Whatcha Got At Your Pool

oldrocker

Hello, been a while.

Just curious what kind of sound systems anyone has at their pools.

Thnks in advance.

ken brydson

WTF is a pool? I live in WA....

PolkieMan

I don't need one or the expense:cheesygrin:

ken brydson wrote: »

WTF is a pool? I live in WA....

tonyb

oldrocker wrote: »

Hello, been a while.

Just curious what kind of sound systems anyone has at their pools.

Thnks in advance.

Does a pond count ?

My deck is elevated overlooking a couple ponds but I just use my Sonos connected to a cheap AVR run into some cheap outdoor speakers. Not the best speakers by far but also not the worst. Certainly plays loud enough to garner some complaints 3 houses away at times when we rock out and the bass is decent enough.

What do you have in mind for your pool ? Have to go digital bro, it's the only way for outdoor enjoyment.

newbie308

Don't have a pool, but I do have some Polk Atrium speakers pointing toward my archery range in the back yard. I run them as the "B" channel off of my Yamaha home theater receiver. Good enough for afternoon archery practice! I just need to remember to turn off the "B" channel before watching **** on the home theater! My neighbors kinda look at me in a funny way when I forget!

codyc1ark

^^^ Now thats funny!!

I've got an O.K. sized back yard, with a small screened in poarch that leads out to the deck. A few years ago I hung some Bose Wave 100's that I scored cheep off of CL, run them off of B on the Elite. They do the job just fine, I'm not certain they we're made for an outdoor application but they seem to be holding up just fine. If they do crap out, I'll replace them with something that was built for an outdoor application.

IMO, you don't need huge quality sound outside, you just need something when your working outside or have some people over. Although, if/when I do end up replacing them, I'm going to try and mount an outdoor sub under the deck. Why not?? :twisted:

Speedskater

Having a sound system near a pool, bring another safety concern. So follow all the electric rules.

'No~Shock~Zone'
http://www.noshockzone.org/

DaveHo

I use a pair of JBL N26AWII's on my deck. They are powered by a pair of channels from my Outlaw 770 amp fed by the Zone 2 out of the HT processor. I think they sound really good given I got them used for only $60. They are actually still available new for around $150 & I would have no problem paying that for them. On the back of my house the second floor overhangs the first & I have them hung under the overhang using Omnimount 20.0 ceiling mounts so they really don't get any direct rain exposure. I've had them about 7 years, leave them up year round & they are still going strong.

-Dave

jmsokol

Speedskater wrote: »

Having a sound system near a pool, bring another safety concern. So follow all the electric rules.

'No~Shock~Zone'
http://www.noshockzone.org/

I'm Mike Sokol, author of the NoShockZone website, and a pro-sound engineer with Polk gear in my home system. Thanks for posting NoShockZone here.

Just a note.... Be aware that because all speaker systems are directly connected to the chassis of your receiver or amplifier, if these devices aren't properly grounded it's possible to electrically energize the remote speaker itself, even though there doesn't appear to be any direct connection to the electrical outlet. That's because the chassis of your receiver is directly wired to the ground contact in the wall outlet. So if the outlet ground is energized, then your sound system chassis has an electrical charge on it as well. This same chassis charge will end up on your remote speakers.

So, any sound system with remote outside speakers should really be plugged into a GFCI outlet, even though that’s not specifically required by code for a ”living room” electrical outlet. Because your speaker is outside and perhaps close to a hot tub or swimming pool, standing on the wet grass to move or adjust a speaker could result in shock or electrocution if the receiver inside your house isn’t properly grounded. A GFCI outlet would limit any fault currents to 6 mA or so, protecting you from electrocution outside.

One other thing to be aware of that it’s possible to have an outlet in an older house miswired with something I call an RPBG (Reverse Polarity Bootleg Ground). See my video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLk-6pvSlWg

An RPBG outlet can occur when an older home has its ungrounded outlets improperly “upgraded” to grounded outlets. Since houses wired before the 1970’s often didn’t include ground wires in the outlets, many electricians at the time would add a grounded outlet by installing a jumper between the neutral and ground screws. This is called a bootleg ground, and by itself is not immediately dangerous, even though it’s a violation of current code. However, if the neutral (white) and hot (black) wires were accidentally reversed inside the walls somewhere (surprising common in old installations) then the hot contact in the outlet will be at zero volts while the ground and neutral contacts will be at 120 volts. But crazy as it seems, you will NOT detect this condition using a 3-light outlet tester or even a $300 Ground Impedance tester used in the video. And any electrical appliance (such as your home entertainment system) plugged into an RPBG outlet will appear to operate normally without any hums or buzzes, even though all the chassis gear has been energized with 120 volts.

Now an electrically hot chassis of your receiver isn’t terribly dangerous if it’s sitting in your living room with carpet or hardwood floor. But if you extend the chassis ground to your speakers outside, then touching a speaker while standing on the wet grass could be deadly. The quick way to test for an RPBG is to use a non-contact voltage tester (NCVT) such as a Fluke VoltAlert shown in the video. If your received chassis is electrically “hot” either due to an open outlet ground or an RPBG outlet, then the NCVT will blink and beep at your inches to a foot or more away from the gear. If you get that indication, then contact a licensed electrician immediately to correct the outlet wiring. And don't let him get away with just checking the outlet with a 3-light tester. Get him to test the outlet ground to a known good ground, such as a water pipe or screwdriver stuck in the ground. Any more than a volt or two difference between outlet ground and earth ground is a problem that should be corrected. Please contact me directly at mike@noshockzone.com with any comments or questions.

Mike Sokol
mike@noshockzone.org
www.noshockzone.org

zingo

ken brydson wrote: »

WTF is a pool? I live in WA....

Walking outside is wet enough for me these days.

ken brydson

zingo wrote: »

Walking outside is wet enough for me these days.

Got that right. Weekend and beyond is looking good though...

Speedskater

Mike, that's lots of good safety information!
maybe you should add a pool & boat dock page to your site.

oldrocker

Not to sure at this point but gotta get something better than what I have which is really crappy.

tonyb wrote: »

Does a pond count ?

My deck is elevated overlooking a couple ponds but I just use my Sonos connected to a cheap AVR run into some cheap outdoor speakers. Not the best speakers by far but also not the worst. Certainly plays loud enough to garner some complaints 3 houses away at times when we rock out and the bass is decent enough.

What do you have in mind for your pool ? Have to go digital bro, it's the only way for outdoor enjoyment.

oldrocker

Thanks

DaveHo wrote: »

I use a pair of JBL N26AWII's on my deck. They are powered by a pair of channels from my Outlaw 770 amp fed by the Zone 2 out of the HT processor. I think they sound really good given I got them used for only $60. They are actually still available new for around $150 & I would have no problem paying that for them. On the back of my house the second floor overhangs the first & I have them hung under the overhang using Omnimount 20.0 ceiling mounts so they really don't get any direct rain exposure. I've had them about 7 years, leave them up year round & they are still going strong.

-Dave

seeclear

Atrium 45's by the hot tub.

jmsokol

Speedskater wrote: »

Mike, that's lots of good safety information!
maybe you should add a pool & boat dock page to your site.

Yeah, you're probably right. I already do a lot of work on boat dock electrocutions, but haven't thought about exterior speakers on a home theater system being a potential shock hazard until I saw this thread. But I'm sure that everything I wrote about external speaker shock hazards is 100% correct. I'm not sure this has been written about before, but I can easily cobble up a demonstration. Now I just need to find some extra time for all these experiments and demonstrations.

Speedskater, shoot me a direct email sometime to chat about this. I'm looking for feedback on the best industries to cover shock hazards.

Mike Sokol
mike@noshockzone.org
www.noshockzone.org

Rivrrat

Atrium 45's under the patio cover pointed out towards the pool. If that's not enough, I can open the French doors to the family room, and expose the neighbors to the HTS.

Msabot1

Yea right....sound stuff..how about a few scantily clothed neighbor gals....kinda goes with sound stuff and MARGS...Right?

squeeb

For the pool, I have 2 Atrium 60s, 2 Atrium 45s, and an Atrium 65 by the hot tub that can be swivelled towards the pool or hot tub - whichever is needed. I have 2 Atrium 45s under the patio. Never had any complaints on the sound from guests - just neighbors. :cheesygrin:

scubalab

Have some old Polk M-5's on Speakers "B". "A" speakers - just ran wire in conduit to the patio last weekend to some 'rock' speakers from Monoprice - Surprisingly good sound for the price! Unfortunately, the 'rock' appearance just looks like cheesy speckled grey spray paint.

Oh, wait, I don't have a pool...

scubalab

The Polk M-5's are STILL kicking over 15 years since I bought them. Handled 3 PA winters just fine!

pearsall001

Polk Atrium 45's (powered by a Sonos ZP120) on the lower pool deck & I bring the Sonos Play5 speaker out from the dining room to cover the upper pool deck. Sounds great & I can have different tunes on each deck or have them all playing the same tunes. Everyone loves it.

Mikey081057

I have my old Yamaha RX v795 in the cabana with a laptop pc, Spotify, Audioquest Dragonfly, an old pair of Niles Rock 2 way speakers which used to be in serial with a set of Bose 101's.... The Bose finally blew ( they were outside for like 15 years) and I just ordered a set of Atrium 8 SDI's to replace all of them... The rock speakers are about done too. I have an Amped Wireless extender, so I can get a good wireless signal back in the cabana, and I use the Chrome Remote Desktop extension to control it all. I am sure the Atrium 8's will be a nice improvement over the Bose O's.

DaveHo

THAT is a sweet backyard/pool! Very nice!

sda2mike

i have a squeezebox classic wired inside - in a window sill..an early 90s sony 100 wpc rcvr..and a pair of pyle outdoor spks..actually doesn't sound too bad at all for the pool/sauna area

oldrocker

Bought a 100 wpc sony and a cheap cd player from goodwill for 8 bucks. Bought a pair of yamaha's, pair of atrium 5. Gonna get a atrium sub 10. Works ok, neighbors give some funny looks in the evenings.

sda2mike wrote: »

i have a squeezebox classic wired inside - in a window sill..an early 90s sony 100 wpc rcvr..and a pair of pyle outdoor spks..actually doesn't sound too bad at all for the pool/sauna area

oldrocker

Thanks for the wireless info! Nice setup, love the apron style. That a waterfall at 2 oclock?

Mikey081057 wrote: »

I have my old Yamaha RX v795 in the cabana with a laptop pc, Spotify, Audioquest Dragonfly, an old pair of Niles Rock 2 way speakers which used to be in serial with a set of Bose 101's.... The Bose finally blew ( they were outside for like 15 years) and I just ordered a set of Atrium 8 SDI's to replace all of them... The rock speakers are about done too. I have an Amped Wireless extender, so I can get a good wireless signal back in the cabana, and I use the Chrome Remote Desktop extension to control it all. I am sure the Atrium 8's will be a nice improvement over the Bose O's.

michael1947

So you couldn't figure out how to put in nice square concrete forms for your pool and just went willy-nilly and made them all crooked like that...now how do you hide in a corner.:razz:

oldrocker

I hide very well, cept your pool pic made me come out from hiding. VERY nice pool!! Nice tile work around it all.