If you’re planning a party in your back yard and you want to create a fun atmosphere filled with music and laughter then you have to have a set of great speakers.
Sometimes getting a DJ can be too stuffy and frankly with streaming music services straight through Bluetooth it’s easy to play DJ all by yourself.
So, whether celebrating the beginning of summer or just any excuse to get people together for food and drinks, check out the recommendations below for the perfect speakers for all occasions.
What Are The Best Party Speakers For Your Backyard?
Polk, Bose, Turtlebox and Tribit are at the top of our lists. For a complete review check out the full article but we’ve included the full list by speaker type is listed below.
Best Outdoor Wireless Party Speakers
Best Bluetooth Party Speakers
Best Priced Party Speakers
- Tribit XSound Go Bluetooth Speakers
- Dual – 3-Way Indoor/Outdoor Speakers Innovative
- Technology Bluetooth Rock Speakers
Easiest to Transport Party Speakers
- Rockville Rockbox 100 Watt Portable Rechargeable Speaker
- DemerBox: Waterproof, Portable, and Rugged Party Speaker
- Turtlebox: Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker
(If you want to just skip to the review for the best party speakers for each section scroll down the page)
Our Approach: We ended up doing a lot of research before many bbq parties so we could make the best possible decision. Also, after having gone through many types of speakers we have found several that are helpful for different kinds of backyard settings and parties. Keep reading to find what the best party speakers for your backyard gathering might be.
In addition, if you’re new to grilling and throwing backyard bbq parties we recommend checking out our article on the best grills for your money. We’ll cover the top grills from each of the four main grill categories.
Before we dive into the list we’re going to talk about what makes great speakers and selection criteria.
The Characteristics Of Great Party Speakers
The best thing about party speakers for your event is how much freedom you have. You don’t have to rely on a DJ to bring sound equipment – all you need is your speakers, your music, and your guests to dance the night away.
However, not all backyard parties are created equal. It’s key to know what your goals for the speakers are.
Like I said, the most important thing you’ll need to do is determine what you need to get out of your speakers. If you don’t know that, it’s much harder to choose the right speakers for the occasion.
Factors To Consider:
- Is backyard extremely large, so you need exceptionally powerful speakers?
- Do you have closeby neighbors, so you want the sound to be centralized only in your yard?
- Do you need speakers that can handle bass?
These are all questions you should consider before you decide which party speakers work best for your party.
In general, there are several specific characteristics you should be thinking about. If speakers you’re looking at don’t have some combination of these characteristics, then they may not be a great investment.
Specific Factors To Think About:
- Bass/audio quality: The speakers should sound great no matter what kind of music you want to play.
- Cost: The speakers shouldn’t break the bank.
- Bluetooth connectivity: The speakers should be updated enough to connect with your devices.
- Ease of transport: The speaker should be easy to move from the store or home into the backyard – and back.
Thinking about these characteristics will help you make the most informed choice when it comes to your speakers. Now you’re aware of the ways in which speakers can differ, and you can choose the speakers best suited to your event.
It may also be helpful to rank your characteristics in order of importance. If your dream speaker costs a little too much, maybe you can deal with a slightly lower audio quality to get the next best thing.
The Best Party Speakers For Your Backyard
Now that you’ve decided what’s important for your speakers to have and how you can save money when buying your speaker, it’s time to start choosing one!
Keep everything we talked about earlier in mind as you look through speaker descriptions, and take note of the ones that are your top three.
We’ve broken up this list of high quality party speakers by their best characteristic. We recommend first looking at the speakers under your top category, and seeing which ones are the best fit for you.
Best Characteristics of Party Speakers:
- Best Backyard Speakers – Audio/bass
- Bluetooth Connectivity – East of Use
- Price – Most Affordable Backyard Speakers
- Ease of Transport – For the Backyard and Beyond
These specific speakers are all renowned for their sound. No matter where your guests are in your backyard, they’ll hear your music loudly and clearly.
The Best Outdoor Wireless Speakers
The Best Outdoor Wireless Speakers
Gone are the days of running wires from a stereo system in the house, through a carved out hole near your door and onto the patio and speaker systems.
A wireless connection is much more classy and these 3 speakers are perfect for that backyard barbecue!
Polk Audio Atrium 6
- Speakers for any large or open space.
- Equipped with 5 1/4″ Dynamic Balance driver.
- Atrium’s one-click speed-lock mounting bracket.
Klipsch AW-650
- Outdoor Audiophile
- Superior Acoustic Package
- High Efficiency
- C-style mounting bracket
Bose 251 Environmental
- Engineered to withstand snow, rain, salt and temperature extremes
- Weather–resistant mounting brackets
- 5–year transferable
Summary – Best Audio/Bass Party Speakers:
- Polk Audio Atrium 6
- Klipsch AW-650
- Bose 251 Environmental
These speakers are some the easiest to use, because all you have to do is connect your phone to the speakers wirelessly. One thing to consider leading to the party is to make sure your phone is fully charged so that you can feed through the party speaker the entire night. We also recommend putting your phone on silent.
If you’d like to be able to carry your phone around with you with no trouble – or you just don’t want to be bothered with wires – consider one of these party speakers. They’re sure to make your party and backyard experience a success.
One other piece of advice we’d like to pass on and highly recommend is creating a playlist ahead of time. If you don’t have the time to create a full party playlist a second option is to vet a few pre-made playlists. Spotify has some great playlist already created like this outdoor entertaining playlist.
The Best Bluetooth Speakers
The Best Bluetooth Speakers
In addition to wireless, Bluetooth technology has given us a great way to link our portable playlists with these incredible speaker systems. The sounds are off the charts!
Sony SRS-XB501G
- Wi-fi and Bluetooth Compatible
- DSP technology
- Extra Bass
- 16 hours of battery playback
- Voice Assisted
Gemini - 2400W 2-Way PA Speaker
- The AS-15BLU
- 15-Inch 2000W Peak Class AB Built-In Amp
- Linear Frequency Response Between 40Hz-20Khz
- Integrated MP3, USB, SD, Bluetooth And FM Radio
Turtlebox: Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker
- Rugged portable Bluetooth speaker boasts
- 120dB of Distortion-Free Sound!
- Tough, Shock Resistant, Dust & in a Waterproof IP67 rated enclosure.
Best Bluetooth speakers:
- Sony SRS-XB501G
- Gemini – 2400W 2-Way PA Speaker
- Turtlebox: Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker
Even though we already talked about getting good deals on speakers, you might still want to look at the best quality you can get for a relatively low prices. All of these speakers offer great sound at a lower price cost than their competitors.
If you’re new to the bluetooth technology area it’s one of the easiest way to broadcast a signal from a portable device. The short description of this is that the technology uses short-range UHF radio waves and projects a signal that is receivable (source). The signal itself carries the data which is received by the connected bluetooth device and translates that data into an output. In the case of these party speakers, great music!
Best Priced Party Speakers
Best Priced Party Speakers
When economy is your primary concern, these 3 speakers provide great sounds at affordable prices. Any one of these three are sufficient for creating a backyard party experience and providing that fun atmosphere without risk of overwhelming the conversations.
Tribit XSound Go Bluetooth Speakers
- 12W Portable Speaker
- Rich Bass
- IPX7 Waterproof
- 24 Hour Playtime
- 66 ft Bluetooth Range
Dual - 3-Way Indoor/Outdoor Speakers
- Powerful Bass
- Effortless Mounting
- Swivel Brackets
- All Weather Resistance
- 1 Year Warranty
Innovative Technology Bluetooth Rock Speakers
- Premium 5-Watt Bluetooth Outdoor Rock Speakers
- A/C Adaptor
- Built In Rechargeable 5200mAh Battery
- Pair
Best priced speakers:
- Tribit XSound Go
- Dual – 3-Way Indoor/Outdoor Speakers
- Innovative Technology – Powered Wireless Outdoor Speakers
We didn’t find carrying around bulky speakers particularly fun, so we decided to add some speakers to my list that are super easy to carry around. Some of them are so small that you can carry them with just one hand – so much easier!
Easiest to Transport Speakers
What is the best portable party speaker?
These speakers listed below double as great choices for your backyard bbq party as well as for the beach, lake or camping trip. Each of the selections below provide tons of features and plenty of power. These are great choices when looking for awesome sound and capabilities!
Rockville Rockbox 100 Watt Portable Rechargeable Speaker
- 6.5″ 100 Watt Multi-Purpose Portable Powered Bluetooth Speaker
- Rechargeable lithium battery lasts 24 hours.
- Built in Bluetooth to stream your music wirelessly – 65ft range.
DemerBox: Waterproof, Portable, and Rugged Outdoor Bluetooth Speaker
- Loud Sound & Deep Bass
- 40+ hr Battery Life
- Dry Box & SB Charging
- Multi-Pairing Party Mode
- Waterproof & Crush Proof
- Internal USB Charger
Turtlebox: Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker
- Rugged portable Bluetooth speaker boasts
- 120dB of Distortion-Free Sound!
- Tough, Shock Resistant, Dust & in a Waterproof IP67 rated enclosure.
Easiest to transport speakers:
- Rockville Rockbox 100 Watt Portable Rechargable Speaker
- DemerBox: Waterproof, Portable, and Rugged Outdoor Bluetooth Speaker
- Turtlebox: Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker
As you can see, there are a lot of options. If you’re willing to do a little bit of research, however, you’ll be sure to find the perfect speakers for your event. After all, you’ve already planned a great party – your speakers should be great too!
How To Find Backyard Party Speakers On a Budget
Cost is a very important characteristic of party speakers – it doesn’t matter how great the speaker is if you can’t safely afford it. However, there are a lot of options when it comes to making sure the speakers you buy are affordable.
In this section, we’ll get into a few specific places and ways to shop to get the best speakers for the best deal.
How To Find Budget Speakers:
- Sales
- Coupons and special offers
- Store apps
- Buying used
If you’re shopping in store, have the store associate show you to the speakers that are currently being discounted. Make sure to ask why they’re on sale – Are these speakers popular, so the store is offering a temporary discount?
Are these speakers lacking an important feature? Be sure you have enough information before making a decision.
If you’re shopping online, you’ll probably have way more options to look at.
To narrow then down to your price point, use the sort “low to high” function or set a price range if the store offers one. That way, you can specifically research the speakers you know that your budget can handle.
Looking for coupons is extremely important. One coupon can knock several dollars off of a regularly priced speaker.
Sometimes you can find coupons for speakers specifically, but other times stores just have them generally. Check the website and your mailbox to see if any coupons are available for use.
If your party is during the summer, stores might have special sales because they know there’s an increased demand for speakers. Make sure you’re shopping around at multiple places to see which ones have special offers available. You can even ask a store employee, because they may know about something that isn’t well advertised.
One of the reasons I love to have store apps on my phone is because I get alerts every time there’s an offer available for me to use. I’ve purchased everything from coffee to burritos for a large discount that way. And sometimes, you’ll get a store discount just for signing up – who doesn’t love that?
If you know what stores sell the speakers you want, download the apps and see if there are any offers you can use. It might even helpful to go ahead and download several store apps before you’ve made your decision – that way you can see what stores are extra-affordable before you even decide!
Buying used might be a good option if you can find someone selling lightly used or even new speakers. Their prices are almost always less than store prices, and sometimes you can even find items that are sold out in stores.
When buying used, it’s especially important to verify the quality of the speakers you’re purchasing. If you’re buying online, make sure the seller is verified and check their reviews. When buying locally, ask if you can test the speakers before buying them. After all, you don’t want to buy ineffective speakers just because they cost less.
Final Thoughts on Finding The Best Party Speakers for You
As we close this article on the best party speakers out we wanted to pass on a few important tips and just general thoughts or info on finding and using the best party speakers available.
First off, we center everything we do around grilling and other articles we have cover topics like the best charcoal grills under $200 or the best gas grills under $200 but the truth of it is, you can use these speakers we’ve listed for almost any event! Many of these speakers, especially the Bluetooth and portable ones are also great for:
- Camping
- Tailgating
- Pool Parties
- Events
- And so much more…
Another thing to note, there are different capabilities within party speakers that improve on the quality of their output. For example, if you see a capability called a ‘3-Way Speaker’ this basically means there are separative devices within the speaker (drivers) that operate at a mid-range, tweeter and woofer frequency levels. This creates for much better efficiency and sound. (source)
You may have also heard of options like a ‘mic port’ or an ‘Aux Input’. Below are definitions for what those features delivery with party speakers.
- Mic-Port – This is just short for Microphone Port. If you have a microphone you want to use as an audio input device then you’ll need a speaker with a mic port. Typically, the microphone connector in party speakers is the same as a phone connector and 1/4″ (6.35 mm) in size. There are also 3.5 mm, and 2.5 mm sizes so make sure to read through the specs before purchasing.
- Aux-Input. This is also an abbreviated description of just another way of bring in an auxiliary source of sound. This can be in the form of laptops which with backing tracks or your own music all the way to guitars and other instruments. The typical size for the male-male cable is a 3.5mm.
We hope this additional info has been helpful. As we see more questions being asked on this topic we’ll add to the info.
Also, hopefully you were able to find the best party speaker for your needs! Thanks for checking our article out!
DIY Ideas For Party Speakers
Now that you’ve picked out your speakers – or are at least thinking about it – you’re probably also thinking about the best ways to put them in your yard.
Sure you put a lot of thought into them, but you probably don’t want a speaker in your guests’ view of your yard. Fortunately, there are a lot of ways to make your speakers less obvious.
If you have lots of plants in your yard, find a place where you can put your speaker behind the greenery. You might even be able to hide it behind outdoor furniture. Either way, this is a good option especially if you’ve chosen a smaller speaker.
This is an easy fix for a not so pretty speaker, but make sure the audio functions are not obscured by whatever you cover the speaker with. If your speaker is so covered that it no longer sounds as good, you won’t get the most use of it. Definitely test the speaker in its hiding place before the party.
Hanging them up is a great option for getting your speakers out of the way. Look at your yard, and see if there are any places that a speaker could hang and still sound great.
Consider these areas:
- Patios
- Gazebos
- House walls
You’ll definitely need to do some pre-planning for this one though. Make sure whatever surface you choose can handle the weight of the speaker, and also make sure the speaker’s sound still carries across your yard.
Disguising them, on the other hand, will require you to get creative. While you can purchase speakers that look like rocks or other backyard decor, you may want to do it yourself.
If you’re artsy, consider painting your speaker to blend in with the rocks and greenery around your yard. This might make it easier to have your speakers out without muffling the sound.
Regardless of how you choose to integrate your speakers into your yard, think about the atmosphere you want to create. You’ve already put a lot of research into which speakers to buy, and you don’t want to miss out on the sound because they’re hidden!
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