Included in the box were eight satellite speakers mimicking outdoor landscape lights and an in-ground subwoofer. I like how Sonance took most of the guesswork away by boxing a complete solution that, if wired to the specs, would deliver great spread-out coverage while maintaining wattage and impedance levels that are the norm for an outdoor audio solution. Sonance pushed this concept further by incorporating the subwoofer crossover inside the actual sub, also eliminating the need of a separate subwoofer amp. An all-in-one outdoor solution in a single box is something I hadn’t seen, but had always wanted.ĭesigning an outdoor audio system has never been this easy for me, and I’ve installed just about everything. Sonarray comes with detailed instructions on how to install the system based on distance between speakers and alternating from right to left “with distance” to create and all-inclusive stereo experience. I was able to alternate between right and left and center my sub for a linear distance of 48 feet of even coverage and no dead spots over my outdoor entertainment space. Installation was simple, except for the part where I had to dig a hole. Included with the Sonarray system are outdoor-rated wire nuts that filled with outdoor-rated waterproofing silicone. Following the simple directions, I was able to run a single line of 14/4 outdoor-rated speaker wire and stop at each speaker to connect them. In the recommended wiring specs I just had to strip the wire, take the channel where I was in the alternating pattern, and wire the speakers in parallel. Connect four of them together in parallel and you have a 7.5-ohm load-easy! Each of the satellites has an impedance of 30 ohms.Ĭommonly known as “daisy chaining,” this allows you to simply tie all the positives and negatives for each channel together at their respective wire leads. You can put the subwoofer in at any point, as it takes both the right and left channels. This is nice because it doesn’t interfere with the rest of the satellite speakers in the chain, because the crossover happens in the sub’s circuitry and not in the wiring chain. I’ll add that Sonance recommends the sub be placed near the center of the speaker pattern to evenly disperse the bottom end.Īdditionally, those of you with an extra zone on an audio distribution amplifier or surround receiver are in luck. I also tested the Sonarray setup using the Zone 2 of a Sony 5800ES receiver with stellar results. This solution can easily be added to an existing audio system with an extra audio zone. It isn’t often now that I can add a new piece of equipment to my system and wow my friends and family. During the installation, my brother-in-law Chad was a big help in assisting but he kept looking at me with some skepticism about what the results might bring. However, once we connected the Sonarrays to the recommended Sonance 275 SE amplifier and powered on the system his grin said it all. As more people showed up, and I invited some neighbors over to listen, everyone was impressed at not only the coverage of the sound but also its clarity, especially for an outdoor setup. My neighbors provided the best testimonial, because even though the music was turned up pretty loud they said it wasn’t a disturbance or really noticeable in their yards. That’s because of the directional nature of the speakers, which I faced away from them and toward my house and yard, as opposed to my old setup-which is much more common for outdoor installations-where the speakers were mounted to my house facing out.Īs for the sound quality, being a little bit of an audio snob I will say that I’ve attempted many times with many invested hours just to come up short with what Sonarray accomplished. It was like surround sound for my property. The voices and instruments were as clear as if I were listening to quality speakers inside the house.
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