brand/model...some are different.
If possible mount them under an overhang if possible. They usually come with a mounting bracket system made for aiming the speaker in multiple directions.
Also you should use speaker cable rated for outdoor use. The Connect/amp will have to be mounted in a location inside the home somewhere. If the cable runs are going to be long (say over 20ft) use a 12 gauge speaker cable...will offer less resistance and the amp in the Connect will not run hot or over heat (heat is your worst enemy when it comes to any form of electronics).
Also not sure what the OHM ratings are for the outdoor speakers so if your going to have more then 2 running on the Connect/amp do not over load the OHM rating for it.....cannot handle more than a 4 ohm load for each channel (two 8 ohm speakers connected together on each channel).
Hope this helps.
If the cable runs are going to be long (say over 20ft) use a 12 gauge speaker cable...will offer less resistance and the amp in the Connect will not run hot or over heat (heat is your worst enemy when it comes to any form of electronics).


Let's get the physics correct.

True, the larger wire gauge (smaller numbers indicate larger cross section -- #12 is larger in diameter than #16) implies less resistance. We usually talk about wire resistance in Ohms per foot and #12 wire has less resistance per foot than #16. And, of course, longer wires imply more resistance in the external circuit.

Yes, heat is a major enemy. However, with respect to the CONNECT:AMP, more external resistance (wire resistance plus the speaker resistance) results in less current and less current results in less heating inside the CONNECT:AMP.
Let's get the physics correct.

True, the larger wire gauge (smaller numbers indicate larger cross section -- #12 is larger in diameter than #16) implies less resistance. We usually talk about wire resistance in Ohms per foot and #12 wire has less resistance per foot than #16. And, of course, longer wires imply more resistance in the external circuit.

Yes, heat is a major enemy. However, with respect to the CONNECT:AMP, more external resistance (wire resistance plus the speaker resistance) results in less current and less current results in less heating inside the CONNECT:AMP.


But for a given volume, it results in more heat. Or am I mistaken? Less current=less volume?
Userlevel 2
I′ve got a pair of Klipsch Aw650 arriving this morning so will connect and post my review later...taken a bit of a risk but every review I read was outstanding .... so lets see....
Was a toss up between the Klipsch or Acoustic Energy Extreme 8 which I′ve actually listened to and were brilliant.......
Userlevel 2
Just wondering how the Klipsch worked out? Did the connect amp have enough watts to power these?
I'm bumping this thread because it may be helping me understand my problem. I do have Polk patio 200 speakers that I bought for my Sonos connect amp and I'm realizing after playing music it shuts off, the volume gets turned down automatically & I have to pause and play my music for it to pick back up again. Could it be because the speaker wire I'm using is not the right size? I believe I'm using #16, and they are more than 20 ft in length, maybe 30' or so. Any help would be appreciated thanks.
Userlevel 7
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Phelks do you have automatic music detection (no clue for the real name and the wife just served dinner) turned on? It can do that to you.
Hi Stanley. I wouldn't know honestly. Where would I find it? I'm assuming you're referring to the Sonos settings?
Userlevel 7
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Full of extra spicy chili and ready for a nap but I went looking at the Sonos support site looking for an answer. Discovered you can't find it if you look for auto play but it shows up if you look for autoplay without the space.

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/1080#autoplay
Thanks Stanley. I went to see if maybe I had that accidentally enabled but I don't see it at all. Maybe since I'm not using a line-in device???
Userlevel 7
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Next time it happens submit a diagnostic within a few minutes and contact support, Phone is best but can take a while to get a person, Twitter is fast but limited and the forums are both slow and limited.
Will do.
Userlevel 6
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One of my outdoor speakers died (left by the previous owner and prewired, which I really appreciated), so looking for replacements. They’re driven by a ZP100, my very first Sonos player from 2009 and still going strong, so I’m looking for something that will work well, but not in the mood to drop a lot of cash. I have enough Best Buy rewards points to get the Yamaha’s on sale now, which are rated at 6 ohms - anyone using 6 ohm speakers with their Connect Amp or ZP100/120?
These?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/yamaha-natural-sound-5-2-way-all-weather-outdoor-speakers-pair-black/8837672.p?skuId=8837672

I believe that's the model I've got. They are good, not great...not sure how they'd compare to your existing speakers. I'm actually thinking of replacing them during Christmas sales. I want to say they work fine with the ZP100, but I actually run 2 pair through a speaker switch, so I can't say with 100% certainty. According to the support article below, shouldn't be an issue.

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/265?language=en_US
Userlevel 6
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I looked at those, but was more interested in the next step up. Also like the Defunitive Technologies outdoors that they have open box for $149
Userlevel 6
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I ended up getting the Yamaha with the 6.5" drivers, set them up yesterday. Definitely louder than what I had before, but a little bit of distortion. I'm gonna try them out this weekend, have a cook out going, and if they don't sound right I may switch them out for the Polk Atriums. The volume makes sense as they're 6 ohm - I don't know what the impedance on the previous speakers was, they were some old, tan, Realistic brand that looked like they belonged on an air raid siren instead of audio speakers, but they sounded much, much, better than they looked.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/yamaha-natural-sound-6-1-2-2-way-all-weather-outdoor-speakers-pair-white/8837636.p?skuId=8837636