Chris M. puts first-class sound in his kids' playhouse: ""It really proved to be quite a challenge to get this set up. The challenge was not a result of the equipment, nor the documentation or resources of the Crutchfield staff. The weather this year has been completely different than in years past. As a result many weekends have gone by where Saturday was filled with rain or snow. That's right, snow in Utah in May and June. Complete craziness. We finally were able to get started on the installation. Prior to installation, a quick evaluation was made as to the location of the speakers. Our install location was decided to allow for optimum sound area for all users of the patio. We have two main areas: The eating area and the sitting area. I decided to put a speaker in each of the four corners. This later proved to be a perfect layout decision. The first task was to place the speakers. This was quite simple. I removed the mounting brackets from the Boston Acoustics outdoor speakers. I ventured up on the ladder with my drill, pencil, level and tape measure. With this very small collection of tools, I was able to get my speakers hung straight, and with uniform placement. Next was the decision on location for the speakers for the children. At the playhouse, there are two main activity areas -- the swings and the playhouse -- so it was a very easy decision to make for the location of these speakers. One to accommodate each area. Again, with some very simple tools, a quick installation was performed. Now, on to the challenge of running cable. We faced a few challenges. One was aesthetics. As any husband will attest, it has to look good. I was tasked with making it invisible. This was challenging because I was working on a concrete slab and all wires had to come down. Luckily for me, the Monster Cable was white to match the speakers. The pergola is also white. This made for a very unobtrusive cable run. You really do not see it unless you are looking for it. I decided on a meeting point for all of my cables. All of the 4 wires were terminated in the corner of the house that's near the power outlet. Now for the challenge of running the wires to the playhouse. First item of business: Dig a trench. This did not require a huge trench. The total length was about 25 feet. I dug down about 6 inches and only about 3 inches wide. Not much but enough to get the job done. One nice thing that helped it keep a polished look is the fact that the playground and flower bed both have concrete curbing. This kept it looking very finished. We used standard sprinkler pipe to enclose the wire underground. The ends of the pipe were sealed with some silicone sealer. This will keep dirt and moisture away from the wire. Once the wire is buried, it was joined up with the other cable ends. Once at this point, all cables are run. All of the Monster Cable connectors are installed and it is time to hook everything up. I made great use of the Crutchfield Cable Labels -- what a lifesaver with so many cables to keep track up. It is now set up and we have audio and video. I used the Yamaha calibration microphone and self test feature to set the levels for the speakers. This works very, very well. Now that everything electronic is set up and working, it's time to finish it up. For me, this means a trip to IKEA for a cabinet. They had this great-looking cabinet that had some modular doors. There were some initial problems with the provided hinges. However, this is nothing that my contractor father-in-law, Craig M., and I can't handle. A couple of piano hinges and magnetic catches later and we had the cabinet set up perfectly. Woohoo, it is done!!! In an effort to celebrate we had a family rock band barbecue. We had some family over and hooked up the XBOX 360 to the new system. While the adults played with their band, the children were able to enjoy some Radio Disney from XM radio over at the playground. It worked out perfectly. It really could not have been better. In conclusion, I have a few comments: 1- Very simple to set up. 2- The end result was amazing. It can be intimidating to configure a receiver for a particular speaker arrangement. The Yamaha receiver takes away that intimidation with its calibration microphone. 3- If I did it again, I would not change a thing. For $2000, a very nice outdoor home theater can be built. And the kids can enjoy it too." -Chris M.