Projector Blog : Best backyard projector audio speaker
Onboard Audio Vs a Speaker
Outdoor projectors for sport and movie nights are getting more and more popular. Whether it is for a barbeque, pool party, or movie night with the kids the right speaker can send it to the next level. Many projectors come with an inbuilt speaker with some of the more powerful ones being about 10watts. Unfortunately the larger the space the more power is required to fill it so outdoors the sound can get a bit lost.
We would recommend using a “party speaker”, they can pump out a good volume are usually quite portable so can be positioned quite easily and packed up at the end of the night.
Keeping it Portable
Weather is always a consideration with an outdoor setup. When keeping anything outside permanently (even sturdy outdoor furniture) it tends to get weathered and damaged by the sun, rain or insect encroachment. For best life to your equipment we recommend a more portable speaker to be able to easily plonk it and pack it away when it is not in use.
Bluetooth Vs 3.5mm Audio
Connectivity is the next this to consider. Many people would like to use a wireless solution and some speakers do have a very fast processing but still Bluetooth does suffer from a slight lag. This means that the picture will be ahead of the audio by a few milliseconds. Though this is pretty slight it can be annoying when someone on screen is speaking with their mouth moving out of sync with the audio. So wherever possible we recommend a simple 3.5mm audio cable to connect. Just make sure the speaker you buy has a 3.5mm audio or Aux input. Many JBL and BlueAnt speakers do as well as some Sony.
Medium Vs Large Scale outdoor projector entertainment
When it comes to power with speakers it can be a little hard to compare apples with apples. Many ‘no name’ brands will tout many thousands of watts of power but unfortunately these no name watts are not worth the paper they are written on. It would be best to stick with brands you are familiar with or a speaker you can do a hands on test with.
The size of the area and audience will play a big factor. If you are looking at a few people near the speaker the projector inbuilt speaker could do the job or a basic system around 20watts power. For larger scale audiences with a dozen to two dozen people we recommend around 60watt systems and above.
When you get into large venue setups you could go with hundreds of watts and even look at a system that allows you to daisy chain one speaker to another to multiply power.
