In the question of stereo vs mono, it helps to consider the environment the system is running. Stereo has always been held as king for the home theater, but take a step outside, and that throne goes to another, at least if you’re talking to the team at MartinLogan. With years of experience working the market for outdoor audio, Andrew Lindsey, Product Manager, and Allan Tarrant, Senior Vice President at MartinLogan, have had a chance to build plenty of systems throughout their career, and for them, there’s no better way to way to run a system than in clean, uniform mono audio.
Stereo vs Mono in Outdoor Audio
For Lindsey and Tarrant, mono doesn’t represent a quality downgrade as it is commonly taken as. Instead, they argue, mono means every speaker plays the same combined signal, and in an outdoor setting where listeners move freely around a yard, mono helps eliminates a lot of problems that would instead be caused by stereo–though, stereo does have its place in the outdoors. It’s all about knowing the environment and knowing how the client intends to use the space.
Stereo remains a great option for where the positioning of the audience is a given, while mono ensures that no matter where someone is standing, the same audio will be heard.
More Speakers = Lower Volume Needed
Lindsey and Tarrant also advise that newcomers to the space, rather than using a few solitary speakers to blast sound, outdoor audio systems should span across a larger selection of evenly distributed speakers so backyard spaces can be “blanketed” in sound without causing disturbances to the neighbor; additionally avoiding hotspots and volume drop-off.
Landscape-style speakers, aimed back toward the house rather than out toward neighbors, were also highlighted as a smarter modern approach.
Where MartinLogan Fits into the ‘Mix’
One of the greater challenges in delivering clean mono audio is in the summing, which MartinLogan took into great consideration when designing its MP500 V2 amplifier. The updated version features a USB-C port, a front-facing firmware update port, improved rack mounting, and a toolless Phoenix connector for faster, easier installation. The amp can sum stereo sources to mono internally, making setup straightforward.
Additionally, scalability is another challenge a lot of outdoor systems face due to the number of speakers that can be required to achieve nice, uniform sound, especially on larger properties, with the team highlighting their 4.1 and 8.1 outdoor speaker systems, noting the 8.1 is a popular backyard choice, while the 4.1’s 70-volt capability makes it ideal for larger, more scalable installations with one project reportedly reaching over 60 satellites.
