Hi, I am considering ordering a pair of outdoor speakers, trying to hold out until the wireless Axioms finally appear!

I have a deck which covers the back of the house, and where most grilling/dining occurs. I have a small yard beyond the deck with neighbors on all 3 sides. I was considering placing the speakers under the eaves, above the deck (approx 6 feet above deck). However, I am concerned that when the speakers are set at a decently loud level, it will be too much when sitting at the patio table on the deck. Another option may be towards the back of the yard facing the deck. Wife is concerned that neighbors may complain about noise. My point is that the speakers are facing my property and sound would direct towards my house. However I will need to run them louder if I place them towards the back fence. Port noise out the back may be an issue?

Yard is approx 60 feet wide and 30 feet deep.

Thoughts?

Well, since you're planning on getting the wireless ones, that certainly gives you more options.

Under the eaves is good because of the protection from the elements and a convenient install. HOWEVER, I think pointing the speakers at your neighbors could be problematic.

I just finished installing my (brand X) outdoor speakers and mounted them close to the listeners but pointed at our house. I am convinced that was a good strategy. Music is as loud as I want it to be but a non-issue for the neighbors.

In your case, I'm not sure I'd go all the way to the back fence (need pictures!). If there is a way to keep them on the deck but pointed at the house, that's what I'd do. Especially if you get the wireless ones, you could bring them in out of the elements when not in use.

Wasn't there discussion of a solar panel on the wireless ones to help recharge, or did I dream that? If there is such a feature, you probably wouldn't want them under the eaves anyway.

Keep in mind that a speaker's loudness level dies down much more quickly outdoors than it does indoors, following the inverse square law. Say you have your speakers set such that the level at your position on the deck, x meters away, is 75dB (quite loud). A person twice as far away from the speakers as you, 2x, would hear it as 69dB, about as loud as a busy street. Double that distance again to 4x, and you have 62dB, which is about the level of a normal face-to-face conversation.

I believe your best option is to hang the speakers under the eaves pointing at a downward angle such that the drivers aren't firing directly at any neighbor's house. This way, the ground (hopefully something soft like a lawn) will take care of the direct reflections. If the neighbors hear anything, it will be toward the bass end of the spectrum, and since the M3s are neither boomy nor delve too deeply into the bass regions, you should be OK there as well.

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Keep in mind that a speaker's loudness level dies down much more quickly outdoors than it does indoors, following the inverse square law. Say you have your speakers set such that the level at your position on the deck, x meters away, is 75dB (quite loud). A person twice as far away from the speakers as you, 2x, would hear it as 69dB, about as loud as a busy street. Double that distance again to 4x, and you have 62dB, which is about the level of a normal face-to-face conversation.

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This would certainly be true if the outdoor speakers were a spherical radiator. They're not though. At best, they're a hemispherical radiator for the majority of the frequency range. This would make them twice as directive as a spherical radiator resulting in a 3dB drop for every doubling in distance.

The most important thing in these outdoor installations is the effect of ambient noise. Say you have ambient noise of 70dB. And you want your noise margin to be at least 10 dB. We know the speakers are 88dB/W/3 feet efficient. The distance from your fence to the listening position is 30 feet. To ensure that the signal you hear is not submerged in noise, you'd have to get the SPL at 3 feet away to be around 90 dB (10log(30/3)+70+10). Contrast that to mounting them 6 feet away from you. You would only need 83dB for that or less than a quarter of the power. Mounting them by the deck would result in less sound power being radiated into the neighbors' yards.

If you mount them at the fence, you'll have wind and temperature gradients to contend with that lead to refraction effects which could result in sound being directed upwards. Then you'd need even more power. They would also not be protected.

So bottom line, mounting them at the fence is not a good idea.