Wireless Outdoor Speaker Systems
No matter what time of year it is, it’s time to get your music outdoors! Are you considering wireless outdoor speakers to carry your favorite sounds to the places where you and your family play? Whether you’re working on a full-scale home-remodeling plan so that your pool parties have ambience, or you just want the capability to listen to the ballgame while you mow your lawn, you need to know what speaker options are out there to make your life a little better.
Outdoor speakers have myriad business applications, too. If you own a business that includes both indoor and outdoor customer areas, whatever is being broadcast indoors should also be heard outdoors. This can include music to keep your clients—and your employees—motivated and moving, or product and sales information that’s looped in for interval broadcasts.
The same types of wireless outdoor speakers installed at amusement parks and tourist attractions are simple enough and affordable for use in your home. Today’s technology means you can install them yourself without the cost of a contractor.
If you’re not mechanically minded, you probably wonder exactly how they work. First you need a music source; this can be your radio, IPod, stereo, or whatever’s transmitting indoors. The product you buy will come with a transmitter that partner with that music source. Then you place the speaker outdoors. The transmitter takes your original sound and determines whether it needs to convert it to the proper signal, and then it will send it to your speakers. Your speakers will either be wired to their power source, connected by cable to a power source, or standalone receivers that hold a charge backed up by batteries.
Music lovers are still debating the merits of the sound in wired versus wireless speakers. Many people believe if you want good sound quality, your best bet is to figure out where you need to lay cable, then cover it permanently with soil from the outside of your home to the place where your speaker will be. Others debate that with the use of wireless speakers, their reception of analog radio signal will be subject to inherent FM signal-to-noise interruptions.
And maybe your radio broadcasts an analog signal, but your stereo sound is digital; so how do your receivers handle both? The answer is, your best bet for wireless outdoor speakers is a product with a transmitter that coverts from analog to digital. Of course the analog versus digital debate may become moot as broadcast signals universally convert to digital only.
If you want totally wireless sound, consider these points:
For totally wireless speakers, you can find them with transmitters that broadcast in multiple frequencies. That’s important because in today’s wireless age, many products utilize the 900MHz band. Some speakers have several channels within that band.
Another consideration is the power of the sound delivery. For backyard use, many will be satisfied with something in the range of 7.5 watts. For serious long-range sound, some people insist you really need more.
Speakers generally take a couple of hours to charge up, and most of them will broadcast for about 10 hours. Battery backup is often with eight C batteries and lasts another several hours.
Wireless speakers come camouflaged as rocks, or in colors to fit in with your flora. You can also buy tall, slender types that fit in gracefully with landscaping. Or you can buy a basic, unadorned, close-to-the-ground unit with a handle for easy hauling.
The term Omni Directional means that the sound emanates from all sides of the speaker, or in full circle coverage.
Prices range depending on brand name and product quality. There are many out there from 7.5 watts to 100 watts starting at about $65 per speaker, made by Acoustic Research. Some brands that you buy will have one speaker and some will have two. You can double your wattage and double your watts for less than $100 per speaker with products made by the Outdoor Audio Company, Ltd.
A typical complaint of wireless is the occasional loss of signal. Most speakers have an adjustment knob or button to recapture the signal. Some users have suggested in extreme cases that rebooting the transmitter helps.
Whether you go wireless or not, remember this:
While outdoor speakers are built to survive climates from the Canadian Yukon frost all the way to South African tropical heat, you should keep in mind the misfortunes they could meet in your own backyard. For instance, speakers built to sluice off occasional rains will not do well if pelted laterally and regularly by your sprinkler system. They can endure intermittent splashing from the chlorinated water of pools or spas but not regular or intense splashing, unless you buy speakers specifically for that purpose. They might come under the curious inspection of insects or family pets.
For that reason the speaker exteriors, sometimes referred to as cabinets in specs sheets, and are made from today’s seriously hard plastics, Teflon, or other tough products. There is usually a grill or drain near the bottom of the speaker cabinet to release accumulated water. But even if you keep your speakers outdoors most of the time, remember that they will last longer if you give them shelter when Mother Nature has a temper tantrum.
Many products intended for use in the home transmit about 150 feet, but you can find products for the outdoors that transmit up to 250 feet or more. The number of speakers depends on the acoustics of your exterior space. For places enclosed by foliage or structures, you will need fewer speakers. For best sound quality place one speaker every 30 to 60 feet. You cannot have stereo sound unless you have at least two speakers. Some speakers come with a switch to toggle so that if you are only using one speaker for your space, you flip the switch to mono.
The decision is up to you whether to purchase wireless outdoor speakers or just lay cable to extend the audio capabilities of your current home speaker system. But it’s an upgrade to your entertainment system that will be well worth the time and effort.