What is the Best Speaker Layout for Your Outdoor Audio?

Listening to music outdoors can be challenging if you don’t have the right speaker layout in place. It's hard to get quality audio to reach every corner of your property. Going louder is often not an option since the sound will soon end up disrupting your neighbors. Having the right layout for your outdoor audio will result in even sound and fewer noise complaints. This blog showcases some of the most common outdoor audio mistakes and offers layout solutions for all your outdoor spaces.

SEE MORE: 5 Reasons to Use Coastal Source in Your Outdoor Audio

Commonly Made Layout Mistakes

Due to the large areas that have to be covered and the difficult nature of installing outdoor speakers, it’s hard to create successful speaker layouts without the help of a professional. A common approach many people take is to mount a couple speakers on their home’s exterior and have them face outwards. You end up with a few problems when you go about it this way.

The main one is that you have uneven sound. In order to get sound to reach the outer edges of your backyard, it becomes unbearably loud in the areas closer to your home. Also, since the speakers are facing outwards the sound will inevitably leak into your neighbor’s property.

Outdoor Speaker Layout Solutions

The first step in designing the right speaker layout is having the proper equipment. Invest in Coastal Source speakers that offer directional sound, so you can choose exactly where you want your audio to go. Coastal Source also has special weather-proof cabling that makes it easier to install speakers everywhere in your property, so you’re not starting off with limited layout options.

• Backyard: If you’re trying to fill a large backyard with sound, you want to install speakers on the grass to create a perimeter around your yard. Some speakers even have built-in subwoofers that go underground to give you truly deep sound. All speakers should be facing towards your home. This way, sound won’t leak into your neighbor’s lawn and you can strengthen your sound by having it bounce off your walls.
• Pool: For your pool go with a speaker layout similar to the one used in your backyard. Here, you can also complement your layout with some speakers mounted on walls to create a more layered, multi-directional sound. You can even incorporate underwater speakers! Group different sound zones together that you can adjust independently. This feature is great for the pool area, where you might want your audio to be slightly louder to make up for loud splashing, talking, and playing.
• Patio: Here you can get a little more creative with your layout. If it’s a walled-in patio, you can replicate the kind of layouts you have indoors—just try to refrain from facing the speakers outwards as much as possible. If you have an outdoor theater, for example, you can use standing and wall-mounted speakers to create a surround sound setup.

Get ready to enjoy your outdoor spaces this fall with a state-of-the-art sound system. Contact Relative Home Systems to get started today!