Room with an Interior Hot Tub - Audio Advice

[sjnweb]

Friends,

I'm in the process of building a 17 x 17 addition on the back of my house. It's going to have an interior hot tub recessed into the floor, with tile on the floor and half way up the walls to the windows with a heat pump to take care of most of the moisture in the air. The idea of the room is about relaxing. But I have to be able to hear the tunes over the sound of the hot tub. So for a room that size where there is going to be at least some level of moisture, I'm having trouble figuring out what kind of audio system to install.

Because of the size and type of the room, rather than have a more basic system set-up (receiver, cd-player and some type of an iPod dock), I was toying with the idea of getting something with a smaller footprint - such as one of the smaller Bose Wave systems, but I'm not sure if that kind of a system I'd be able to hear the music over the sound of the hot tub. Or should I just go with a more traditional stereo receiver with more wattage. There is a basic Onkyo receiver the TX-8522 which might do the trick. I live in the city, so I'm not trying to deafen my neighbors (I'll be putting some level of sound insulation into the walls), but I want to make sure I'm able to hear the music.

On speakers, one idea is to mount a smaller speaker in each of the top 4 corners of the room. Or is that overkill for a room that size even with the hot tub noise?

But even with a heat pump, I expect there will be some level of moisture in the room, so outdoor speakers may be advisable. I don't have any experience with them whatsoever. Any recommendations?

Or do you think I'm planning all of this wrong and should take the audio plan in an entirely different direction?

Any help would be much appreciated.

-Steve

[basite]

Hi, welcome to AR...

nice entry post, btw :)

I'd stay away from bose, their marketing looks good and all, and they might look cute, but they're definately not worth their money.

assuming the hot tub isn't deafening on it's own, bookshelf-size speakers in the corners would be a good idea. Since there's a possible moisture problem, you could look for weatherproof speakers, there are lots of these available, btw :)

very maybe, you could look for in wall speakers too, but that's only if the humidity doesn't become too high (which I think it can though...)

so your safest bet would be outdoor (weatherproof) speakers...

these are 2 brand's I'd instantly look at if I needed such an installation:

B&W in wall & outdoor speakers (http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/display.aspx?infid=3496)
(the weatherproof speakers are at the bottom of the page...)

and

Monitor Audio (http://www.monitoraudiousa.com/range.php?range=7)

for an amp, if it's possible, I wouldn't keep it in the same room (due to the moisture...), the onkyo would do fine, if you stick with 2 speakers. (you can go to 4 speakers if you wire them in series (2 pairs))
2 speakers should normally do the job though...

Keep them spinning
& enjoy your hot tub :)
Bert.

[sjnweb]

Bert,

Thank you very much for your help and recommendations.

Best,
-Steve

[tokian brave]

Nice job! It's really nice link that you have shared with us.
Thanks!

[GMichael]

Hi, welcome to AR...

nice entry post, btw :)

I'd stay away from bose, their marketing looks good and all, and they might look cute, but they're definately not worth their money.

assuming the hot tub isn't deafening on it's own, bookshelf-size speakers in the corners would be a good idea. Since there's a possible moisture problem, you could look for weatherproof speakers, there are lots of these available, btw :)

very maybe, you could look for in wall speakers too, but that's only if the humidity doesn't become too high (which I think it can though...)

so your safest bet would be outdoor (weatherproof) speakers...

these are 2 brand's I'd instantly look at if I needed such an installation:

B&W in wall & outdoor speakers (http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/display.aspx?infid=3496)
(the weatherproof speakers are at the bottom of the page...)

and

Monitor Audio (http://www.monitoraudiousa.com/range.php?range=7)

for an amp, if it's possible, I wouldn't keep it in the same room (due to the moisture...), the onkyo would do fine, if you stick with 2 speakers. (you can go to 4 speakers if you wire them in series (2 pairs))
2 speakers should normally do the job though...

Keep them spinning
& enjoy your hot tub :)
Bert.

Are you sure that you're still only 17?

[GMichael]

Friends,

I'm in the process of building a 17 x 17 addition on the back of my house. It's going to have an interior hot tub recessed into the floor, with tile on the floor and half way up the walls to the windows with a heat pump to take care of most of the moisture in the air. The idea of the room is about relaxing. But I have to be able to hear the tunes over the sound of the hot tub. So for a room that size where there is going to be at least some level of moisture, I'm having trouble figuring out what kind of audio system to install.

Because of the size and type of the room, rather than have a more basic system set-up (receiver, cd-player and some type of an iPod dock), I was toying with the idea of getting something with a smaller footprint - such as one of the smaller Bose Wave systems, but I'm not sure if that kind of a system I'd be able to hear the music over the sound of the hot tub. Or should I just go with a more traditional stereo receiver with more wattage. There is a basic Onkyo receiver the TX-8522 which might do the trick. I live in the city, so I'm not trying to deafen my neighbors (I'll be putting some level of sound insulation into the walls), but I want to make sure I'm able to hear the music.

On speakers, one idea is to mount a smaller speaker in each of the top 4 corners of the room. Or is that overkill for a room that size even with the hot tub noise?

But even with a heat pump, I expect there will be some level of moisture in the room, so outdoor speakers may be advisable. I don't have any experience with them whatsoever. Any recommendations?

Or do you think I'm planning all of this wrong and should take the audio plan in an entirely different direction?

Any help would be much appreciated.

-Steve

We have our master bathroom fitted with speakers. I used a pair of cheap JBL E10 bookshelf speakers so we wouldn't care too much if they got ruined. But I like basite idea of using outdoor speakers. Most are waterproof or at least water resistant. There are many companies making them.
We ran wires to my JBL's through the wall to my bedroom receiver. Just hooked them up to the "B" speaker outputs. I already know what volume we like so just set it before going in.

Mike

P.S.

Welcome to AR.
Great question.

[basite]

Are you sure that you're still only 17?


18 next month :lol:

[GMichael]

18 next month :lol:

Me too

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