Outdoor Speakers. A guide on some of the things needing to be considered when choosing outdoor speakers to buy and where the best areas to place them are to achieve the best performance.

Choosing and Installing

The great outdoors presents a different listening environment than your typical room. Inside your home, there are walls to reinforce low-frequency response and reflect and contain sound. Outside, of course, it's wide open, and there's usually much more background noise ? wind, traffic, barking dogs, and even crickets!

Under these difficult sonic conditions, it's vital for your outdoor speakers to provide enough bass for a satisfying listening experience. Therefore, be sure to choose speakers with good low-frequency response.

It's also important to consider the durability of a pair of outdoor speakers. All of the speakers we carry are weather resistant, but some are rigorously tested under extremely difficult environmental conditions.


Placement tips

Though outdoor speakers are usually weather-resistant, most manufacturers recommend placing or mounting them in a protected location under cover for best results and a longer life. Beneath a porch roof or an eave works well.

Some models, however, are built extra tough for placement in exposed outdoor locations. Be sure you're getting speakers that can handle a direct assault from the elements.

Here are a few placement tips that should increase the performance of any outdoor speaker you buy:

* The higher you mount your speakers, the greater the sound projection, and the farther away you will get good sound.

* Placing your speakers near a wall or other solid surface improves bass output.

* If it is necessary to mount one or both speakers in an exposed location, make sure you choose speakers that are rated for extreme conditions. Also, when mounting the speakers, tilt the speakers so the cones face slightly down for drainage.

Experiment with placement before permanently mounting the speakers. Place the speakers in a likely location, and walk around to determine how well the sound travels throughout the listening area.

• Water-resistant outdoor speakers allows for placement in damp areas
• Paintable speaker blends in with décor
• Ideal for larger rooms or outdoor applications

Bose Freeair Outdoor Speakers

These Bose speakers are some of the most commonly used. They are free air speakers meaning instead of screwing the speaker down somewhere you can just place it around the garden as you wish. These are also very powerful speakers and have been used at a number of famous outdoor places including Alton towers.

• Place these outdoor speakers just about anywhere in the yard
• freestanding or secured in the ground
• Full range sound 360° radial and 50° vertical coverage
• Withstands rain, snow and temperatures from -40° F to 158° F (-40° C to 70° C)

Smart Home - Weather-Resistant Speakers. www.smarthome.com