4 March 2020

Best Sound in the Garden

The blog reviews innovative outdoor HiFi speaker solutions, from discreet corner models to rock-shaped and artistic designs, ensuring high-quality sound in gardens and terraces without compromising aesthetics or weather resistance.

***UPDATE: This is a revised and updated version of an older post. You can find the original article by searching for it on the Auditorium website.***

"HiFi" and "outdoor" may sound like a contradiction. However, much more is possible outdoors than just simple "sound reinforcement." The challenge, of course, is to discreetly place the speakers, which are essential for good sound, in the garden or on the terrace. Fortunately, numerous manufacturers have specialized in exactly this and offer various solutions to the problem. Here, we present a selection of products that guarantee true outdoor enjoyment when listening to music outside.

The corner trick: Cornered Audio Ci series

Victorian-style garden pavilion inviting relaxation, ideal for afternoon tea with excellent acoustics in a green setting. — An idyllic garden pavilion in Victorian style invites you to relax. Perfect for an afternoon tea with excellent acoustics in the greenery.

The speakers from the Ci series by Cornered Audio are particularly suitable for balconies, terraces, and even garden sheds. They are designed for corner mounting, which not only helps with discreet placement but also benefits sound quality and sound dispersion.

The Ci speakers come in various sizes, and all are suitable for outdoor use thanks to their IP65 certification. Special versions with 100V technology can also be used in areas of the garden where conventional passive speakers wouldn't be feasible due to long cable runs.

Outdoor speakers with stylish design and excellent sound, ideal for garden parties and outdoor gatherings. — Outdoor speakers: Stylish design and top sound quality in the garden. Perfect for any outdoor party.

HiFi sound from the flowerbed - Option 1: Sonance ROCK

A camouflaged outdoor speaker with a rock design blends into the garden while providing excellent sound. — A camouflaged outdoor speaker in a rock design provides excellent sound in the garden. Perfectly integrated into the surroundings.

If you want to hide speakers invisibly in the garden, it helps immensely if the drivers don't look like speakers at all. That's exactly what the American specialist Sonance thought, and that's why they've had their ROCK series in their range for years.

These speakers, available in three sizes including a subwoofer, look astonishingly similar to real stones and can therefore be placed discreetly almost anywhere. Sonance ROCK withstands any weather and is easy to clean, so it can easily stay outdoors all year round. If you place a few of them in different flowerbeds, you can achieve a very even music playback throughout the entire garden.

HiFi sound from the flowerbed - Option 2: Sonance SONARRAY SR1

For outdoor speakers, the same physical laws apply as for all drivers. Among other things, this means that a small speaker simply cannot provide unlimited bass. You need volume for the reproduction of low frequencies—there's no way around it. However, the human ear is much less able to detect where low frequencies are coming from. This has long been exploited in compact hi-fi and home cinema systems for home use: the bass range is simply separated from the rest, so you end up with a system of satellite speakers and a subwoofer. The latter is then discreetly placed in a corner, while the compact satellites remain at their normal positions.

Subwoofer in the ground

In the garden, you have even better options to hide the subwoofer—you simply bury it. For example, the custom installation specialist Sonance offers several powerful outdoor subwoofers, whose often massive volume disappears almost entirely underground. Only a weather-protected sound outlet protrudes, which can be easily hidden under a bush or behind a flowerpot.

Speakers among blooming flowers provide excellent sound in the garden, blending nature and technology. — Speakers amidst blooming flowers provide the best sound in the garden. Perfect harmony of nature and technology.

Once the grass—sorry, the flowers—have grown over it, the SONARRAY SR1 is practically invisible

Perfect acoustic coverage

Cozy garden oasis with stylish seating, lush plants, and optimal acoustics for relaxing summer evenings outdoors. — Cozy garden oasis with stylish seating and lush planting – perfect for relaxing summer evenings outdoors. Ideal for the best sound in the garden thanks to optimal acoustics and harmonious design.

Perfectly integrated: Sonance SONARRAY SR1 in use Don't be fooled by this visual restraint: the SONARRAY SR1 is definitely capable of very serious outdoor cinema applications as well as music systems that can do everything from gentle background music to high-volume party sound. In addition, the SONARRAY SR1 is designed so that the eight satellites and the subwoofer together present a load of about 8 ohms, which means they can be powered by any modern amplifier. This means the system can be easily integrated into a multiroom system in the house.

Elegant sound sculptures - Architettura Sonora

When it comes to bringing music to your garden or terrace, you can take a completely different approach. Instead of hiding the speakers somewhere, you can cleverly integrate them into the overall design. This is possible, for example, with the elegant sound sculptures from Architettura Sonora. The speakers from the Italian manufacturer come as organically curved art objects or as geometric shapes made of stone, steel, or wood. At first glance—and usually even at second—you'll take them for anything but speakers.

A stylish minimalist speaker blends into a modern garden, providing quality outdoor sound for relaxing moments under palm trees. — A stylish speaker with a minimalist design blends harmoniously into the modern garden landscape, delivering excellent sound outdoors. Perfect for relaxing moments under palm trees.

Too beautiful to hide: An AS Cube by the pool

Wind and weather

These AS models are available in a variety of weather-resistant material combinations and are extremely robust. So robust, in fact, that it can happen that during a party, they get used as seating. But even then, there's a good chance the person sitting there won't realize they're sitting on a speaker. It doesn't get more discreet than that.

Relaxing by the pool with a stunning view and enjoying high-quality sound in the garden. — Relax by the pool with a breathtaking view and enjoy the best sound in the garden.

Thanks to numerous material combinations, you can find the right speaker for any environment The speakers from Architettura Sonora can also be connected to amplifiers and multiroom systems just like normal speakers, making them suitable for a wide range of applications. The sounding sculptures from Architettura Sonora and the almost invisible sub/sat systems from Sonance are just two of many examples of how you can achieve surprisingly good sound outdoors in an elegant and discreet way these days. Further information can be found directly on the Auditorium website by searching for Sonance SONARRAY SR1, Architettura Sonora, or consulting their outdoor project advice section.

You can find the outdoor speaker category directly on the Auditorium website.

Speakers in a garden blend with nature and provide excellent sound for relaxing outdoor moments. — Speakers in the garden provide excellent sound and blend harmoniously with nature. Perfect for relaxing hours outdoors.