I have a fairly simple yet efficient backyard Stereo system with four speakers attached. I have two speakers underneath our patio cover where we usually sit with company and two more on the backside of the house to extend sound through the backyard. The problem is that while its nice to have the speakers on the backside of the house blasting, the two underneath the patio are usually too loud. So I wanted to pick some brains on adding 4 volume controls to regulate the volume. The speaker wires would come out of the receiver into the volume controls and then onto the speakers themselves. I figure this would be a quick and easy solution and wanted to see if anyone thinks this is possible. Most of the music comes from the Ipod through a 3.5" to RCA connector, so I usually crank the volume on the receiver then control the volume through the ipod.

And suggestions are very much appreciated.

And if you think this will work will any old volume control work? I'm thinking something from Radio Shack would do the trick but I've never tried something like this before.

Sure you can.

You can get complete solutions like this (not recommending this product, just an illustration):
http://www.amazon.com/OSD-Audio-SSVC2-Speaker-Selector/dp/B002C99DW8

Or you can solder up an "L-Pad" system. Again not recommending this part, just an illustration:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=260-264

Could I just get some audio potentiometers from Radio Shack and wire them in all the same? I can get four of the those for about $12-14 then I can just make a plate to mount them in with some acrylic panels I have lying around. I guess thats more what I'm looking for (money is tight), then again the amazon link is pretty awesome I'd just have to find a place for it under my bar. I should have made my initial post more clear that I was looking at potentiometers, sorry about that. The second link is what I'm looking for I think, but I guess cheaper (I'm a cheapskate)!

Will your cheap pots cope with the amplified output? I'm guessing that's why the one adlabs linked to is much more expensive.

I don't know, maybe I'll just get two of these cheapies and try it on the one set of the speakers. That way I'm only out a $6-7, if it doesn't work I'll save up for the ones Adlabs linked up for me. Or maybe I'll just do what I did for the speakers on the backside of the house and wire in some on/off toggle switches. If I turn them off I could still have the speakers on out back on blasting leaving a comfortable area for talking under the patio.

Thanks for the suggestions guys really appreciate them.

I wouldn't recommed putting volume controls on the speaker wires. They come from the output of the amplifier and expect to "see a particular resistance" in order to work properly. If you put a volume control across (or in line) with the speaker it changes and resistance (impedance) the amplifier sees. This could result in damage to your amplifier.

How about fitting two more speakers in series with the ones on the patio ? Twice the impedance means approximately half the volume.

If you wan't a diagram let me know.

Cheers,

Andy

This what you're looking for? Says impedance matching.

http://www.outdoorspeakerdepot.com/outdoor-volume-controls.html

The full line:
http://www.outdoorspeakerdepot.com/volume-controls.html

Thanks for the help guys. I think for now I'll grab a couple more on/off toggle switches. But the volume controls Kryptonite linked looked pretty interesting, do you think something like that would work AndyB?

Hi Guys,

Yeah! Those look like they would work in your situation. I'd give them a try.

Cheers,

Andy