I'm looking to get some advice on what equipment would be reccomended for my small backyard sound system. The back yard is about 70ft x 70ft. I was thinking of buying 2 pairs of used JBL Control 28 from ebay and a new JBL SB210.

I've read that crown amps can be paired nicely with these speakers. I've been looking at the XTI series, i guess mostly because of the built in eq functions and because i found a used xti 2000 locally for $225 which seems like a good deal. Seems like that would be good for the sb210 then maybe a xti 1000 for the 4 C28's?

I'm thinking I'd like to run at 8ohms instead of the 70v stuff, got a spot for the amps that is maybe 100ft from the furthest speaker location. Not really familiar with pro audio, only ever done car and home audio, so I'm a bit lost on how best to supply a signal to the crown amp, I mostly just want a Bluetooth connection so my guests and I can take turns playing DJ from our phones.


Let me know what you guys think...

You’re going to need more speakers than that if you want to have even coverage throughout the 70 x 70 area.

This is why most systems are designed using 70v for satellites and low impedance for subwoofers. With 70v, you can daisy chain the speakers on a single line. This means you can use more speakers for better coverage and easier wiring.

As much as I hate anything BT related for audio, I've used these in the past

[Link: logitech.com]

and you'll need one of these between the source and the amp

[Link: amazon.com]

I'd consider a Yamaha MusicCast pre amp instead. It has Bluetooth if that's is what you want, but has airplay and built in streaming as a fallback for when that Bluetooth range becomes an issue

Logitech's square black and blue BT receiver sucks- I tried to use one in the fitness facility I did and it's not even able to receive through one concrete block wall from 10 feet away. The Miccus blows it out of the water in range and sound quality. If the budget allows, I agree on the MusicCast but if not, the Miccus is what I would use. I didn't even need another one and bought it anyway, just in case I need it.

I found a guy selling JBL Control 28T x 7 at $75/ea. So I'm thinking about stepping up to Qty-7 and running them at 70v as was suggested. I made a little image to show where I'd put them and give a better idea of the layout of my backyard. The areas in yellow are what I'd consider primary listening areas and the blue rectangles are the Control 28 speakers. So there would be 3 along the back of the house and 4 on the shed. As for the SB210, well that might be a "down the road" addition, but I'm thinking it will be somewhere near the yellow rectangle that represents the back deck.



The guy selling the speakers also has a Crown CDI 1000. Which can be setup to run channel 1 at 70Vrms with 500w output and the 2nd channel running 4ohm @ 500w. So I'm thinking I could put all the Control 28T's (70V/60w x 7 = 420w) on channel 1 and the SB210 (with 2 200w 8ohm drivers wired parallel for 4ohms) on channel 2. Or is that just wishful thinking?

Thanks for all the suggestions on the bluetooth devices. I think I'll get something like the Miccus with an external antenna, then mount it under the eaves on the back deck. The missing bit of information that I'm very grateful for is the suggestion to use the "ART CLEANBoxPro Dual-Channel Level Converter" because I wasn't sure how to get my signal from the bluetooth unit to be a balanced 1.4v line level input, as required by the Crown amps. That MusicCast looks pretty sweet, but something like that would have to live inside the house and I'm sure we'd have connection issues from deep in the backyard by the fire pit.

you are on the right path. do yourself a favor get a sonos Port, yamaha music cast or something similar. put a cheap wireless access point under the eve of the house and you will be off to the races

I would look at the yard as if it had a fence surrounding it and aim all of the speakers toward the center if they're not covering a main listening area, to prevent sound going outside of the perimeter. It helps reduce the need to crank the volume because all speakers are producing sound in an additive way. Once you add the sub, you won't have to worry about phase cancellations because the sub will be handling the low end. You're going to need the software for setting the filters, etc in the Crown amp. If you aren't familiar with setting levels, crossovers, filters, limiting, etc, hire someone who knows- trust me- it's not just going to come naturally to you.


Yes- use the 70V output for the satellites and 4 Ohms for the sub. Get that amp.


Where will the amplifier live? If you can put the BT receiver near it, you won't need the Clean Box. BTW- don't worry about the 1.4V input- the amp also has a .7V input and that will work fine. Since the BT receiver doesn't need to be far from the amp, you don't need to worry about balanced line level.

There actually is a fence around the yard, it's just hidden from the satellite view, I've added it to the image as the orange line. I like your idea to mount the speakers all directed toward the center of the yard. I'm thinking the two on the shed should be moved to the back fence as shown below.




The amplifier will be in the coat closet about 12ft from where I'd like to put the bluetooth module. Is that close enough not to need the clean box? I think ultimately I'll end up getting the MusicCast (MC), then if I have connectivity problems, I'll run the Miccus as an Aux device off the MC. Would that help to have the MC right next to the amp, then the miccus 12ft away from the MC?

12' is fine for the audio out of the Miccus or the MusicCast- just don't run the cable next to and parallel to power wiring.

If you'll use the MusicCast's Bluetooth and have connection issues, just use a cable to move the antenna, the same as you can with the Muccus and the Denon Pro pieces. Otherwise, you should be able to create a WiFi network that covers the whole yard and use that (negating the need for BT).