A quick 1 2 3study on outdoor speakers.

Before describing outdoor speakers specifically, here are two common misconceptions about speaker placement and the number required for any given area... this applies to indoor speakers and even more so to outdoor speakers.

The first misconception is:

"If I want more sound, I'll just randomly add more speakers." Not true.

Placement of speakers is an important consideration for volume and quality. Adding too many speakers, especially if they aren't in the right spot, can cause "intelligibility" problems... Another way of describing this is, you can hear noise, but it doesn't sound like music. Unnecessary increase in volume will only appear to improve clarity.

The second misconception is:

"I only need one or two speakers because, I don't listen to loud music." Not true.

In fact, a lower volume translates into more speakers. To help illustrate, a quick mind experiment will confirm this.

Consider you are in your back yard and have two outdoor speakers mounted to the eves of the roof just above the deck. In order to obtain quality sound throughout the back yard, you must increase the volume pretty high. Sure, it sounds great out in the back yard but, it is so loud on the deck, people trying to enjoy a beverage can't hear themselves think! Besides, you can probably imagine the dirty looks and angry phone calls you may receive from the neighbors.

What's the solution? Outdoor landscape speakers.

Outdoor landscape speakers are available in a wide range of shapes and sizes designed to blend in with the surrounding environment. Some look like rocks and others may look like planters. You have probably seen, or heard, landscape speakers at places like Disneyland or resort hotels.

The array of designs allow the speakers to be placed unseen in and around your yard which brings the sound much closer to the ear. This way, the overall volume can be relatively low but,, heard throughout the listening area. This proximity of the speakers also supports better sound reproduction. And, although your neighbors should appreciate your taste in music as much as you do, they won't hear it.

Here are a few examples of outdoor speakers in their various forms from Rockustics:

This is a link to a nice brochure from Sonance.

If you are interested in learning more about outdoor landscape speakers, please feel free to contact us. Also, feel free to browse our other newsletter articles