A dedicated home theater system is no longer relegated to inside your home. You can now remodel your backyard into a first-class outdoor home theater system. For some, the appeal of an outdoor home theater is the nostalgic reminder of the drive-in theater. I have even heard swimming pool owners refer to it as their dive-in movie theater. For others, the appeal can be as simple as watching the game outside with your buddies while puffing on a Cuban cigar. Can you imagine how wonderful it would be to watch a basketball game by the pool or a movie under the stars? An outdoor home theater is an innovative solution for the sports and movie lover who wants to regularly enjoy the outdoors.
The Display
To implement a large outdoor display, I recommend a few approaches that look classy while protecting your display from the harsh elements of the outdoors:
• Recess a flat panel display into your backyard’s awning that flips down for viewing
• Recess a projector screen into your outdoor awning that rolls down for viewing
• Store your large display inside a waterproof unit and use a motorized lift to slowly carry the display into full view
No doubt, having your large flat panel plasma display slowly rise up from out of the ground has a certain cachet about it. Heads will turn as the screen appears to rise to its full extension.
The Speakers
You have many options for producing a great sounding system in your backyard:
• Use a freestanding waterproof wireless speaker such as the OutCast from Soundcast
• Hide your speakers inside faux rocks for a natural look with Rockustics speakers
• Install a 5.1 speaker system into your outdoor patio with outdoor speakers such as the Voyager outdoor series by Boston Acoustics
The OutCast speaker by Soundcast is one of my current favorites. It allows you to listen to Mahler's 10th symphony outdoors while having a Mojito on your patio or even on your boat. The greatest thing about this speaker is that it is truly wireless - no power cord, no speaker wires, and it has a rechargeable battery that works for 10 hours. You can move the speaker closer to you to keep the noise level down for the neighbors or place the speaker several feet away so that you can play kickball with the kids.
If you are interested in putting together an outdoor system, please contact me. I would be happy to provide a consultation to discuss the possibilities with you.