The magic of outdoor listening

Okay, guys.  Don't try this at home.  Unless, of course, you love bass, pyrotechnics, and the shocking look of bewilderment on the faces of your guests.

This is a project I did a while back.  The concept was to use the bass vents from buried subwoofers to interact with the flames of an outdoor wood-burning fire pit.

Details:  Buried 3 high performance subwoofers in custom PVC enclosures.  Vent the boxes via 3" automotive steel exhaust tubing to the fire pit.  Cut hole in bottom of fire pit.  Make custom heavy gauge perforated plate to contain ashes. Using our enclosure design software, it was determined that the air speed thru the ports was 76MPH.

Result:  An extremely active display of music & fire that was a crowd pleasure and actually produced decent outdoor bass.  I called it the Man Pit.  At 76MPH windspeed, it does go through firewood pretty quickly.  So, have ample supply on hand.

Enjoy!!! 

I worked for Magnolia for a short while, and IME Sonance speaker’s with their outdoor subwoofer is an awesome value. They run incredible sales a few times a year that cut the price in half, and Magnolia employees will usually be forthcoming in when those sale periods will be. IME running an outdoor sub or two makes all the difference because monitors sound thin and tinny outdoors without them.  

Count me among the curmudgeons. If you have no neighbors close enough to be bothered then knock yourself out, otherwise the lack of consideration for others you exhibit by blasting your music outdoors is simply staggering. I have some outdoor Kefs on a screened-in porch and I was careful how I placed them so as not to disturb others, and my house is in the middle of a five-acre lot, partially surrounded by other similarly sized lots.

You have no idea what is going on with your neighbors. There could be health issues that would make this sort of thing unbearable (i.e. chronic migraines), but above all you simply do not have the right to destroy the peace and quiet of those around you. The law is on your neighbors side. If racking up numerous disturbing the peace summons' or noise ordinance violations didn't deter you, then the courts would be the next logical step and it would be a very easy case to prove.

The outside setups look dreamy! My neighbors have a big yard and once in a while they will put on a concert out there with their sound equipment. They are musicians, and pretty good ones. Some of what they play is pre-recorded popular music too. It’s nothing hi-end, just some decent pro gear - looks like 15" drivers with horns on top mounted on tall stands. When I go out and listen I always have to admit it sounds really good. I recall from my youth that some kids would open their bedroom windows and point their boom boxes out into the open. Interesting because they were in their room looking out, not out with us listening. Some kind of mating display, I think. Nevertheless it always surprised me how nice it sounded.