Getting and setting up the right speakers for outdoors can be quite difficult since there are many parameters to take into consideration.
I will give some tips to help you avoid some of the pitfalls and help you get the perfect model.
Outdoor speakers come in all shapes and sizes and thus it is often overwhelming to make an informed decision.
When you are looking for outdoor speakers then there are several important things to look at, some of which may not be so obvious.
The speaker itself should be water resistant or waterproof to withstand the elements.
Typical outdoor speakers have a plastic enclosure to withstand rain.
Also, a UV resistant coating paint will maintain the color of the speaker even when exposed to the sun.
If the speaker has metal elements such as the front cover or a metal mount then these should either be made of non-corrosive materials or specially treated materials which won't rust.
Another factor to consider is the speaker wattage.
Outdoor venues will require higher speaker wattage than indoor venues due to the fact that sound inside a room will be contained within that room and be reflected by walls thus making the speaker appear fairly loud.
Outdoors the sound will freely dissipate in all directions and therefore make it harder to achieve the same loudness.
Also, there is usually more noise outdoors from car traffic and wind noise which may drown out the speaker.
Thus a speaker with only a few watts of power does not offer enough wattage for outdoors but may very well be suited for indoors.
Running long speaker cables is also a big challenge since there typically is no pre-wiring in place outdoors.
Digging up trenches to hide speaker cable may also cause damage to your flower beds and cross through obstacles like retaining walls.
Therefore one option to consider are wireless outdoor speakers.
Wireless speakers remove the need for running speaker cables and thus are easy to set up outdoors.
This type of speakers will require a transmitter unit which is connected to your music source, such as your CD player, iPod or computer and send the audio via a wireless connection to your speakers.
Usually the transmitter will be inside your house.
Therefore make sure that the transmitter offers enough range to safely bridge the distance to your speakers.
Wireless speaker manufacturers typically specify a maximum operating range.
Be careful though as this range is typically given for ideal circumstances.
In the real world the actual range of the speakers will be less.
How much less depends on the setup.
For example if the wireless signal has to pass through walls to get outside then the range will shrink because walls will weaken the signal.
Wooden type walls are usually less of a problem than steel-reinforced concrete walls.
The fewer walls between the transmitter and speakers the further the signal can travel.
Further, make sure that the wireless signal is robust against interference.
There may be wireless LANs and other cordless gadgets in the area which can shut down your speaker unless the wireless transmission has a mechanism to cope with such interference.
Modern transmitters offer adaptive frequency hopping to avoid crowded channels and forward error correction to cope with lost data packets.
Also, pick speakers where the transmitter has all of the necessary audio connections to easily interface with your audio equipment.
Some common audio interfaces include iPod cradles, line-level audio inputs to connect with a CD or MP3 player and also speaker inputs to connect to your home theater receiver.
I will give some tips to help you avoid some of the pitfalls and help you get the perfect model.
Outdoor speakers come in all shapes and sizes and thus it is often overwhelming to make an informed decision.
When you are looking for outdoor speakers then there are several important things to look at, some of which may not be so obvious.
The speaker itself should be water resistant or waterproof to withstand the elements.
Typical outdoor speakers have a plastic enclosure to withstand rain.
Also, a UV resistant coating paint will maintain the color of the speaker even when exposed to the sun.
If the speaker has metal elements such as the front cover or a metal mount then these should either be made of non-corrosive materials or specially treated materials which won't rust.
Another factor to consider is the speaker wattage.
Outdoor venues will require higher speaker wattage than indoor venues due to the fact that sound inside a room will be contained within that room and be reflected by walls thus making the speaker appear fairly loud.
Outdoors the sound will freely dissipate in all directions and therefore make it harder to achieve the same loudness.
Also, there is usually more noise outdoors from car traffic and wind noise which may drown out the speaker.
Thus a speaker with only a few watts of power does not offer enough wattage for outdoors but may very well be suited for indoors.
Running long speaker cables is also a big challenge since there typically is no pre-wiring in place outdoors.
Digging up trenches to hide speaker cable may also cause damage to your flower beds and cross through obstacles like retaining walls.
Therefore one option to consider are wireless outdoor speakers.
Wireless speakers remove the need for running speaker cables and thus are easy to set up outdoors.
This type of speakers will require a transmitter unit which is connected to your music source, such as your CD player, iPod or computer and send the audio via a wireless connection to your speakers.
Usually the transmitter will be inside your house.
Therefore make sure that the transmitter offers enough range to safely bridge the distance to your speakers.
Wireless speaker manufacturers typically specify a maximum operating range.
Be careful though as this range is typically given for ideal circumstances.
In the real world the actual range of the speakers will be less.
How much less depends on the setup.
For example if the wireless signal has to pass through walls to get outside then the range will shrink because walls will weaken the signal.
Wooden type walls are usually less of a problem than steel-reinforced concrete walls.
The fewer walls between the transmitter and speakers the further the signal can travel.
Further, make sure that the wireless signal is robust against interference.
There may be wireless LANs and other cordless gadgets in the area which can shut down your speaker unless the wireless transmission has a mechanism to cope with such interference.
Modern transmitters offer adaptive frequency hopping to avoid crowded channels and forward error correction to cope with lost data packets.
Also, pick speakers where the transmitter has all of the necessary audio connections to easily interface with your audio equipment.
Some common audio interfaces include iPod cradles, line-level audio inputs to connect with a CD or MP3 player and also speaker inputs to connect to your home theater receiver.
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