The Best Speakers For Your Outdoor Alfresco Area

If you’re considering adding some sweet audio to your outdoor area… be it an alfresco, patio, pool area, or whatever…

This post will explain what the BEST speakers are for that area!

It will cover… 

• What types of speakers are good for outdoor areas.
• Which one is the best and why.
• What you should do if you want background listening only.
• What you should do if you want thumping party music.
• How to plan, choose components, and get everything together for your outdoor system.

Let’s get to it.

Contents

• What Kind Of Speakers Are Best For An Outdoor Area?
• Are You “Party Listening” Or Just “Background Listening?”

What Kind Of Speakers Are Best For An Outdoor Area?

There are basically two ‘design friendly’ options for an outdoor alfresco-type area. The same applies if it’s a patio, gazebo, or pool area.

The first option is the bracket mount box speaker

Bracket mount box speakers have been used for a long time. They are basically traditional box speakers that come with brackets to mount them on the wall.

They feature water resistant boxes so they can be outdoors all the time, although it’s universally recommended that you keep them under cover in case of rain.

Unfortunately, the weather-resistant cases are usually plain-looking plastic which makes them a bit of an eye-sore — and they stick out like crazy.

The upside to this style of outdoor speaker is… if you need a place to hang your towel after you finish playing marco polo, you can drape it right onto the speaker!

I kid. The actual upside to these speakers is that you can install them in places where the ceilings are unavailable. Because if the ceilings are available, you’d be much better off going with… 

Flush mount in-ceiling speakers

These speakers are nearly invisible… installed into the ceilings of your alfresco or patio.

They sound as good if not better than bracket mount box speakers, because both types use a two-way driver configuration. The quality of the drivers and components determines the sound — so if you go with performance in-ceiling speakers, you’ll have awesome clarity and richness.

As you’ll discover in the next section, in-ceiling speakers are perfect for any kind of listening as well.

Are You “Party Listening” Or Just “Background Listening?”

Our clients have many different intentions for their outdoor areas.

Many just want a space to listen to background music while they read, or chat with friends over coffee. Others want their alfresco to THUMP when people come over, and play loud enough to get everyone dancing. Some even want speakers in the alfresco just to listen to sport while they’re relaxing outside.

Whichever type you’re going with, it’s worth getting high-quality performance speakers. Here’s why… 

• Background music is soft — so the details that make the music more enjoyable are harder to hear with cheap, “flat” sounding speakers.
• Good party music and dedicated listening requires good bass, and performance at loud volumes.
• Sports (and any TV media) requires you to hear human voices over the speakers. Nothing makes speech sound garbled more than a cheap speaker.

Regardless of what kind of listening you’re planning to do in your outdoor area, you’ll want to get good quality speakers.

Here at Jensen, we’ve developed the best performing in-ceiling speakers you can get without breaking the bank. They’re the ultimate blend of tidy home design and performance sound.

For the ultimate performance, that will be better for louder listening and parties, choose the ELITE-404 in-ceiling speakers (with an attractive glass fascia) or the EHT-9 in-ceiling speakers (with a plain mesh grille).

For gentle listening, you can go with the slightly smaller EHT-3 speakers.

Now that you know what speakers are best, how will you set it all up?

The steps that following choosing and getting quality in-ceiling speakers are:

• Choosing and getting the right amplifier (and other components).
• Understanding where to place the speakers for the best sound.
• Knowing how to make everything wireless (and easy to control).

For a complete and easy-to-read guide on the next steps of your alfresco system, read How to Play Music Through In-Ceiling Speakers.

Thanks for reading! If you have any other questions, contact us here.

To learn more, check out these related articles…

How To Play Music Through In-Ceiling Speakers

The Best Audio System For Your New Home