Outdoor Speaker Placement Guide | Outdoor Speaker Depot (2024)

FAQs

Where to position outdoor speakers? ›

If possible, give them a little protection, whether under the eaves of your house, against a wall that blocks the prevailing wind or in the somewhat protected confines of a pool cage or lanai. Generally, separate your speakers as much as possible but no more than 20 feet from one another.

Stereo outdoor speakers give you good sound in a small area right outside the house. Figure out where you'll put them before you buy. For the best stereo effect, we recommend mounting left and right speakers about 10 feet apart.

Move your speakers at least 2-3 feet away from the nearest wall. This will minimize sound reflections, which can negatively impact playback clarity. Adjust speaker angle (toe-in). Angle your speakers inward so they're pointed towards the listener - more specifically, at a point directly behind the listener's head.

Most outdoor speaker systems run off an existing indoor receiver. Since the receiver is a sensitive piece of electronics, you almost always want to set the receiver up indoors.

You'll want to position your speakers with their backs against a wall, or mounted to large patio beams, or even up high near the ceiling overhang. These placements are natural bass and volume boosters.

Ideally, your speakers should be at ear level when you're sitting in your listening position. If your speakers are too low or too high, the sound can become muddled or distorted. While it may be tempting to place your speakers in the corners of your room to save space, this can actually lead to poor sound quality.

Most box speakers radiate low frequencies in all directions thus a formula that places the speaker to rear wall distance at 1.618 the side wall distance should be used. This is all you need to know to place speakers in a symmetrical, rectangular room!

For 6-ohm speakers 16AWG wire is recommended for runs up to 36 feet and 10 or 12AWG wire for runs up to 150 feet. If you are using 8-ohm speakers, 16 AWG wire is recommended for runs up to 48 feet and 10 or 12AWG wire for runs up to 200 feet.

You may have heard of the “38% rule”, whereby you set your seating position 38% of the way into a rectangular room from the wall in front of you, so as to minimise standing waves.

Rules are made to be broken and I cannot think of a better one to break than that of the Rule of Thirds. When that rule is applied to loudspeaker setup it calls for the room to be broken up into thirds: 1/3 of the room's longest dimension away from the front wall is where we place the speakers.

What is the standard speaker placement? ›

The main speakers should be placed 25-30 degrees off-axis, relative to the primary seating position. The best imaging will be obtained when the tweeters are close to ear height when seated. Most tower speakers accomplish this naturally, and a bookshelf monitor will require stands.

As a rule, one pair of speakers can cover 200 to 400 square feet. Alternate between left and right channels throughout the area, so wherever you are, you'll always be listening in stereo. Think about where on the property people will be gathering, and plan for speakers as close as possible to the audience.

You can strike a balance by mounting speakers at an optimal 10 feet from the ground. This will allow sound to travel a decent distance without having to sacrifice precious audio quality.

A pair of 60-watt patio speakers will give you great coverage in areas less than 300 square feet. For 300 to 500 square feet, look for 80 to 100-watt speakers; 150 watts to 175-watt speakers will cover 600 to 800 square feet with clear, sharp music sound at soft volumes.

In a kitchen, where you're standing and chopping veggies while you listen to “What's Going On,” it might be best to position a speaker about 5 feet off the floor. If you're in a living room, where most of your listening is done seated on a couch or chair, ear height is probably closer to 3 feet.

Front Left/Right Mains Speakers

The main speakers should be placed 25-30 degrees off-axis, relative to the primary seating position. The best imaging will be obtained when the tweeters are close to ear height when seated. Most tower speakers accomplish this naturally, and a bookshelf monitor will require stands.

For best performance, the center of the In-Wall speakers should be placed around ear level. This would be approximately 40" for a seated listener and 62" for a standing listener. The distance for the listener to the speakers and the distance between the speakers should be the same.

In a 7.1 system the side surrounds go to the left and right of your seating position and face you. The rear speakers go behind your seats, angled in.