The magic of outdoor listening


I tend to keep one system I can pull outdoors when I am in the mood the freedom from room colorations is an amazing thing. Being outside listening to a great system playing wonderful music is magic. I have a bike race by my home and if the weather is nice many times I'm out jamming I have had large groups of cyclists stop 50 yards from my home to enjoy my music. Last year I has using a giant pair of RCA front horns with a full range in it this year going with a community leviathan system with radial. I pull out a tube amp when I jam outside. When I retire I plan on putting out a permanent outdoor horn system so it is ready to go when I am. Sitting still seated centered in a room all alone is enjoyable at times but also kind of tragic I am happy I have options. Maybe consider the outdoors as one of your listening spaces.

128x128johnk

I worked for Magnolia for a short while, and IME Sonance speaker’s with their outdoor subwoofer is an awesome value. They run incredible sales a few times a year that cut the price in half, and Magnolia employees will usually be forthcoming in when those sale periods will be. IME running an outdoor sub or two makes all the difference because monitors sound thin and tinny outdoors without them.  

Count me among the curmudgeons. If you have no neighbors close enough to be bothered then knock yourself out, otherwise the lack of consideration for others you exhibit by blasting your music outdoors is simply staggering. I have some outdoor Kefs on a screened-in porch and I was careful how I placed them so as not to disturb others, and my house is in the middle of a five-acre lot, partially surrounded by other similarly sized lots.

You have no idea what is going on with your neighbors. There could be health issues that would make this sort of thing unbearable (i.e. chronic migraines), but above all you simply do not have the right to destroy the peace and quiet of those around you. The law is on your neighbors side. If racking up numerous disturbing the peace summons' or noise ordinance violations didn't deter you, then the courts would be the next logical step and it would be a very easy case to prove.

The outside setups look dreamy! My neighbors have a big yard and once in a while they will put on a concert out there with their sound equipment. They are musicians, and pretty good ones. Some of what they play is pre-recorded popular music too. It’s nothing hi-end, just some decent pro gear - looks like 15" drivers with horns on top mounted on tall stands. When I go out and listen I always have to admit it sounds really good. I recall from my youth that some kids would open their bedroom windows and point their boom boxes out into the open. Interesting because they were in their room looking out, not out with us listening. Some kind of mating display, I think. Nevertheless it always surprised me how nice it sounded.

@shooter41 I’m with you, sir.

Should someone have a very healthy, say, at least 1 mile radius between their speakers and other dwellings, go nuts, I guess.

I’m not keen on people who live in close proximity to others getting any big ideas about outdoor sound systems.  There’s enough disrespectful noise pollution out there as it is. It says here that people who introduce their mobile device audio into the public sphere should be drawn and quartered.