Outdoor Sound

The main reason there is more choice in wall mounted speakers than ground mounted is simple acoustics. To project a decent sound from the ground to the ears of the listeners is difficult without resorting to exessive volume, due to the distance the sound has to travel, the dispersal of the sound en-route, and overcoming blocking by obstacles such as patio furniture, people etc. There is consequently considerable degredation in sound quality. I would, therefore, always recommend wall or pole mounted speaker systems, and always ones by reputable speaker manufacturers such as Monitor Audio's Climate Series, Electrovoice, JBL, Ridley Acoustics, Acoustic Energy's Extreme Series etc. Bose also do a range of environmental speakers, which does include one for ground mounting. It is important to get a good quality sound, because poor reproduction sounds just as bad outside as it does inside! You will also need to carefully consider how much power output you need the speakers to handle - which will depend on the client's taste in music, how loud they want it, how enclosed the area is, and so on. Always remember that you should have speakers that are at least as good quality, if not better than the source, otherwise they will disappoint.

If you're looking at a decent setup, I would seriously consider consulting a specialist acoustic engineer to locate the speakers and recommend ratings for them, as it is a complex business (and you'd make a useful contact so you could offer the service in the future). Couple of other things to consider are:

always use proper outdoor rated high quality speaker cabling, never the cheap stuff

don't be conned into going wireless - it never works as well as it should

where is the source to be located? It would be worth installing the speaker cabling both to an indoor and an outdoor point, as at some point the client will wish they didn't have to keep going indoors to change the track (you'll also need to run sufficient mains power to the outdoor point too, for both the system and some light so you can see to change the CDs)

Hope that helps, and good luck!

Replies

AndyCharles-EnborneGardeningCo January 10, 2011 at 2:37pm

The main reason there is more choice in wall mounted speakers than ground mounted is simple acoustics. To project a decent sound from the ground to the ears of the listeners is difficult without resorting to exessive volume, due to the distance the sound has to travel, the dispersal of the sound en-route, and overcoming blocking by obstacles such as patio furniture, people etc. There is consequently considerable degredation in sound quality. I would, therefore, always recommend wall or pole mounted speaker systems, and always ones by reputable speaker manufacturers such as Monitor Audio's Climate Series, Electrovoice, JBL, Ridley Acoustics, Acoustic Energy's Extreme Series etc. Bose also do a range of environmental speakers, which does include one for ground mounting. It is important to get a good quality sound, because poor reproduction sounds just as bad outside as it does inside! You will also need to carefully consider how much power output you need the speakers to handle - which will depend on the client's taste in music, how loud they want it, how enclosed the area is, and so on. Always remember that you should have speakers that are at least as good quality, if not better than the source, otherwise they will disappoint.

If you're looking at a decent setup, I would seriously consider consulting a specialist acoustic engineer to locate the speakers and recommend ratings for them, as it is a complex business (and you'd make a useful contact so you could offer the service in the future). Couple of other things to consider are:

always use proper outdoor rated high quality speaker cabling, never the cheap stuff

don't be conned into going wireless - it never works as well as it should

where is the source to be located? It would be worth installing the speaker cabling both to an indoor and an outdoor point, as at some point the client will wish they didn't have to keep going indoors to change the track (you'll also need to run sufficient mains power to the outdoor point too, for both the system and some light so you can see to change the CDs)

Hope that helps, and good luck!
Richard Boyd January 10, 2011 at 3:00pm

Just to add to AC comments...the subwoofer could be hidden by the decking as they work on an omni directional basis and therefore do not have to be positioned to face a specific direction. This assumes that you will be installing some sort of cross over.
AndyCharles-EnborneGardeningCo January 10, 2011 at 3:26pm

Good point Richard. The other thing I forgot to mention is that ground mounting speakers in decking could also cause problems with vibration affecting items placed on the decking (pots, etc), items placed on items placed on the decking (plates and glasses on tables), people on the decking (unpleasant feelings), and the actual structure of the decking itself (working the screws loose).

Richard Boyd said:

Just to add to AC comments...the subwoofer could be hidden by the decking as they work on an omni directional basis and therefore do not have to be positioned to face a specific direction. This assumes that you will be installing some sort of cross over.
RICHARD BICKLER January 10, 2011 at 3:53pm

Contact Karl @ Exterior decking, and on LJN,there isn't anything he does'nt know about decking and all the accessories....
Canalturndesigner January 10, 2011 at 4:35pm

Hope they haven't got any close neighbours!! Nothing worse than other people's loud music - or quiet music come to that.
Neil Sutcliffe January 12, 2011 at 10:13am

Thanks for all the feedback, I think we're going to go for some deck mounted speakers and a couple of wall mounted ones too. I have a company working on a solution at present and they are looking to see if there are any other options, good point on the vibration, I will let you know the outcome.