Outdoor Audio is a Different Beast, and Here’s Why

If you’ve ever taken a portable speaker out to the patio, you’ve likely noticed something disappointing: the sound seems to disappear the moment you step away from it. 

While the sound system you have inside plays through in-ceiling speakers and in the home theater just fine, outdoor spaces don’t work quite the same way. The walls and ceilings that reflect sound back to your ears aren’t found beneath the wide open sky.

In a backyard, sound waves simply travel until they run out of energy or, worse, until they hit your neighbor’s bedroom window. This is known as acoustic bleed, and it is the primary reason why professional outdoor audio requires a different approach.

Below, you’ll discover why you need a different approach to your patio setup, so keep reading!

SEE ALSO: Your Indoor TV Isn’t Invited to the Patio

More on the Physics of the Open Air

In your living room, you might only need two or three speakers to fill the space. Outdoors, sound behaves like a flashlight beam in the dark, only illuminating what it is pointed at. To get consistent, high-fidelity sound across a pool deck or an acre of landscaping, it’s more than a matter of cranking up the volume from a single source. If you do that, the people sitting near the speaker are deafened, while the people at the grill can barely hear the lyrics.

You’ll Want to Create an Outdoor Sound Canopy

Instead of two large speakers blasting from the house toward the yard, we utilize a series of small, strategically placed satellite speakers from industry leaders like Coastal Source.

These speakers are camouflaged within your landscape, nestled into flower beds or tucked under foliage. By pointing them inward toward your seating areas, we contain the sound, letting you and your guests enjoy rich, full-range audio at a lower overall volume. Your music stays within your property lines without becoming a nuisance to the neighbors.

Feel the Bass While Hiding the Source

To get that front-row concert feeling, you need low-frequency support. However, traditional subwoofers are often bulky eyesores. The professional solution is a bollard or buried subwoofer installed beneath the frost line, leaving only a small, mushroom-like cap visible. They use the earth itself to dampen vibration while pushing deep, resonant bass through the soil and into your patio, resulting in a visceral sound experience that seems to come from the very air around you.

Book Your Calendar for Summer Entertainment 

Once your outdoor sound system is calibrated, your backyard becomes the premier venue in St. Louis. Here are a few ways to break in the new system this summer or fall:

• The Muny Pre-Game: Host a sophisticated cocktail hour with show tunes or light jazz before heading out to Forest Park.
• The All-Star Backyard BBQ: Sync your outdoor TV with your audio system so you can hear every crack of the bat and play-by-play call while you’re at the grill.
• Midnight Swim & Cinema: Provide immersive audio for a poolside movie night without waking up the rest of the neighborhood.

Upgrade Your Outdoor Sound System with Elite

Outdoor audio is as much a science as it is an art, so don't settle for loud when you can have immersive. Book an AV consultation with our team today!

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