A Complete Buying Guide for an Outdoor Speaker System

With warmer weather comes the outdoors. Bears aren’t hibernating, snow isn’t falling, and we’re spending more time lounging by the pool. What’s missing? MUSIC! No worries, here’s your complete buying guide for an outdoor speaker system.

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Ahhh, do you feel that? Do you feel the heat slowly creeping back into your bones? Well, fire up the grill, take a dip in the pool, and get ready because it’s been a long winter, a brief spring, and summer is finally here! 

As we transition from indoors to outdoors and from pasty to tan, you find yourself spending more and more time scratching your head because our cool and awesome smartphones just can’t produce the same sound we know and love from indoor speakers. You need volume, you need power, but most of all, you need an outdoor speaker system!

Outdoor Speaker System: Why You Need It

Picture it: it’s a hot summer day, you’re grilling some burgers, and you get a hankering for some tunes. The problem? You’re in the great outdoors and your indoor system is that, an indoor system. Wait a second, you say, that’s no problem. I have a nice set of outdoor speakers!

With one you’ll be the talk of the block and the envy of the neighborhood as you blast music and jam to your favorite songs…all day long. Sound good? Well, sit tight, because here’s what you need to know before buying an outdoor speaker system.

Location, Location, Location

Outdoor speakers, like their indoor counterparts, require a couple of considerations for optimal sound (and a few more because of the outdoor factor). 

First and foremost, where will they be placed? Before you answer that, keep in mind where the listeners will be and the area you want to bless with sound. When setting up indoor speakers, you have to think about furniture placement and its material, as furniture blocks sound and certain materials absorb, amplify and distort it. When setting up outdoor speakers, you’ll most likely have to do the opposite and consider the absence of furniture.

The thing about sound outside is that you have to account for the inverse square law, or that “each doubling of distance drops the output by 6dB.” In case you’re not familiar with decibels, that’s a lot, especially when you factor background noises into the equation. Therefore, depending on the area you want to cover, you might want to spring for multiple speakers or more powerful ones.

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After Location Comes Placement

We mentioned placement before, but here’s where it actually comes into play. To begin with, are you sure that your speakers are made for the outdoors? This whole thing is about outdoor speaker systems, so it’s important that they are, otherwise they’ll fry up the second it starts raining.

Once assured that they are indeed outdoor speakers, try to minimize their exposure by placing them under an awning, a canopy, or some other sort of shelter. While it’s true that they’re meant to withstand the elements, it’s not a good idea to test the limits.

You also have options for the physical placement. Namely, are you going to place or mount? Mounting has the advantage of better sound distribution, just don’t go above 10ft — doing so tends to dissipate sound. If you are mounting, make sure to find a sturdy location and face them downward for better sound directionality and water drainage.

One more thing in case you decide to use multiple speakers; go for stereo sound by pairing them and keeping them about 10ft apart.

Wired vs. Wireless: the Great Battle

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This section applies to two different types of wires — those that give your speakers power and those that you use to connect your devices. Focusing on the former first, some speakers are portable are can be used with batteries or rechargeable battery packs. These are excellent if you want the freedom to place them wherever you want without worrying about extension cords are outlets.

Moving to the other type of wire, your best bet is to use wireless speakers if you don’t want to be bogged down near the speaker. In other words, there’s no need to worry about distance from the music source because there are no wires, it’s all wireless! For this, you’ll encounter two types of wireless options: Bluetooth and WiFi. WiFi speakers have longer range and can be synced up with each other, so pick these if you’re going for multiple speakers.

Final Thoughts

Look for speakers that check as many boxes in your outdoor speaker system checklist. Some like the HEOS 1 speakers have a sealed enclosure for humidity protection, an optional rechargeable battery pack for when you don’t want the music to stop, Bluetooth integration, and WiFi connectivity to sync multiple speakers and stream from your favorite music service like Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, SiriusXM, SoundCloud, TIDAL and more.

Whatever direction you take, best of luck choosing!

HEOS 1 - An Affordable Wireless Multi-Room Speaker

Last year Denon introduced its new wireless speaker and accessories line, HEOS by Denon. The veteran audio brand chose the slogan ‘Anywhere sounds amazing’ as a reference to the syncing capabilities of their three initial speakers, the HEOS 3, 5 and 7. The idea is that any of those speakers can be placed anywhere throughout your home and played simultaneously- with either the same streaming music or multiple songs at once.

Now, the brand has expanded upon the meaning of its slogan, as they recently introduced the new HEOS 1, a portable wireless speaker that has been specifically designed for indoor and outdoor use. It’s an ambitious offering in an industry that so far, surprisingly, hasn’t produced many portable speaker options.

The HEOS 1 has stayed true to its clean, minimalistic design and color schemes of black and white. In addition to being attractive, it’s also surprisingly lightweight, weighing less than six pounds. Make no mistake however; this portable wireless speaker was designed with durability in mind, as it’s said to be humidity resistant.

In terms of sound, the HEOS 1 is an excellent addition to the legacy that is Denon audio. It features audiophile grade synchronization, a custom woofer and a high dispersion tweeter, powered by a 2-channel Class D amplifier. Translation- this miniature HEOS produces sound that is anything but.

To accompany the speaker, HEOS has also developed and introduced a corresponding battery pack, known as their Go-Pack. It contains a rechargeable battery that will give you up to 6-hours of playtime, plus a Bluetooth USB adaptor, in case you’re not within range of a Wi-Fi signal. This unique addition has been brilliantly designed to be completely cohesive with the HEOS speaker. To use the HEOS 1 Go Pack, all you need to do is twist it on to the base of the speaker. Imagine twisting the cap on or off of your water bottle. It’s that easy.

The HEOS 1 Go Pack is smartly splash proof, as it should be, plus it’s able to charge your smartphone. These are both great and thoughtful features that reinforce the portability and outdoor use capability of the HEOS 1.

One of the very best things about the new HEOS 1 and the Go Pack however, has to be it’s affordable price. Denon and HEOS are by no means a cheap brand- their products are known for quality and both brands are typically considered to be luxury audio retailers. Even so, the HEOS 1 has been priced at only $199 and the optional (but really fantastic) Go Pack is just $99!

This is truly exciting news. With prices like that, everyone should be clamoring to get their hands on a HEOS 1 and Go Pack. It’s the perfect companion to bring along this summer when you decide to go hiking, camping, swimming- wherever it is life takes you. The HEOS 1 will be there to make sure that ‘anywhere sounds amazing’.