Outdoor Sound Solutions for Your Home
The Audio Video Systems team recently returned from the CEDIA (Custom Electronics Industry Association) show in San Diego. There were thousands of vendors there showing off the best that custom consumer electronics has to offer. One of the most interesting products that most speaker manufacturers had to show was the plethora of buried subwoofer/satellite outdoor speaker systems.
Outside areas are the most often used whole house music locations, it is also the most difficult location in the home to get great sound quality. There are no walls for the sound to reflect off, so your music tends to just float off into space. Couple that effect with the lack of bass performance and you have a problem begging for a more modern solution……Viola’! The outdoor satellite/subwoofer speaker system! We here at Audio Video Systems have put several of these systems in during the previous year and I am truly impressed with the sound quality and un-obtrusive nature of these systems. First, you bury a subwoofer somewhere in the landscaping grounds of the back yard. These subwoofers are meant to live in this environment and all the sound produced is funneled up to the listening area through a small vent which is then topped with a mushroom shaped cover…easy to hide. Bass is non-directional and not stereo sound, so you can place your sub anywhere near your backyard living area. Then come the “satellites”! Satellite speakers carry the high and midrange sounds. These speakers come in 4″ to 8″ sizes and typically look like landscape lights.
Satellite speakers can be hidden in the landscaping, mounted in trees or hung from the house. You can put as many satellite speakers around the outdoor area as you need for good coverage. Tip: sound travels (next door) most easily when the speakers are placed high on the house, so speakers located near the ground tend to keep the sound contained. Run your outdoor zone into the house, attach to a good, powerful amplifier (you need power to run a subwoofer) and you will have the best outdoor speaker system you have ever heard! If you’re in the Boise metro area, give us a call at Audio Video Systems and we will help design a custom system just for you. You’ll be amazed…I Promise!
