Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Algonquins are up

Some overdue pictures of the Algonquins I received for my birthday. The color matched the wood stain on our deck really well. The flash on the camera makes them look like they stand out even more than they really do. In normal lighting, they blend almost perfectly.

Algonquins in Spiced Rum:


Mounted on the Deck:

Very nice. Did you ever get that Sherwood to hook them up to?

Yes, I did. When I had the speakers inside, I cranked up the volume on the Sherwood and compared the capabilities versus my Denon 3808. Clipping definitely was noticeable at lower volumes on the Sherwood, but even on the Sherwood, it had to be quite loud before this happened. Definitely louder than I'll ever play them in my back yard.

If/when I get a second pair of M3s to run in my gameroom, I'll have to test how the Sherwood works running both speakers at the same time, but like I said in the past, it will be rare that I need both running at the same time, so if it doesn't work, I won't lose much.

All in all, the Sherwood is a very good solution, thanks again for the recommendations.

Jason

That is really sweet, they blend in really nice with your deck. I bet they sound awesome too.

Cheers,

Dr. House

One of them sounds a lot better than the other actually. Initially I had some static in one tweeter and Axiom immediately sent me a replacement. However, now that they've moved from upstairs to the deck, I have no sound at all in that tweeter (or the replacement tweeter).

Axiom is taking care of me just fine though, they've got another Algonquin on the way already.

Fortunately the one we hear directly from our table on the deck is the working speaker.

Tweeters are overated!
Seriously, hope replacement will arrive soon so you can move on your deck a bit instead of being nailed under the one speaker.

I know... the non-tweeting unit is lined up with my grill... No grill parties until my sound is corrected!

Those certainly look like they belong. :)At the angle they are mounted, though, aren't you concerned that they might start collecting water? Looking at the cutaway drawing below, it looks like rainwater could have a direct path into the interior cavity.

In fact, I am concerned with that problem... (as I just noticed today a small amount of water in the speaker case when I removed the tweeter).

The Algonquin manual advises that they can be mounted vertically or horizontally, but the angled port definitely is a direct pathway into the speaker when mounted horizontally...

Is this something Axiom has thought of? Are their drainage holes I haven't seen or is the horizontal mount only possible if they're not exposed to the elements?

Jason

Would a simple shroud do the trick over top of them. Shaped in such a way as so the ports can breath but it is protected from vertical and horizontal rain. Vibration would be a key element in the shrouds DIY design.

Also, from the picture, is that a port on the bottom as well. They have a bent tube on the top to prevent rain in the vertical position but nothing on the bottom. If both ports had them, I would imagine that maybe the ports could be rotated (depending on how its designed) to allow for horizontal placement protection.

I really want a set of these someday for my deck, but I have sooo many other priorities and challenges right now.

Thanks Murph. There's only one port. The bottom circle is the inside of the wire terminals. I've thought about placing something above it to deflect the rain as they really will not look as good mounted vertically.

I mailed Axiom as well to ask how the speakers are intended to drain in this configuration. I also asked whether I could drill a tiny hole in the underside to allow water to drain through... not sure what that will do to sound integrity, so I thought I'd ask.

If that's not possible, the next question will be whether putting some sort of shroud above the speakers looks better or worse than just giving up and turning them vertically so that the port functions as intended.

I'll keep you guys posted on what I hear.

Jason

I betcha a cover made from a clear piece of flat Lexan or Plexiglas sized and mounted from the top above each speaker in such a manner so that the edges are centered on the wood beams and runners would probably do you just fine and would probably be darn near invisible to the average Joe.

Awesome looking patio Jason!

Even just a piece of flashing attached to the decking above the rear of the speakers, bent to a 45° angle, would likely be enough to divert the water away. If you kept it small enough -- perhaps a few inches wider than the port hole -- it would be nearly invisible from the ground.

Unless you live where I do. My weather station consists of a chain tied to a post in the middle of the yard. When the chain is blowing straight out horizontally, we call it a 'stiff breeze'.
This is why I mentioned horizontal rain.

Ha... well, fortunately we're not that close to the gulf to get too much sideways rain.

Rick, I like the idea of putting a sheet of Lexan on top of the deck. I agree, it would be invisible enough to pass the wife test... Now, where to find such a sheet?

Jason

I know that home depot carries plexiglass, and they'll do one cut for free.

Interesting, I've never seen it there. Obviously not something I'm shopping for on a regular basis.

Jason

Jason I believe Home Depot carries a 4'x 8' sheet of 1/4" Plexiglass (acrylic) for about 30 bucks or you could probably find Lexan (GE's brand name for polycarbonate) at most any glass company and have them cut to size ... the Lexan will cost a little more but is stronger and will be less prone to crazing and cracking from the sun.

Whichever product you choose I'd probably use stainless countersink wood screws and I'd also recommend using masking tape on both sides of the plexiglass or Lexan whenever you drill the holes to keep the material from splintering ... plexiglass will be more prone to splintering while drilling than the Lexan.

Thanks Rick, I'll check them both out.

I got a free cut once on a plank. I asked the dude to cut the board in half and I got two uneven pieces. The second board I picked out I had to do the math for him. *sigh*

It was free.

Hi Jason,

I've been following the emails from you and JC at Axiom as well as one from Ian.

As you've learned, the port tube on the inside of the Algonquin is angled at 45 degrees (see the illustration) so that if you mount the speaker horizontally with the tweeter on your left (facing the speaker front baffle), the angled port tube will still prevent water from entering the enclosure.

The instructions don't make this entirely clear so I will be revising them.

Thanks for raising this issue. I'd totally forgotten about the angled internal port tube (duh. . .).

Regards,

Alan

If you mount them horizontally but angle them downward, that 45° angle won't be enough to keep the water out.

Alan - thanks for the response. If you are revising the Algonquin instructions, I'd have one other suggestion for you.

In the area that describes mounting the bracket to the wall, you should mention that the screws used for this step are not included in the packing materials. The instructions now say "use a screw appropriate for the material" (or something like that).

In retrospect, this should have been obvious to me, but at the time, it wasn't. I believe adding in parentheses "(these screws are not included)" would save people like me (who are moving much too quickly to get their speakers up) a step in trying to mount the bracket to the wall with the three screws in the mounting kit that clearly are not meant for securing the brackets to the walls.

Jason

PS: I think Peter might be right about the angle of my particular mount, but let me know what you think (you can see how they are angled in the original post). I'm away from home for a few days so I cannot test myself to check, but will do so when I get home. Thanks again.

I missed the part where you said which receiver you're using to power your outdoor speakers. One of the Sherwoods, someone mentioned?

Yes, I ended up buying the Sherwood 4109 at Radio Shack. For $99, it's pretty tough to beat. I also intend to use it to do A/B switching for another pair of M3s at some point when I add them to my gameroom setup (not anytime in the very near future, but when I saw the A/B remote switching, the idea was born)

I've also remounted them at this point using Alan & JC's suggestions and they are far less susceptible to water leaking in (even without putting plexiglas above them, which doesn't seem to be necessary now).

Jason