Spice up your garden entertainment this summer with some outdoor speakers!

This feature reviews a some of the different types of high quality outdoor speakers available.  We support a number of brands including Sonance, Monitor Audio, Q-Acoustics and Speakercraft.

Bring out some music into the garden !
For all your BBQs, gatherings and parties, or even relaxing on a Sunday afternoon, a good sound system is a great way to enhance the experience….
So what are the options available:

Portable speakers:
There are a number of small portable options which aren’t specifically covered in this feature but can be used on a temporary basis. Some speakers are single Bluetooth battery powered units whereas others will require an electrical socket connection. Most are not weatherproof and are only low volume.

Permanent speakers:
We generally supply and install more permanent audio solutions with speakers that are fixed in place, fully weatherproof and ready to use at a moments notice. These are far more convenient and much higher quality than any portable option. They are connected via discreet external grade speaker cable to an amp located indoors or within a watertight outbuilding with power.

Wall mounted options:
For many small patio areas a stereo pair of wall mounted speakers provides a simple and high quality solution. For larger areas or where there may be couple of zones, then two pairs of wall mounted speakers can be specified/combined. These speakers are available in matt white or black finish and are fully waterproof so they remain outside all year round. There are a range of styles and sizes to perfectly suit the requirements of either ambient sound or loud enough for the largest of parties.

Landscape options:
The only drawback of wall mounted speakers is that they are not completely discreet and focus sound on one particular area (eg patio). For more discreet requirements or for more even sound coverage for larger areas and gardens, then a ‘landscape’ option may be more desirable. Speakers can be virtually hidden within flowerbeds/plants/pots at regular spacing throughout the garden. This provides a much more even sound field throughout the whole outdoor space – in addition, audio is played at lower volume and position from each speaker – therefore there is less disturbance to neighboring properties. Much smaller satellite speakers are used in conjunction with a larger separate sub-woofer speaker that can be partly buried into the ground ! Even rock speakers can be specified to blend into the landscape.

Cabling/Amps:
All outdoor speakers require cabling but this is low voltage external speaker cabling which is perfectly safe to run outside. All electrical connections are indoors where an amplifier is used for powering speakers. Generally we utilise Sonos amps which are easily controlled from an app on your phone and can also be linked to any existing sonos system in the house. Therefore any music streaming service or radio station can be accessed and played, with volume control in the palm of your hand. A cheaper solution would be to use a generic bluetooth amplifier to connect directly to audio output of your device. However bluetooth range outdoors can be patchy and unreliable and does not ideally suit multiple users. For landscape audio systems containing multiple speakers (more than 4), then more dedicated specialist amps are required.

Finally:
We cover all aspects of the supply/installation of outdoor audio systems, and can provide full consultancy over the options available to suit most budgets. We can also assist with the design and integration for larger outdoor spaces.
We also hire out and set-up larger and louder PA speakers/music playlists for larger ‘one off’ events and celebrations.

Please get in contact for a quote or further information to get installation in time for the summer.