Okay, if this is you, raise your hand.  Cold drinks are in the cooler on the patio or deck, every lawn chair you own has been pulled out from their hiding places.  You have brought out your best set of plastic cups, bowls, plates and serving trays loaded with your favorite snack foods and cold beverages.You have lawn games out of the attic and the citronella candles all lit.  Now you need to get the finishing touch running, the tunes!  You go to your living room and take your tower speakers to the window and prop them up to blast your favorite tunes out to your yard.  Wow, your party is set now!Let us talk about how to make this easier on your wallet and you!

I'm not saying that putting speakers in the window is wrong.Yep, I've done that myself!Is there a better way? Yes, and I'll show you.Now you're ready to hear it?

Putting your home speakers in the window to get music to your yard is effective, to a point…  The amount of power that it takes to get music to cut though the outside air to the far reaches of your yard is mind boggling, to say the least.  Most of today's home amplifiers don't have the power to keep up with the high amounts of power required for this task.  The distance from your speakers in the windows to your listening area can be much reduced by placing speakers in your yard or landscape closest to your listening area.  This will require much less power from the amp to get the sound to your ears.This in turn extends the life of your amplifier! 

Setting your home speakers up on the patio can be done, but this can lead to trouble?  (wow, that was a long sentence!as long as the rotting factor of moisture doesn't bother you.  Or if you don’t mind the creepy bugs crawling into them and then letting themselves loose in your house after you bring them back in.Go ahead, if the option of spilled drinks, fly baseballs or knock over from running kids doesn't bother you!Go ahead and see if your home stereo speakers will last outside!  But don't say I didn't try to warn you! 

Outdoor speakers have many advantages in this respect.These speakers are made for the harsh elements and can be left outdoors.  They can be placed anywhere in your yard or landscape, close to your listening areas.  And as I explained before, this helps save your amplifier and extend its life by not having to be cranked up just to hear the music.  They are smaller in size and can be hidden or camouflaged to blend into you landscape, gardens or patio.Look at the time saved by not having to fool around opening the windows and dragging your speakers around again.This gives you more time to get your tunes ready to play!

The Outdoor Speaker Guy

Who says you can’t have speakers in your gardens? These new speakers, shaped like rocks, planters, bird baths and statues are really giving individualism to your landscapes’ soundscape! Wow, that came out way more intellectual than it did in my head! Anyway, in this article we are going to discuss the reason why garden and rock speakers are so cool! In the eyes of The Outdoor Speaker Guy, anyway.

Okay so let us discuss what is considered “gardens” around your yard. “Anywhere!” You can put rock speakers anywhere a rock would look good. You can place a birdbath shaped speaker where ever you would put a birdbath. A planter shaped speaker will go great anywhere you would put a potted plant. I could go on an on, but I think you get the picture. These specially shaped sound elements are capable of producing the great sounds you have come to expect from your home speaker systems. Rock speakers are quickly becoming the best sounding outdoor speakers on the market. Capable of providing those deep and low frequency sounds you want when listening and dancing around your backyard. These custom shaped drivers can deliver tons of sound due to the fact that they can handle and devour high quantities of wattage from your amplifier. The fact that they can be placed nearly anywhere in your landscape makes them the perfect choice to bring the great sounds out of your home and into your garden.

Statues, planters and birdbaths are other great ways to bring the sounds of joy to your backyard. They also give you great choices on where your music can flow from. Look around your yard, and see where you could use a rock or a planter or maybe a statue and that would be a great place for your next set of speakers. So if you are looking for a “cool” speaker for your lifestyle and like tons of sound to flow through them, look no further. Try some of these out and see for yourself why I think these are cool speakers!

The Outdoor Speaker Guy

Okay, so you’re sitting on your deck or patio, watching the neighbors mowing their lawn and you think to yourself, “do I have to listen to this orchestra of lawn mowers, weed eaters and leaf blowers?” Well, the unfortunate answer to this is yes, unless you or they move away, you are stuck with this barrage of summers sounds, constantly filling the air. But there is a way to bring yourself back to that calm and soothing place you were before this metal chopping symphony began. It is right there on your deck or patio and even in your backyard, think of it, the soothing sounds of your own music filling the landscape. Your garden areas lightly sprinkled with your favorite music. Your music, of your choice, not the sounds from the street or even next door, but the soothing tunes that you enjoy hearing. The music that takes you to another place or even back in time. Is this possible for your yard or garden-scape? The answer is, Yes!

So you want to hear your music while relaxing in your backyard, but how do you do it? It’s simple, get quality outdoor speakers that will blend into your décor. Sound hard to do? Start by deciding where in your outdoor areas you would like to have music. Next sketch on paper your landscape layout and decide the places that you and your guests will be spending most of their time and concentrate on those areas first. These most likely will be the sitting areas on your deck, patio or garden. Now decide how involved you want to get. What do I mean by “involved”? How much work do you want to do? I know, I know, we all want this to be easy and to require next to no work. Some of us would like to cross our arms, close our eyes and do that “I dream of Genie head bop” and poof! The work is done! This is a job you can hire out if your budget allows. Just make sure you research what you want and relay that on to your contractor. And you should be fine. But if you are like me, we would love to have the extra cash around to have someone else do it, but we don’t. So we are stuck doing it ourselves. You know this is really not that hard of job to do. It can be just as easy as purchasing wireless outdoor speakers.

These gems are great! Just grab your CD or MP3 player, plug into the base unit of your wireless speakers, place the wireless speakers where you want them and let the good times roll! Wireless outdoor speakers can also have add on speakers that can expand your listening area even farther in your yard. With a range of around 150-200 feet, you should be able to get your tunes where you want and with really no extra work. Now you do have to keep the batteries charged in some units and fresh batteries on hand in others to make the system work. Some even come with power cords or adapters that can be plugged in at electrical outlets, but that defeats the whole wireless speaker thing don’t you think? All “outdoor” wireless speakers are weather “resistant”, which just means that if it starts to rain or you leave them out over night or even a couple days, they will be fine. They should not be used as permanent outdoor speakers though unless you have a well protected place to put them. We suggest you put them away after usage just to be safe. There are completely “waterproof” wireless speakers that float in your pool or hot tub and can be completely submerged! These are pretty cool and get the music in there where its gonna be wet! This is the easy installation way to go!

Now if you don’t want the hassle of making sure your wireless speakers are charged up or have fresh batteries in them, you can opt to do a little bit more work. Patio speakers are designed to be placed/mounted in outdoor areas where the weather is going to get to them. And don't worry, they are made for this. The requirement is to find a place on your house, deck or gazebo that they can be mounted. You will need to be handy with a drill and screw drivers to do this and you will be putting holes in your mounting areas to run speaker wires. These will have to be of course sealed to keep the creepie-crawlies out, but not a big deal. You will need some basic wiring skills as well as basic wiring tools such as: wire cutters, wire strippers, pliers, screwdrivers, drill bits and a drill. All of which are likely to be in your tool box if you are even a basic handyman. Once you have found the place to mount your speakers, follow the directions that come with your particular speakers and mount them. Just make sure that at this location you have a direct way to get the speaker wires run into your house to your amplifier. Amplifier you say? We will cover that in another article, so lets get back to the speakers. Hook up your wires to your amplifier after mounting the speakers. Poof! Done! Just turn on the tunes and your relaxing and enjoying the music. This is a medium skill level job.

Okay, so the mounted patio speakers are not enough for you and you need more from your music. Or maybe you have gardens that you want to be able to stroll though and hear your music. This is where garden speakers come into play. They come in different varieties to work with your décor. Rock speakers look just like rocks and come in many different colors, shapes and sizes. You can get animal shaped ones, birdbath shaped ones, stump shaped, planters, bowls etc. Just pick what works for you. Some can be buried in the ground so that only the tops of them are seen. Lots to choose from here, just pick what suits your skill level and needs. You will need to bury cable to get the sound to these, so you will be doing a bit of digging or hiding of the wires to these speakers so plan out your route to keep it as short as possible. You will have to get these wires back to your amplifier which will be inside your house or elsewhere, so holes will have to be most likely drilled and sealed too. This is a medium skill level job.

Keep your eyes peeled for our next edition, where we will discuss the options for hooking up your outdoor speakers to your amplifier.

The Outdoor Speaker Guy

There is no better way to enhance the outdoor experience of an afternoon barbecue or pool party than with some great music! But you don’t want to drag out your portable boom box or stereo system every time you have friends over do you? Outdoor speakers are a great addition to your outdoor living space. Now you can easily transform your backyard into a great entertainment spot for your friends and family. What sounds better to you, television speakers or a home theater system? The difference is incredible! Outdoor speakers will greatly enhance your patio or backyard area and give it that extra ambiance. Words can't explain the joy you will feel, the first time you turn on your new system to hear the way it sounds.

You probably have a few questions you need answered. Here are a few things that may come up when you are doing your research:

Price – A low end portable stereo from your local electronics store could cost you as low as $100. Your high end version? Anywhere from $300-$500. Still, this is not surround sound! Chasing that fly ball across the lawn, you miss out on the great song your guests are dancing to. A good quality system comprised of four speakers will run you about $300-$800. With a full setup including amplifier/tuner with all accessories is going to be in the neighborhood of $500-$1000 again depending on quality. Is this extra price worth the added entertainment? Those customers who have made this step certainly think so.

Weather – I am sure you are skeptical about setting up and tearing down your new investment every time the sun comes out and you crank up the tunes. The best part of buying an outdoor speaker system. They are completely waterproof and sun proof. The speakers and wires are what will be affected by moisture and uv rays. These are highly durable pieces of equipment built to endure the test of time and weather. Why drag out that portable system everytime you want to party!

Installation – An outdoor speaker system is very easy to install and tailor to your specific needs. Especially with the addition of wireless speakers, moving your items around is as simple as moving those fresh steaks from the grill to your table. Installation is easy as well. All you will need is your tuner, amplifier, wiring, and speakers. Quite often this is a standard home stereo system.

Where to buy/delivery - If you do decide to make that step and purchase an outdoor speaker system, I am sure that you will want a company with a personal touch and stereo expertise to assist you in creating the perfect outdoor experience. OutdoorSpeakerGuy.com.outdoorspeakerguy.com) has the perfect line up of speakers (wireless, rock, and patio) as well as amplifiers, tuners and accessories. If you are not sure exactly what you want, they will be more than happy to help to pick out perfect setup for your price range, as well as helping you create outdoor layout that works for you. The associates at Outdoor Speaker Guy.com are a great source for answering all your outdoor speaker questions. If you have any more questions, please check out a great Frequently Asked Questions page.

I hope you enjoy your enhanced outdoor experience. I know if you do decide to take this route you will not be dissapointed.