Your outdoor speakers are a big investment in money and time. Nevertheless, they provide you a huge payback in the amount of pleasure they give you by letting you enjoy wonderful music at its best practically anywhere outside your home. As with most possessions, from shoes to a car, if you take care of them, they’ll take care of you.
The same goes for outdoor speakers. Taking care of them will ensure they continue providing you with high-quality sound for years to come. You may be asking, “Do outdoor speakers need to be covered?” Outdoor speakers only require a little care, but paying close attention to them with regular care and cleaning will extend their lives and the quality of their performance. Here are some to help ensure you get years of enjoyment from your outdoor speakers.
Do Outdoor Speakers Need to Be Covered?
When installing your wired speakers or placing the wireless speakers, try to put them in a place that is somewhat sheltered from the weather. Even though our outdoor speakers are weatherproof, they are not indestructible. Do your best to protect your outdoor speakers from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays, snow, sleet, and rain.
For instance, you might protect your speakers by placing them under your home’s eaves or in the lee of a wall. If you stay in a place with frigid winters, consider taking the speakers inside for the winter. At the very least, cover the speakers with tarps or plastic bags to keep ice, snow, and rain off them. Resist your urge to listen to them in freezing weather, which can make components brittle and cause damage if you use them then.
They Say Timing is Everything – And For Speakers, Placement is Everything
For instance, if your outdoor location has a central deck or patio, you must ensure that the speakers angle somewhat toward each other. Otherwise, your guests will hear whichever speaker is nearest them. You can enjoy a stereo effect if you get the sound to overlap.
Before you decide upon the final placement of every loudspeaker, listen to them at that location to hear how great they project sound. Note that the higher you mount your speakers, the further the distance the sound will reach. However, the tradeoff is that for the higher range where they project sound, that sound will be less robust and thinner. A rule of thumb is to keep speakers at or below 10 feet for installation.
How big is the space your speakers need to cover? The audio professionals, like us at Custom Integrators, who install sound systems normally suggest a pair of outdoor speakers to cover a spot between 200 and 400 square feet. This makes the maximum size of the deck or patio about 20 x 20 feet.
Amp Up the Sound
If you place multiple pairs of outdoor speakers, a vital equipment is a multi-channel amplifier. When you add more speakers to the setup, the amplifier has to work even harder. Opting for a multi-channel amplifier for distributing audio ensures safety and the best sound quality.
It’s All About That Bass
As for achieving that bass effect, outdoor speakers will need walls, ceilings, or floors to reinforce the bass by providing a surface to bounce off. That’s why it’s suggested to avoid mounting bass speakers on a post. These are best placed beneath the eaves or in an area where outdoor surfaces of the house meet and can then supply low-end sound reinforcement.
System Aesthetics
You won’t have to disturb the natural beauty of your backyard space to get high-quality sound. Today, several brands of outdoor speakers are designed to blend in seamlessly with your existing foliage.
How to Set Up Your Outdoor Speakers
1. Planning Your Outdoor Speaker System
Before we get into the specifics, consider where you want to listen to your music and what you’re trying to achieve, as this can greatly affect the kit you buy.
Let’s start with the end in mind! Are you looking to add a pair of speakers to your pergola so you can listen to the radio while relaxing in the evening? Are you looking for all-round sound for pumping BBQ tracks? Podcasts while working the cabbage patch?
Understanding what you’re trying to achieve can greatly reduce (or increase!) the budget. With our expectations set, we can set a budget and start looking at speakers.
Outdoor Speaker Types
- Wall Mounted Outdoor Speakers
The most common outdoor speakers are your standard wall-mounted speakers. These are available in black or white and in sizes from 4″ up to 8″.
Generally, you’ll get the best sound quality from this type, as they are designed with sound in mind, with larger enclosures and larger woofers that move more air, producing more bass.
Wall-mounted outdoor speakers can usually be mounted horizontally or vertically, and most have variable positioning, allowing for most installation applications.
These are usually sold in mono pairs, so you’d have a left and a right channel for stereo sound. You can, however, get single stereo outdoor speakers for instances where you only want one physical speaker; these have two drivers, one for the left audio channel and one for the right.
- On/Ground – Rock Speakers
Rock speakers are another great alternative, especially in gardens where you want to avoid mounting a speaker to the wall. In the right setting, outdoor rock speakers blend in with your garden and produce high-quality sound.
Rock speakers are available in sizes from 4″ up to 8″ and in various finishes, styles, and colors.
Rock speakers are mono, so you’ll need two for stereo sound.
- Satellite Speakers
Satellite speakers are perfect for installing in borders, around seating areas, on pergolas or other garden buildings, and in many other discreet applications.
They come in sizes, usually from about 3″ to 6.5″ inches, and in speaker-level and 100v versions for larger installations.
Remember that you can mix and match speakers, provided you keep impedances in mind to avoid overloading your amplifier.
Outdoor Speaker Wiring
It is essential that you use the correct speaker cable for outdoor use. Otherwise, you risk the cable degrading quickly in the elements, which will reduce the performance of your outdoor speaker system.
Outdoor Speaker Amplifiers
- Stereo Amplifiers
Most home speaker applications with up to four outdoor speakers will be stereo.
- Bluetooth Amplifiers
Bluetooth amplifiers are relatively cheap, easy to use, and universal. You can wirelessly pair any spare phone, tablet, or computer and stream music.
The downside is that Bluetooth has a range of up to about 8 meters, so you must ensure that your amplifier is near where you’ll be enjoying your music; otherwise, you’ll get dropouts.
- Wifi Amplifiers
Wi-Fi amplifiers are the ultimate choice for outdoor speakers. The amplifier streams music, which can be controlled over the Wi-Fi network with a free iOS/Android app.
This means that you are less prone to range issues, and your music won’t cut out if you receive a phone call or text.
- 70V/100V LINE AMPLIFIERS
With stereo amplifiers, you can usually only connect two pairs of 8-ohm speakers; otherwise, you’ll overload the amplifier.
With 70V/100V systems, though, you can daisy-chain many more speakers for larger areas needing greater sound coverage.
You’ll also gain mixed mono sound, which is usually a better listening experience in the garden as it’s hard to get a true stereo sound stage otherwise.
Observing these tips and tricks for outdoor speakers can enhance your outdoor living experience. Bringing your favorite music outside while enjoying time with family and friends, firing up the grill, or kicking off your summer with a pool party can make your day and summer season much more enjoyable.
Let Us Help You Install Your Outdoor Speakers
This whole process might sound overwhelming, so how do you get started? Consider hiring a professional integration company like Custom Integrators to install your outdoor speaker system. We can help you design a system that fits your space and install speakers, additional wiring, Wi-Fi extenders, and all other system components. Please reach out to us today!