Good Outdoor Sound Requires Good Planning
To get excellent sound quality indoors, most of the effort revolves around choosing the right equipment and matching it well. If you go with a good source component, well-built amplifier, and high-quality speakers, you are highly likely to end up with enjoyable sound.
When you do to take your sound outside, the right equipment also counts. But proper planning and installation will also make a huge difference in the end result. For example, in your indoor setup, the speakers can reflect sound off of walls and ceilings, helping to emphasize bass and other notes. In wide-open areas outdoors, you won't have that and may need to have multiple speaker pairs and subwoofers to obtain the sound quality you expect.
How do you get an outdoor sound system for your home in Salt Lake City, UT, or the surrounding areas that sounds as good as your indoor setup? Keep reading to see four ways to get the most from your outdoor audio.
Evening the Sound Coverage
Inside, even in large rooms, one set of stereo speakers with the right amplification can give you all the decibels you need. Outdoors, it's harder to achieve in the open, plus people are often moving around and not situated in any "sweet spot" as they may be indoors. You need the sound to evenly blanket a given area, with no spots noticeably louder than others. Depending on the layout, a series of smaller speakers can achieve this desired result rather than fewer larger speakers.
Keeping the Sound at Home
Depending on the size of your outdoor area and how private it is, you may need to limit the sound bleeding into neighboring properties. One way to do this is to place speakers around the perimeters of the area pointing to the house or other structures, aiming the sound inward. You can get good sound coverage by hiding speakers in gardens and shrubs so they are not visible in your main outdoor areas.
Selecting the Right Speakers
You might be surprised at the incredible variety of outdoor speakers available today. Almost every hi-fi speaker vendor makes outdoor models that are voiced similar to their indoor ones. So, if you prefer the sound of a particular brand, you can explore their outdoor offerings too. All outdoor speakers are weatherized to withstand extremes in cold, heat, humidity, and water.
For patio areas, you can choose among in-wall and in-ceiling models in covered areas, as well as surface-mount speakers that can be installed on external walls, under eaves, and other areas. In landscaped areas, satellite and subwoofer combinations installed in series can provide a wide reach with even sound coverage. Buried subwoofers can provide satisfying low-end bass without any bulky boxes visible. In fact, satellite and sub speakers are easy to hide in gardens and shrubbery.
Around pools, wet areas or gardens with water features, rock speakers are a popular choice. They look like boulders and are easily camouflaged in the landscape design, are fully weatherproof, and can provide big sound from their enclosures. Rock speakers can be configured to provide stereo sound from one speaker or can be paired for stereo in a larger area.
Choosing Easy Control
No outdoor audio system will be any fun if it’s difficult to use. Choose a solution that gives you access to a wide variety of audio sources for your outdoor sound system. One excellent example is Control4, which provide an easy to use interface to choose an audio source like Spotify, Pandora, or your own digital music and direct it to any of your speaker zones. You can select an artist or playlist, play, pause, or control volume from either a button remote, a touch screen, or an app on your tablet or smartphone. Plus, with Control4, you can have the bonus of controlling outdoor lights and other smart features from the palm of your hand.
SEE MORE: How to Design Your Home for Better Music Streaming
Are you ready to upgrade your outdoor sound system game? We encourage you to set up a one-on-one consultation with our team. Just give us a call at (801) 444-3200, fill out our contact form, or chat with us below.