Garden Speakers

[The Medway Handyman]

That looks good. It will mainly be 'either' speakers not both

It says 6 ohms on the back of the hi-fi.

[Pete Zahut]

After reading the replies so far, I have to ask - how big is the garden and how considerate of your neighbours are you? - because the answer to those two questions could save you much cash. This group is tremendous and I have a lot of respect for the very knowledgeable people who frequent it and offer very good advice - but I can't help thinking that, on ocassions (this being one of them) things are taken a bit too seriously.

First of all, you're going to be playing music into the open air, which I would imagine is never going to be "acoustically brilliant", so I would question the need to bother (specifically) about woofers, tweeters, baffle boxes and so forth.

Secondly, unless you have no neighbours nearby (or just don't care about your neighbours), you'll never be able to play your music very loud so you don't need to worry about power levels or cable sizes.

We live in an "average" semi-detached chalet-style (dormer) bungalow on an "average" housing estate. We have an Onkyo TX-SV343 AV Receiver/Amplifier under the telly that has outputs for a second set of speakers, so I bought this

and installed a couple of runs out to the speaker positions. I then terminated the ends with "Lucar" connectors in a small waterproof housing so that the speakers can be connected/disconnected at will. The speakers themselves have a keyhole at the back, hang on a single screw, and are actually two Creative Cambridge Soundworks speakers from a DTT2200 system that isn't used on my PC anymore: can listen to Led Zeppelin, Free, The Who etc., etc., at levels loud enough to annoy my neighbours without distortion if I so wished, but of course, I don't as I'm not like that. The point is, we have perfectly good music out in the garden for when we're working out there or when we're BBQing, all for just a few quid, and all without going into degree-level sound engineering - and it's been working perfectly well for the last 4 years.

Pete

[geoff]

'Kinell

the birdy song sounds just as good through a polythene bag ...

[Dave Osborne]

Ah, my bad. I didn't look at the pdf. In fact, I thought I was quoting the description when I said they were "fully sealed". It does seem from the pdf spec that they are open at the back, so would indeed benefit from a properly constructed enclosure for enhanced bass response.

Getting dimensions right is going to be luck or trial-and-error though.

CPC sell wadding:

CPC sell suitable speakers for a lot less than Maplin...

indeed, just buy a pair of these and be done with it:

[John Rumm]

I agree - but then again it would be a more tedious thread if one had to wade through too much cruft regarding neighbourhood relations etc. One hopes the OP can work out those aspects well enough for himself!

It depends a bit on what you are after. There is a certain amount of challenge in designing speaker systems that can produce a credible and pleasing sound stage at low volume levels.

Most people will have experienced the unwelcome effects of a loud but small radio etc playing in a garden, where the band pass filtered sound from a small overdriven speaker seems to travel and penetrate. They may find a quieter but slightly more weighty response from a well made pair of speakers less irritating. (having to listen to music you don't want to is irritating - having to listen to it being reproduced badly is even more so IME)

Cable sizes become slightly more important as distance increases. The cable resistance becoming a significant proportion of the speakers impedance is undesirable usually. I would also expect the TMH would have ready access to a reel of T&E from stock, whereas he may not have more traditional speaker cables in the van.

Indeed. Also neighbours are likely to be more tolerant of music accompanying the occasional BBQ or other special event than they will for every day noise/music pollution. Especially if you invite them to the BBQ!

[Dave Plowman (News)]

You're quite wrong. A decent speaker in an open space is likely to sound rather better than indoors.

[NT]

and free via freecycle etc

NT

[NT]

right

yes, it affects damping slightly, but I cant imagine that being a significant issue with a 6" speaker. Bear in mind the speaker itself already has around 7 ohms of resistance, so another 0.8 ohm or so makes little difference. (And the amplifier isnt the only source of speaker damping.)

As theyre being carried in and out I'd second use of flex. 0.5mm^2 is fine though.

NT

[geoff]

In message , NT writes

Freecycle?

Chatham High Street on a Sunday morning

Take your puck of the burnouts ...

[Pete Zahut]

I would agree for something like Glastonbury, Knebworth or the like, but we're talking a domestic back garden on a sunny afternoon here :o)

Of course, there's really no right or wrong answer as such because it's all subjective. Someone I used to work with spent over 5-grand on his hifi system but I only see a small difference between his and my 400-quid system because my ears obviously don't hear what his ears do.

My speaker system for the garden, which can be taken in and out at will, utilises about a tenner's-worth of figure-8 cable and two ex-PC speakers, works brilliantly in my only-just-larger-than-a-postage-stamp garden. Whether it would work for TMH or not, I don't know, but my reply was a sort of tongue-in-cheek observation of how this group takes such an innocent question and then over-engineer's the answer to the nth degree :o)

[John Rumm]

What else do you expect from a bunch of engineers ;-)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Many many years ago I shared a very large flat - part of an even larger house, with a vast rear garden - with some other blokes. And one started his own business, and decided to launch it with a garden party. With a marquee etc. Money was tight, but he wanted the best. Called in all the favours he could from everyone he knew. I did the sound and lighting - with a budget of not a lot. Stuff hired, scrounged and borrowed. A white grand piano tinkled away on the lawn - and when the pianist took his break we played the Carpenter's Now and Then - before it had even been released - as Roger Scott from Capital Radio was one of the investors and had provided his demo copy. On my Spendor BC1s which were on top of the single story rear additions either side of the house. And it sounded quite magical. To the extent passers by were stopping to listen on the road outside. Not at pop concert levels, of course, but crystal clear and full range.

I also remember getting up at dawn to de-rig all the lighting inside the marquee so it could be removed by the hire company with a hangover I've never forgotten. ;-)

[Matty F]

After years of hammering noises and electric planers, routers, circular saws etc, the neighbours would have gone deaf or moved away by now.

[Frank Erskine]

On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 16:22:10 -0700 (PDT), Matty F had this to say:

That's very very true. It seems to be the norm nowadays that woodworkers, be they carpenter- or joiner-type, are expected to use power tools rather than proper craftsman tools, contributing much to carbon-type waste of the planet.

[dennis]

It takes less skill to use a power tool (usually).. even i can get reasonable results. Even something simple like half lap joints is easier with a SCMS.

My brother has been a wood butcher for 30* years and he still doesn't own any power tools other than a drill.

[The Medway Handyman]

Pete Zahut wrote: Whether it would work

On that subject, a bit of lateral thinking & we decided to buy a Brixton Briefcase instead :-)

[The Medway Handyman]

Its down to time, which is nowadays the most expensive component of a project. Nobody can plane, cut or drill better than a properly set up machine anyway.

Aside from which, if Hepplewhite, Sheraton & Chippendale had access to electric routers etc they would have bloody well used them & been thankful.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Anyone who doesn't must have lots of time on their hands. Or willing to work for a pittance.

[Frank Erskine]

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:14:12 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)" had this to say:

Well this _is_ a d-i-y newsgroup. I have loads of time on my hands :-)

[The Natural Philosopher]

I remember someone planing by hand, a plank of wood to do in 2 1/2 hours what a planer thicknesser can do in 45 seconds.