I will help you pick some speakers for setting up outdoors so that you and your guests can have more fun at your next grill party.
If you set up speakers outdoors, they will be exposed to the elements such as rain, wind and sun. Thus you will keep that in mind when looking for suitable outdoor speakers. Some speakers will have a plastic enclosure which naturally is more suitable for outdoors than wooden-enclosure speakers. Aside from the enclosure material, the speaker grill should be able to withstand the elements. Also, the woofer as well as any control elements should be able to work in outdoor conditions.
Sound will travel freely outdoors. Therefore, you need your speaker to deliver more power than if you operate them indoors. Thus you want to get a speaker with sufficiently large wattage. Pay close attention to the RMS wattage spec which shows how much power the speaker can tolerate continuously.
Since there is no clear definition for the peak power rating, some manufacturers will show excessive peak power rating. Thus using this power rating makes it difficult to properly compare speakers. The RMS rating is much more objective. Speaker wattage, however, does not show how loud your speaker will actually sound. Different speakers will not be equally loud at a given amount of power. Thus manufacturers often specify the term sound pressure level to help you figure out how loud your speaker will actually be at 1 Watt power.
Running all of the speaker cable can be quite a task in setting up your speakers. This is especially true if you only plan to set up your speakers temporarily. Wireless speakers are an interesting alternative as they do away with long speaker cable runs. Wireless speakers do, however, need power for the built-in amplifier. If you do not have power outlets nearby then a battery-powered model may be useful. These batteries, however, need to be recharged and occasionally replaced. If you require large wattage, battery-powered speakers may not be the right choice. They usually have lower wattage than mains-powered models. You may need one or more speakers for your party. If you are covering a large area then you may need more than just a few. Some wireless speakers offer channel switches which allow you to set each speaker to receive a distinct signal or a common signal.
Outdoor speakers may be quite a distance from where your music is. Often there are walls in between the transmitter and your speakers. Thus be sure to pick a model which offers sufficient range. Walls and obstacles will block the wireless signal. Therefore the range will be reduced compared with having a line-of-sight path. The maximum operating range spec that you will often find thus can only be achieved under optimal conditions.
You want the wireless transmission to be robust and free from pops and dropouts. Thus pick a speaker which implements error correction or other means to combat wireless interference.
If you set up speakers outdoors, they will be exposed to the elements such as rain, wind and sun. Thus you will keep that in mind when looking for suitable outdoor speakers. Some speakers will have a plastic enclosure which naturally is more suitable for outdoors than wooden-enclosure speakers. Aside from the enclosure material, the speaker grill should be able to withstand the elements. Also, the woofer as well as any control elements should be able to work in outdoor conditions.
Sound will travel freely outdoors. Therefore, you need your speaker to deliver more power than if you operate them indoors. Thus you want to get a speaker with sufficiently large wattage. Pay close attention to the RMS wattage spec which shows how much power the speaker can tolerate continuously.
Since there is no clear definition for the peak power rating, some manufacturers will show excessive peak power rating. Thus using this power rating makes it difficult to properly compare speakers. The RMS rating is much more objective. Speaker wattage, however, does not show how loud your speaker will actually sound. Different speakers will not be equally loud at a given amount of power. Thus manufacturers often specify the term sound pressure level to help you figure out how loud your speaker will actually be at 1 Watt power.
Running all of the speaker cable can be quite a task in setting up your speakers. This is especially true if you only plan to set up your speakers temporarily. Wireless speakers are an interesting alternative as they do away with long speaker cable runs. Wireless speakers do, however, need power for the built-in amplifier. If you do not have power outlets nearby then a battery-powered model may be useful. These batteries, however, need to be recharged and occasionally replaced. If you require large wattage, battery-powered speakers may not be the right choice. They usually have lower wattage than mains-powered models. You may need one or more speakers for your party. If you are covering a large area then you may need more than just a few. Some wireless speakers offer channel switches which allow you to set each speaker to receive a distinct signal or a common signal.
Outdoor speakers may be quite a distance from where your music is. Often there are walls in between the transmitter and your speakers. Thus be sure to pick a model which offers sufficient range. Walls and obstacles will block the wireless signal. Therefore the range will be reduced compared with having a line-of-sight path. The maximum operating range spec that you will often find thus can only be achieved under optimal conditions.
You want the wireless transmission to be robust and free from pops and dropouts. Thus pick a speaker which implements error correction or other means to combat wireless interference.
