The Challenge
You’ve just remodeled your 15,000-square-foot house on 2.5 acres with over 250 feet of it wide-open waterfront property on the Long Island Sound, and you want a great sounding outdoor system. There are no walls, trees, or bushes to contain sound — just beachfront — so what’s to stop it from being dissipated over the water, drowned out by boats and other water traffic, or the waves off the Sound constantly breaking against the beach?
The homeowner and installer were concerned about achieving powerful sound in all areas of the backyard. Full service integrator, ATTYWON (a.k.a., All The Technology You Want or Need), covering Manhattan and Long Island, specializes in everything from smart homes to integrated offices. When Eyal Akler, ATTYWON’S CEO, got the call from a new client in Long Island, he paid a visit to the owner’s property and saw what a challenge it was going to be — but was confident he could succeed.
“The first and biggest challenge was the size of the property,” says Akler. “Our task was to blanket the entire 250-feet-plus width of the backyard with powerful sound. The vast property size and sound-coverage requirements meant long wire runs and a high speaker count. There are several tiers between the huge back patio, lawn, and pool/pool house area; we had to get our wires across and through all levels, and we worked with the landscape architect to design proper pathways and conduits for our Wirepath Direct Burial Wires.
“In such a large space, the homeowner will not always want music playing all over the backyard. In addition, the landscape designer didn’t want the speakers to be too visible, so they had to blend in to be heard, but not seen. We were also concerned about insufficient bass because neither the landscape architect nor homeowner wanted to provide space for in-ground or above-ground subwoofers, at least not in the areas where they would be most effective.”
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The Solution
The original design called for 35 speakers and six subwoofers, but, after limitations from the landscape engineer and homeowner, Akler redesigned the system for 27 satellite speakers, with no subwoofers. He chose the SnapAV Episode ES-LS-SAT-8-BRN outdoor satellite speakers powered by Crown CDi amps.
The ES-LS-SAT-8-BRN allows for a 60-watt tap at 70V, a feature that is available in the pro audio market but not in the custom install market. The 8-inch driver on the ES-LS-SAT-8-BRN, coupled with its higher power, allowed for much higher output and compensated for the lack of subwoofers. The speakers have a 120-degree dispersion angle and, with the proper settings, they provided enough sound to fill the immense backyard with dynamic full-range sound.
Speaker placement played a critical role in this install. Since there was no way of containing the sound at the waterfront, the speakers needed to be positioned for the best audio performance, but still hidden or only partially visible to meet the desire of the homeowner and the landscape architect. The dark brown color and shape of the speakers were ideal for disappearing into the landscape. One of the great features of these speakers is the separate volume control on each; this meant that no matter where you are on the property, you won’t hear sound coming from one specific speaker. What you’re left with is a complete immersion of sound across the property.
The Results
The homeowner was thrilled with the results: “We are very pleased with the quality and reliability of our new music system. The sound outdoors is especially powerful. It made the first summer in our new home a lot of fun, particularly by the pool. Our WiFi signal is also impressive; we can be all the way out on the dock, hundreds of feet away from the house, and still control both the music and the lighting. We thought having all this new technology in our home would be intimidating, but the folks at ATTYWON did a fine job of designing, explaining and installing all of the tech — we are grateful.”
Akler adds: “We were tasked with covering a large home and property with audio that sounds great and looks clean in its setup. After considering the size and scope of this project, knowing we needed to provide a uniform sound and feel throughout as well as be competitive in our pricing, we selected Episode speakers. While there are over 20 zones of audio inside this 15,000-square-foot home, the biggest challenge was to blanket the exceptionally large backyard with powerful, clear audio. With over 250 feet of waterfront, a huge lawn, oversized patio, and a generous-sized pool deck, it was no easy feat. We’ve used Episode speakers in many projects before, but even I was pleasantly surprised by just how powerful and rich the sound quality is. Throw a party for hundreds of people; who needs a DJ!”
“We designed our landscape speakers to offer the widest dispersion possible, so integrators can provide the best outdoor audio experience for their customers,” says Mike Jordan, VP of audio video at Snap AV. “Because the outdoor coverage area in this project was so broad, wide dispersion mitigates volume hot-spot and dead-spot issues. Providing even, consistent audio levels across 120 degrees of dispersion gives integrators flexibility in speaker placement, maximizing discrete placement while still providing seamless audio. At Episode, we believe in maximizing the integrator’s design and install flexibility, while providing the best sound possible for the end customer.”
Equipment List
Audio Core Equipment:
- Savant IP 50 Amp & Streamer
Upper Patio & BBQ Area (Zone 1):
- Nine (9) Episode Landscape Series Satellite Speaker with 8-inch Woofer – Dark Brown (ES-LS-SAT-8-BRN)
- Crown CDi Series Amplifier – 500W x 2 Channels (CDi1000)
Pool & Cabana Area (Zone 2):
- Eight (8) Episode Landscape Series Satellite Speaker with 8-inch Woofer – Dark Brown (ES-LS-SAT-8-BRN)
- Crown CDi Series Amplifier – 1000W x 2 Channels (CDi2000)
Lawn Area (Zone 3):
- Twelve (12) Episode Landscape Series Satellite Speaker with 8″ Woofer – Dark Brown (ES-LS-SAT-8-BRN)
- Crown CDi Series Amplifier – 1000W x 2 Channels (CDi2000)
Inside of Pool House:
- In-Cabinet Rack – 18-inch Depth 14U (SR-CAB-14U)
- 8 Port Gigabit Switch with Partial PoE+ (AN-210-SW-R-8-POE)
- AC 3×3 Series Indoor Wireless Access Point (AN-700-AP-I-AC)
- ES Commercial Series In-Ceiling 70-Volt Speaker with 6 in. Woofer (KIT-ECS-650-IC-6)
- Episode All-Weather Series Surface Mount – 8-inch | Pair (ES-500-AW-8-WHT)
For more information, visit www.snapav.com.
