4 March 2015

Why bury a subwoofer in the garden? Here’s why!

Adding a subwoofer to outdoor speaker setups greatly improves sound quality, especially bass, and is easy to conceal in gardens. It provides a fuller music experience, not just for parties, but for all kinds of music.

by Olaf Adam

Music consists of high and low frequencies, and the more compact a speaker is, the harder it is for it to reproduce deep frequencies. That’s why speaker systems with additional subwoofers have long been established; in home theaters, of course, but increasingly in stereo setups as well. Only when it comes to providing sound for the garden and terrace is the bass usually neglected – but why, actually?

5.1 in the living room, 2.0 on the terrace?

If you equip your house with a multi-room system these days, you usually plan at least one outdoor listening zone for the terrace or garden. After all, you want to enjoy your music there too during the summer months – just as comfortably as in the other areas of your cozy home. There are plenty of solutions available for this, from weatherproof built-in speakers to wall-mounted speakers, and even discreet sound transducers in (artificial) stone designs. However, most of these speakers are rather compact and lack true bass capabilities. Special subwoofers for outdoor use can help here, but for some reason, these are rarely actually used. It would be a perfect fit, though, because nowhere else can you implement effective low-frequency support as discreetly and well as outdoors.

A modern outdoor space with a hidden subwoofer and private screen for cinematic garden evenings. — A stylish outdoor area with a recessed subwoofer and private screen for impressive movie nights in the garden. Perfect harmony of design and technology under the open sky.

Outdoor home theater – no problem at all with the right technology

Perfect conditions

First of all, outdoors you don’t have to worry about one of the major acoustic issues you usually face within your ‘own four walls.’ Those very ‘four walls’ reflect sound, and at frequencies determined by the distance between them, standing waves or room modes are created. Especially in the bass range, you mostly hear the room, not necessarily the music itself. This problem logically doesn’t exist outdoors, which means – and strictly speaking, only here – you can achieve an unadulterated, authentic sound.

Definitely no space problems

Another challenge that needs to be solved when placing a subwoofer indoors becomes extremely simple outside. A decent subwoofer is inevitably quite large and not always easy to integrate unobtrusively into the room’s furnishings. This problem is incredibly easy to solve in the garden or on the terrace. For one thing, the sub can be hidden in planters or other objects. Even simpler, though, is just burying it.

Modern garden-design subwoofer discreetly integrated outdoors, partially buried for powerful yet unobtrusive sound. — A stylish, modern subwoofer with a garden design, ideal for discreet integration in outdoor areas. Perfect for burying to enjoy powerful sound unobtrusively.

The planter as a subwoofer hideout: the 103T from the Landscape series by James even features a full-fledged 3-way speaker system Virtually all providers of outdoor speakers offer corresponding models in various sizes. And since the vast majority of the bass box disappears underground anyway, there’s no need for false modesty – you can really go all out here. Either way, the only part of the construction that remains visible in the end is a pipe sticking out of the ground, with a small roof above it for weather protection. And since low-frequency sound waves are very long, this short piece of pipe can easily be hidden in a flowerbed, under a bush, or in tall grass.

A hidden garden subwoofer delivers powerful sound while remaining invisible among the flowers. — A hidden subwoofer in the garden delivers powerful sound while remaining invisible. Perfectly integrated among the flowers.

Underground, the subwoofer can be hidden almost invisibly

Pure music

Apart from the fact that, with the right music and volume, such a solution might actually be effective at driving away pesky burrowing critters, it’s worth dispelling a common prejudice here. A subwoofer in the garden is definitely not just for ‘party people’ who want to annoy their neighbors every weekend with thumping bass. Quite the opposite. Every kind of music contains low-frequency elements that compact speakers simply can’t reproduce. If you really want to hear the entire recording, you can hardly get around using a subwoofer. This is especially true, for example, for classical music or jazz, which normally use the full audible spectrum without constantly featuring intrusive ‘boom-boom bass.’ Here, an outdoor subwoofer significantly enhances the listening experience – especially at low volumes, where the lack of bass from conventional speakers is particularly noticeable.

Diagram showing outdoor subwoofer installation with waterproof connections and 15 cm ground clearance for optimal garden sound. — Diagram illustrating the installation of an outdoor subwoofer: Water- and dust-protected connections, waterproof cable entry, and a 15 cm distance from the ground ensure optimal sound in the garden.

Diagram of a subwoofer buried in the ground Of course, a subwoofer buried in the garden does mean a bit of extra effort. In addition to the sub itself, the appropriate speaker cable also needs to be buried. Due to the increased power requirements outdoors and the usually rather long cable, it’s also advisable to use a dedicated and sufficiently powerful amplifier. But the results absolutely justify the effort. After all, you don’t want to be a second-class listener on your own terrace, do you?

A subwoofer hidden among blooming garden flowers provides powerful sound while remaining discreet. — A subwoofer in the garden provides powerful sound while flowers bloom. Perfectly camouflaged among the plants, it remains unobtrusive.

A hidden garden subwoofer blends with plants to provide powerful outdoor sound and an impressive listening experience. — A subwoofer hidden in the garden provides powerful outdoor sound. The discreet integration among the plants offers an impressive listening experience.