Atrium 45: Horizontal or vertical?

EFanning

A friend just bought the Atrium 45s on advice from me. We set up 16-gauge wire from a 40-watt per channel receiver last night. The speakers will be mounted about 20 feet apart under a small overhang on a brick wall and face out toward a deck.

The friend wants to mount them two feet under the overhang. I'm telling him to mount the speakers horizontally so they can be angled down toward the deck. Which end of the speaker, logo end or no logo, should be pointing at the other speaker in the horizontal mount setup?

Also, is he better advised to go vertical and move the speakers down a bit to earn a proper swivel action?

Also, I bought indoor 16-gauge wire that is only patrially exposed to light and rain in this setup. Is that a big deal?

Thanks.

jgido759

I have had my Atrium 45s for about 4 years. They are mounted 1 1/2 to 2 feet below the roof line, horizontal, about 15 feet apart with the tweeters towards each other, and angled down toward the picnic table (listening area). Bass is OK but not great (didn't expect it to be) and they work well for background music during outdoor parties and activities.

dorokusai

It doesn't matter about the actual orientation since that's personal preference. I have mine mounted horizontally with the tweeters towards the outside.

I would suggest "tinning" the ends of that cable with solder prior to installation. The cable will still corrode eventually but you should get some good life out of that.

mantis

dorokusai wrote: »

It doesn't matter about the actual orientation since that's personal preference. I have mine mounted horizontally with the tweeters towards the outside.

I would suggest "tinning" the ends of that cable with solder prior to installation. The cable will still corrode eventually but you should get some good life out of that.

I perfer to use spades or banana ends with shrink wrap to prevent this.

zingo

mantis wrote: »

I perfer to use spades or banana ends with shrink wrap to prevent this.

Ditto on my outdoor speakers.

Since you are not going to critically listening (I am assuming), install them to whatever works best for you.

disneyjoe7

dorokusai wrote: »

I would suggest "tinning" the ends of that cable with solder prior to installation. The cable will still corrode eventually but you should get some good life out of that.

I like Doro thinking here since its what I do.

EFanning

Thank you.

The speakers will be mounted horizontally with the tweeters facing one another.

The indoor wire may be "tinned" and will certainly be somehow inexpensively encased.

You know, another friend told me that indoor wire used outside is a fire hazard because it could short out the receiver. What's up with that?

Clearly, I don't want to spend more cash to buy proper 16-gauge wire for my friend's speaker set up. But am I putting his receiver or speakers at risk? Any advice on how to solve this one?

brijenjas

What receiver is it?

Most receivers have a "protect" mode that they will enter if any speaker wires short, or if the impedance is too low.

Unless it's some really cheap no-name receiver, I don't see it being a fire hazard.

Oh, and welcome to Club Polk.

EFanning

We got the HK 3250 pushing the Atrium 45s. It's an older model Harman Kardan unit. It's not great. It's not terrible. May have a protect mode, I'll check it out. Here's the product page:

http://www.harmankardon.com/product_support/support_detail.aspx?Region=USA&Country=US&Language=ENG&cat=&prod=HK3250BLK&sjump=&#active

You know, we took this outdoor deck system for a test run last night, and the A45s sounded like outdoor speakers, meaning there was a slight hiss and as volume went up, the sound got muddy. I am assuming that's due to the improper speaker wire set up or the 40-watt per channel receiver. We'll figure it out but if anyone's has some suspicions, let me know.

Good times.

jgido759

I'm powering my Atriums with an old Yamaha RX-V595 (70W to all channels) using the "B" speaker terminals. Never noticed any hiss at any volume. Connected using about 50' of 14 gauge speaker wire through the attic. Banana plugs from receiver to wall plate in the house, bare wire at the speaker end.

dorokusai

No problems here either.

G-force

I have 5 pair of atrium45 on my deck and in my garage. I'm running a couple pairs of them diagonally so the sound will go both downwards and in. Seems to work great for me. I love the atriums.

I'm running them off of an Adcom 565 pre-amp to an Adcom 555II 2 channel amplifier. I'm using an Adcom selector and it has no problem powering all 5 zones at once. Never noticed any hissing.

dorokusai

Nice setup and gear G-Force....wow

jgido759

G-force wrote: »

I'm running a couple pairs of them diagonally so the sound will go both downwards and in.

Nice. Never thought to try diagonal.

EFanning

The final chapter ended with a horizontal mount about a foot under the roof overhang with the tweeters facing each other. The brick wall backing produces acceptable bass and a good sound range. The 16-gauge indoor wire remains in place but must someday soon be replaced with 12-gauge white from Blue Jeans Cables. And a speaker-wire upgrade will require a more powerful receiver, which I might be able to give to my friend.

Anyay, I got my buddy on the Polk Road and he may never get off.

F1nut

I would also suggest using banana's with adhesive lined shrink wrap for a virtual waterproof seal.

As for the hiss/muddy issue. You are most likely turning the volume up too high for what the receiver can cleanly put out.

dorokusai

I like the heat shrink idea alot, great suggestion.