It's time to take the rock and roll outside with outdoor speakers.
At Smart Automation Solutions, we know the importance of good sound, and we want to help you get that good sound everywhere -- even outdoors.
You don't want to take your indoor speakers and just plop them outside, unless you want them to break, that is. This week, we're going to take a look and educate you all about the different types of outdoor speakers, and how they can help meet all your outdoor audio needs!
Landscape Speakers
Landscape speakers, well, they go around your landscape! They are usually around 4 inches and are mounted in the ground. They are made to look like exterior landscape lighting spread around your back yard. They also include underground -- or buried -- subwoofers. Landscape speakers provide great all-around coverage for your outdoor space, and they’re a great, scalable solution. For larger yards, simply install more landscape speakers to make sure that you can hear your audio throughout your whole yard. The addition of the buried subwoofers also makes sure you aren't losing the impact of your audio just because you are outside.
Under Eave Speakers
Instead of going for a ground approach, box speakers are mounted under eaves. Of course, this does mean that you need eaves for them to be mounted under, which makes box speakers better for applications closer to your back patio or house. With rustproof, waterproof, and UV-resistant options, you can make sure to get speakers that are going to not only sound great, but that will sound great even when standing up to the harsh outdoor elements.
In-Ceiling/Architecture Speakers
In-ceiling -- also know as architecture -- speakers are much like the in-ceiling speakers that you see inside homes. For outdoor applications, they would install in the ceiling of a patio area and offer near invisible installation. If you are looking for outdoor speakers that can function in a patio or sunroom but don't take up a lot of space or visual retail, in-ceiling speakers are the way to go.
Rock Speakers
OK, we're going to try to make it through this whole section without the really easy rock pun.
Rock speakers are just what they sound like: Outdoor speakers that look like rocks. These speakers can be put anywhere you want outside -- and they blend in quite well. They are perfect for gardens or other areas you want to add sound to without taking away from the outdoor foliage and ambiance. They also have bigger drivers that other outdoor speakers, giving you powerful outdoor sound. And, well, they rock.
Oh, and One More Thing -- Voltage and Impedance
We wouldn't be doing a good job if we didn't give you as much info as possible to help educate you on your buying decisions, so there's one more aspect of outdoor speakers we wanted to go over today: 70V versus 8 OHM set ups.
Both types have their advantages and disadvantages. You’ll see 8 Ohm impedance speakers in traditional speaker set ups -- you need to power each channel of sound, so if you wanted 16 channels of sound outdoors, you'd need an amp that supports that many channels. It's the superior sound quality option of the two types, but also requires more installation.
On the other hand, 70V speakers have one really, really big amp, and one speaker wire that runs from that amp to multiple speakers. It requires less wiring and fewer amplifiers -- making 70V an easier -- and cost-effective -- approach for outdoor speakers, especially if you are looking to add a large number of speakers. The sound quality is still good, but it can sound a bit compressed and is lesser than 8 Ohm quality.
As the weather keeps getting nicer, we keep getting closer and closer to the "outdoor season," even if we have to spend a lot of it indoors. And outdoor speakers are a great way to add excitement to any outdoor gathering, whether it's a backyard BBQ with friends or just going for a solo swim in your backyard pool.
Our team has years of experience installing custom outdoor speaker solutions, no matter the size or scope of the project, so we're the best choice in town to get you all set up and squared away! Give us a call today at 240-242-7272 or head on over to our contact page and shoot us a line!