Summer is in full swing and the family is in the yard with baseball mitts and barbeques ready for action. From drinks and snacks to your well-manicured lawn—everything is perfectly set up except for one element: good tunes to fill the afternoon. Rather than solve the problem with a mediocre solution like portable iPod speakers, why not turn this into an opportunity to outfit your yard with the proper equipment to get the place rockin’? Setting up a backyard sound system only takes a single afternoon, and doing the job right will ensure you and your family never have to go another day without your favorite summertime jams. 

1. Speaking the Outdoor Language: The key force behind any killer sound setup are the speakers themselves. Chances are you’re not trying to blast the guests out of the pool or share your favorite karaoke number with every house on the block, but quality speakers are a must if you want the songs to sound clear instead of washed out. Yamaha often leads the pack in both sound quality and good value when it comes to this domain. Be sure that you choose a specific outdoor system, though, as whichever setup you choose will need to be durable enough to whether the elements in the offseason.
2. Crafting the Layout: A strategic layout of sound? This isn’t just musician-speak. Even the casual listener can tell when they hear music that comes from poorly positioned speakers. When surveying potential mount points, be sure to create an even spread of Right and Left audio speakers without leaving any large gaps that would create holes in the sound. Another important point to consider is placing the speakers in protected areas such as under awnings and roofs. Though the speakers may claim to be all-weather, shielding them from severe winter abuse will give them a longer life and save you the money of having to replace them down the line.
3. Plugging the Sound: Before you mount the speakers, you want to first take care of the wiring and check the sound so adjustments can be made before the final placement. From your indoor sound system, you will simply be running durable speaker wire from the outputs to the outdoor speakers. One option is to run the wires directly, but for convenience you can also run them through an outdoor volume control box so the volume can be changed without tracking dirt and water through the house. Once the speakers have been fitted with cables, test the sound with the speakers in their desired positions and make sure the wiring is all working smoothly and producing a full, crisp sound.
4. Time for the Mount: After the sound mapping and wiring has all been completed, the final step of mounting should be a breeze now that you’re back in your element with drill in hand. The speakers should have come with proper brackets, and so mounting those in their respective positions is the last item to cross off the list before you hang the speakers themselves. If you want to camouflage your speakers within your backyard for added aesthetic value, you can install speakers under your deck, behind potted plats, trees and more. There are also a variety of weatherproof speakers on the market that are disguised as lamps, wicker baskets, clocks, tree stumps and even rocks.

 Once installed, the work is done, and now it’s time for your friends and family to reap the musically rich rewards.

TIP: Spray WD-40® Multi-Use Product onto speaker screws prior to installation to make them easier to tighten.