I know silence is golden but these garden design tips will bring music to your ears. They may also prevent your neighbors from having to call the local police department on you. Listen up to make your backyard the favorite spot on the block.
Outdoor speakers come in an amazing variety of shapes, sizes, colors and textures. Some look like regular house hold speakers that you mount on your deck or patio while the ones I prefer are in the shape of a rock. They also come with speaker sizes ranging from small to large for that high fidelity sound. As you can expect, all outdoor speakers are weather resistant and can remain outside all year long.
Tip Number 1 – Use wired speakers. First and foremost they have a far superior sound quality over wireless outdoor speakers. Unless you need to trench across a 3 acre lawn, or require speakers in 10 different locations, I recommend only using wired speakers.
Tip Number 2 – Use low voltage lighting cables and connectors. I stumbled upon this one by accident. After I completed the installation of my low voltage outdoor lighting, I somehow ended up with fair amount of left over wire. Rather then throw it out, it occurred to me I could use it as speaker wire. I returned to the building centre to purchase more wire and decided I could also use the special low voltage lighting connectors. After running the two main lines (left and right out of the stereo receiver) along the perimeter of the yard, I just attached the speakers using the low voltage light connectors. Nothing could have been easier.
Tip Number 3 – Best Speaker Placement. Place your speakers as high as possible. If you have a raised garden or berm (fancy word for pile of dirt) I would place them there. Also, if you place the speakers against or near a wall, you will get better bass or low end sound. Finally, experiment before permanently mounting or trenching the wires.
Here’s a tip that will not only keep the neighbors happy but will provide the best music enjoyment possible. Place at least 4 speakers thoughout your yard. The more the better. The reason this method works the best is because you can have the volume at a much lower level but still have music everywhere. With only two speakers, you need to turn the volume up much louder to fill the space. If you use my number 2 tip above, it’s very easy to add additional speakers anywhere you want. My only caution is to seek advise on how many speakers you can add to you specific stereo receiver. Mine is capable of a variable load (multiple speakers) while others might get damaged. As I said, ask a professional stereo installer what will work best for you.
