The fine weather is finally arriving, so people are asking us about outdoor systems. Your patio or garden has different sonic challenges than a typical room. Inside your home, there are walls to reflect and contain the sound.

To create a pleasant outdoor speaker system, first, you need enough speakers to adequately cover your listening area, so start by determining what your main listening area will be. Plan on placing your speakers about 12 feet away from the listening area and roughly 8 to 10 feet apart from each other. For example, if you want to listen to music on your deck, place one speaker at each end. If you need to cover a larger area, think more speakers, not higher volume. Cranking up the volume could result in uncomfortably loud music and distorted sound in parts of your listening area. Depending on your space you might opt for traditional speakers, stereo input speakers, or a mix of both.

When possible, we recommend placing your outdoor speakers in a protected location, like under the eaves. Although labelled “weather-resistant”, some models require this kind of placement. If you do need to put a speaker in a fully exposed location, like on the ground by the pool, be sure it is fully “weather-proof”.

To cover the broadest listening area, you can mount your speakers higher up (but not higher than ten feet). This will help disperse the sound over more of your yard.

One last tip: If you want to get more bass out of your speakers, place them near a wall or a corner. Of course, our knowledgeable staff can help you with both the selection of the speakers that will fit best in your yard/patio and their location for the ideal sonic results.

After ensuring you have enough speakers to cover your listening area, the second thing you need to create a pleasant outdoor speaker system, is enough power to drive the speakers. You can use a separate amplifier, but the home theatre receiver you might already have inside your home should be able to power an extra pair of speakers in one or more additional listening zones.

Third, look for speaker wire designed for outdoor use. For some installations you may also need wire designed to be safely buried in the ground.

Fourth, think about outdoor volume controls, in order not to have to run back inside to turn up your favorite song or turn it down during a phone call.

Again, our trained salespeople and technicians will assist you with all aspects to select and perfectly install a system that will sound great and blend perfectly in your environment to remain practically invisible – basically a system that will make you happy and will make your patio/garden parties the talk of all your friends.

Now is the time, before everyone becomes too busy – and you are in luck: To kick-start the season early, we are offering 20% off all Paradigm outdoor speakers for a limited time.

Click here to see our great selection of outdoor speakers and cables. Or feel free to come listen and compare them in one of our private listening rooms.