The great outdoors presents a unique and challenging listening environment than your typical room. Inside your home, there are walls to reinforce low-frequency response and reflect and contain sound. Outside, of course, it's wide open, and there's usually much more background noise — birds, wind, traffic, barking dogs, and even crickets!

Under these difficult sonic conditions, it's vital for your outdoor speakers to provide enough bass for a satisfying listening experience. Therefore, be sure to choose outdoor speakers with good low-frequency response. A separate bass subwoofer  will be good add on if you are looking for ultimate performance. 

Know what you want to achieve for your outdoor listening. You can easily spend $2000 on speakers disguised as tree trunks, but it might be overkill if all you want is talk radio while you cut the grass. On the other hand, $80, 40 watt wireless speakers are going to be a major disappointment if you want to create concert in the backyard.

It's equally important to consider the craftsmanship and durability of a pair of outdoor speakers. They have to withstand heat, cold, water and sometime human abuse.  All of the outdoor speakers we carry are fully weather resistant and are rigorously tested under extremely difficult environmental conditions.

Can I connect the speakers to my amplifier in the house?
A - Yes! While many configurations are possible including the use of booster amps etc. Our exterior speaker units are commonly connected to household amplification. Please refer to your amplifier for correct connection procedures.

How do I connect the wire to the outside speakers?
A - While there are many methods of connecting exterior speakers, most are decided by the personal preference of the installer involved and we have heard of them all; from barely sufficient silicone filled screw-on wire caps to the most simple caulking and duck tape methods. What we recommend is to use our waterproof wire connector which is specifically designed and weatherproof connector made for this application. Check it out under parts and spares.

How do I find the good quality rock speakers since they are so many choices?
A - Find out what kind of speaker drivers they are using, most cheap ones sold in mass merchant are using paper cone speaker, they sound cheesy and can't produce any bass sound at all. Look for co-axial driver type, they usually produce very good treble and bass without any distortion in the given power rating range. 

Check the rock stone shell, The cheap ones are made of mold inject machine. You can find the machine made ones, sold in mass merchant, have smooth fake finish, they paint them to simulate the rock looks, they don't last long and look fake. In contrast the hand crafted rock speakers have uneven surface like real rock, they look more nature and last longer in your backyard. Another way to compare the speakers which is down-and-dirty is to comparing the weight of speakers, usually the heavier it is the better quality it is. A descent manufacturer will not cut corners on the craftsmanship to build its speakers. 

Can I really get these speakers wet? What about the sprinklers hitting them or being splashed from the pool?
A -  Our outdoor speakers are specifically designed to withstand water, rain, sun, snow and any extreme weather conditions. All of our outdoor speakers are not underwater speakers and in that regard, technically, all such items must be referred to as "water resistant" and not "water proof". However they are proof against the intermittent water sprayed from garden sprinkler systems. While we do not recommend you place your speakers in the direct spray of garden sprinklers, intermittent or accidental exposure poses no problems either by design or historically. Some consideration should be made when considering prolonged exposure to pool or spa waters. These waters contain harsh chlorinated solvents particularly harmful to modern plastics and advanced materials. Our product design team have been considered this in their designs and while prolonged or continual exposure could be harmful, intermittent or occasional exposure poses no problems. Many of our products are used regularly in marine applications.

How many watts do I need for my application?
A - Our outdoor speakers range from 60 watt to 300 watt, The advantage of big watt not only being the potential volume increase, but sound quality and coverage at lower volumes. The 60 watt patio speaker will easily satisfy you for 20 feet apart patio area under the eaves. For 300 to 500 square feet, look for 80 to 100 watt speakers. 150 watt to 175 watt speakers will cover 600 to 800 square feet with clear, sharp music sound  at soft volumes, but can also blast out rock that'll shake the leaves from the trees. Our new 200 watt HF12 Rock and HF14 speaker will cover over 1000 square feet.  

My backyard is ___big, how many speakers do I need?
A - Speaker quantity decisions based upon coverage space for exterior installation are difficult because each exterior space being a garden type setting has idiosyncrasies of design. In that, exterior gardens typically have garden walls, trees, foliage and architectural features all of which contribute to complicate the standards of audio systems design. Beyond the normal speaker installation considerations, some attention must be made to the landscaping and features of an exterior installation. Without knowing those existing conditions in advance it would be difficult or irrelevant if not impossible for anyone to offer any "boilerplate" design specifications or recommendations.

In general it would be best to calculate any exterior speaker coverage areas against any existing features that may apply. Typically sound spread from the speaker is calculated at between 30' - 60' speaker dependent. Ambient conditions and background noise would lean towards using corners or solid architectural features for sound promotion while ignoring any promontories or surrounding foliage would lead to detrimental sound decay. Consider the use or avoidance of all exterior garden features before deciding on final speaker layout. We are offering free advice on outdoor speaker installation project, please call us and our expert will help you walk though the whole design process.

Will one speaker create enough sound for outdoor use?
A - A total of 100 watts of sound is normally adequate for most yards but it is two speakers that will give you the stereo quality sound that people have become accustomed to. Most small watts speaker are usually sold in pairs so they give you more combination watts. Two 80 watts speakers will give you a total 160 watts of sound.

How far should the speakers be apart?
A - Typically the ratio for sound broadcast range based upon the SPL (sound pressure level) of the speakers used and average ambient background noise is 30 - 60 ft. It is generally accepted that speakers of less than 88db or more generally (full range) under 100 watts are typically expected to perform satisfactorily in the 30 foot broadcast range while speakers above these ratings should adequately reach and even begin to exceed the 60 foot separation stage.

Do outdoor speakers have left and right channels?
A - Our outdoor speakers may be connected to either the left or right of a single channel individually, not both at once. In a typical situation an amplifier provides connections for two/ four speakers connected to the "A" and/ or the "B" channel. Each speaker would be connected to the left or the right connection of those channels and not the left and the right or both.
Speakers with left and right channels contained in one unit are usually dual voice coil and dual tweeter units. It is great for application that only require one speaker but with both left and right channel.

Do I need to hire a contractor to install these speakers?
A - Absolutely not!! Installing these speakers is very simple, just decide where you want them to go and run the speaker wire from the desired sound source to the speaker, bury or cover the wire under ground or dirt so that it's not visible, and then connect. Check installation guide section for more Do-it-yourself information.

Are there any special precautions I should take to protect my outside speakers in Snow or Winter?
A - While no special precautions are absolutely necessary, some may be beneficial or even prudent considering the range of exterior conditions seasonally and world wide. A trick learned many years ago from the many parks who use our products is to cover the units with a plastic bag while outside in winter or under severe weather conditions. This acts much as "lagging" a pipe in preventing components from absolute freezing and complete saturation during the long winter months.

Do I need subwoofer for my outdoor music application?
A - Depends your application and your music preference, a subwoofer will greatly enhance your listening experience. If you choose our HF9, HF14, HF15 and HF16 rock speakers, you don't need any subwoofer at all. Our rock speakers have such good bass response, there's no need for extra subwoofer.

What is the difference between your passive sub-woofer and the powered sub-woofer on my home theatre system?
A - Our outdoor subwoofers are passive sub-woofers. The main difference between a passive sub-woofer and a powered or active sub-woofer is that an active sub-woofer has an amplifier contained within which amplifies the low level frequency signal received from the Receiver/ player by the active sub-woofer. In exterior use this type of powered amplification is the subject of numerous regulations for exterior power installation as well as definitely having to comply with UBC restrictions. This will to some degree or another complicate the install and potentially, greatly increase its costs. Our passive sub-woofer suffers no such restrictions and its installation is little more than that required for a typical full range speaker unit. We also offer subwoofer amp which can power the passive sub-woofer.

How durable are these speakers?
A - Outdoor speakers were developed with harsh conditions of the outdoors in mind. The shape is designed to withstand large amounts of pressure, extreme temperatures and moisture. Remember though, outdoor speakers are an investment, so take care of them. Storing them away from extreme weather conditions will only lengthen the time you will get enjoying outdoor speakers. We use only non-water-absorbing materials, they can be soaking wet but won't absorb any water, it is critical in winter so it won't frozen crack.

Is there something to protect the speaker from mechanical damage?
A - There is a specially designed screen shied  that protects the speaker cone from the elements normally found outdoors. (ex. Rain, Dirt and Insects)

What kind of stereo system do I need to play rock speakers?
A - Our outdoor speakers are compatible with any home stereo. Make sure your audio amplifier have enough juice (watts) to drive your outdoor speakers. Most amplifier today have A+B channels, you can use the extra channel to drive the outdoor speakers.

I hear a tiny rattling in the speaker housing sometimes as I shake it or turn it on its side?
A - During the post manufacturing period thee housings are ground internally prior to the application of the Teflon® seal. This sometimes produces small particles or inert "swarf" which will settle at the base of the unit and have no effect whatsoever on the speakers performance.

  What do you mean 70v switch-able on some models?
  A - Some speakers are equipped with an "on the fly" 70v switch assembly. This allows an installer to rapidly switch to the correct 70v wattage tap each installation may require without soldering, tapping or disassembly and reassembly which normally complicates such installations. You usually don't need use this feature for you typical home application.

 What is the Warranty?
  A - The standard  product Warranty is a "no-hassle" one year comprehensive warranty covering parts and labor. Some manufacture offers 3 year, 5 year and 10 year warranty. Please check product description for warranty info.