Outdoor speaker solutions

June 12, 2017 12:25 PM

I have a great new problem. Our new house has a great pool and outdoor area and we'd like to have music. How can we easily have several wireless speakers playing the same music?

We are not audiophiles but I would really like to be able to have our favorite music in a few areas close to the pool (but not next to each other). Is there solution under $300 to be able to play itunes or pandora out there.

posted by ReluctantViking to Technology (9 answers total)

I like Ultimate Ears' waterproof bluetooth speakers pretty well. The UE Boom 2 speakers have a feature in their iPhone app that allows you to play to lots of speakers at once, so if you're playing from an iPhone, you could get a few of those and put them around the space. I have the specific speaker I linked, and it's pretty nice. It sounds ok from any angle, which is great outside, and has a hook to hang it from. It's about the size of a water bottle. The sound is by no means fantastic, but it's good for portable speaker. They have a variety of other models that are more or less expensive, but I've only listened to the Boom 2. The new Wonderboom seems like a nice size and maybe a better fit for your price-point, but can only play to 2 speakers at once.
posted by duien at 12:48 PM on June 12, 2017

Well, there are a few models of Bluetooth speakers that you can pair so you have TWO speakers playing the same music. I have a Sony XB3 Bluetooth speaker, the sound is decent and that might do the trick. (Frequently on sale for $100 each, but check your local listings.) A system with more than two speakers will definitely cost more than $300.
posted by Autumnheart at 12:49 PM on June 12, 2017

How many areas is a few? There's a number of Bluetooth speakers that work well in pairs, including the UE line (I don't own them, but have friends the swear by the Roll 2 model). A loud enough pair would be able to fill the area with music, but it would obviously be louder near the speakers. My friends have not tried linking more than two so I'm not sure how well the many speakers setup that duien mentioned works in practice.

I believe that the Amazon Echo Taps will sync together for music playback - it might be possible to get three of them playing at the same time. If they sync with more than 50-100ms latency, it may be noticeable and annoying to some people.
posted by Candleman at 12:51 PM on June 12, 2017

Yeah, sound quality definitely goes lower in proportion with the price. My aforementioned Sony is decent but not fantastic. It advertises (and delivers) an option for extra bass (a button you can have on or off), but is decidedly lacking in the upper register so it's not a really well-balanced sound. But it does have a 30-hour charge, was super easy to set up, and I play Pandora on it all the time for background music and it's great for that. I have a hard time hearing speech on it (could be my middle-age ears) unless I turn it up a little louder than I prefer, but it's not like you'd really be listening for the news report while splashing it up in the pool anyway.

But that's what you get at about the $100-130 price point. If you want better sound than that, then you're probably heading into the $200 range per speaker.
posted by Autumnheart at 12:56 PM on June 12, 2017

It's lo-tech, but FM transmitters and outdoor speakers that receive FM are easy to find.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 12:58 PM on June 12, 2017 [1 favorite]

I have Echo Dots and at this current time, they do not sync. But you could have them play through two paired speakers, if I remember correctly. Buying multiple Echo devices for the same area gives you overlapping Echo issues, where you talk to one and the other is like "I didn't catch that!", which is surprisingly annoying. I actually went from 3 Dots to two because of that exact issue.
posted by Autumnheart at 12:59 PM on June 12, 2017

Best answer: Chromecast audio lets you cast simultaneously to lots of devices, so that might be a cheap option if you already have some speakers around that you can plug them into.
posted by nixxon at 1:27 PM on June 12, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I'm not clear on whether you want the sound system to live outside permanently? If not and you're willing to move the speakers back into the house when you're done, I think Sonos is exactly what you're looking for, as long as you can plug them into a power outlet.

I have two, love them, and plan to add more.

Edited to add that there's a current promotion of $50 off two Play1's, so basically $350 for two great speakers.
posted by widdershins at 2:31 PM on June 12, 2017 [3 favorites]

I have Chromecast Audio and some speakers I got for $5 at a garage sale. Works great.
posted by fshgrl at 9:23 PM on June 12, 2017