Trying to understand receiver/pre-amp requirements for outdoor speakers

Danwland

Hi and thanks for reading my post, especially thanks for humoring my ignorance. I am trying to wire two pairs of outdoor Yamaha (6 ohms) speakers to a receiver via a Niles WVC 100 volume control. I had one receiver that worked for a while until a loved one :sad: spilled something on it. Several other receivers that work great for "garage" music continually go into protect mode. So I am trying to understand the role of a pre-amp and how it could help me pump up the signal to the speakers without overpowering the receiver. Is this the right piece of equipment for what I'm trying to do?
Thanks in advance for any advise you can give me.

tonyb

No, a pre-amp is not what you need. Maybe you ment a separate amplifier ? Still, in order to use that you need a receiver with preouts.

That said, 6 ohm outdoor speakers, any moderate receiver should run them no problem without adding additional amps. If you like cranking on the volume dial, that may throw a low powered receiver into protect mode however. Look on your local craigslist for any 80-100 watt receiver and they should do just fine. Make sure you connect them properly too, if using bare wire ends make sure none of the strands touch another post on the receiver end or speaker end.

Danwland

Thanks for the input Tonyb. I checked the connections and don't have any stray wires. I should say that I have 4 speakers with the furthest one being connected with a +/- 100' run of wire. The speakers are two sets of parallel wired (L and R) speakers. The volume control has an ohm step-up setting. Can a unit like a hybrid Pyle P1001AT Pre-Amp/Processor Amp function in place of a receiver?

tonyb wrote: »

No, a pre-amp is not what you need. Maybe you ment a separate amplifier ? Still, in order to use that you need a receiver with preouts.

That said, 6 ohm outdoor speakers, any moderate receiver should run them no problem without adding additional amps. If you like cranking on the volume dial, that may throw a low powered receiver into protect mode however. Look on your local craigslist for any 80-100 watt receiver and they should do just fine. Make sure you connect them properly too, if using bare wire ends make sure none of the strands touch another post on the receiver end or speaker end.

tonyb

That long of runs....4 speakers, yeah, that could pose a problem. You have 2 sets of speakers connected to one set of speaker posts ? That in and of itself is your problem if that's the case. Buy a speaker selector switch to take care of that. Those Pyle units are el cheapo's and most likely sound like doo-do. Whats the reason for such long runs ? Your patio that far away from the house ?

Danwland

Thanks a lot for taking the time to help me figure this out.

The speakers are in an arbor and the source is in a garage. I figured the Pyle was ah, well, a pile. But the concept of a lot of power without having to get all the features I can't use with a higher end consumer grade receiver is what made me wonder if the hybrid amp would work. Plus, the unit will be located in an un-air conditioned garage, which is a fairly harsh environment. I have two speakers connected to the right channel and two speakers connected to the left channel. The speakers are connected in parallel in channel. A Niles outdoor volume control connects to the inside receiver.

Glen B

tonyb wrote: »

Those Pyle units are el cheapo's and most likely sound like doo-do.

That's another example of a good company led down a bad path. I remember back in the 1970s and '80s when they specialized in drivers, primarily woofers. I built some great sounding subs and 3-way systems using their drivers and crossovers. Now their main focus seems to be turning out cheap "pro" electronic crap.