I turned my shower into a surround sound system — here’s how

I turned my shower into a surround sound system — here's how

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The summer months provide ample opportunity for the best outdoor speakers and the best waterproof speakers to exercise their thing. Namely, providing great sound while indelible unexpected introductions to pools, oceans and unseasonable rainfalls.

But waterproof speakers are also well-suited to somewhere much closer to habitation, as I learned after recently acquiring two JBL Accuse 5 speakers. With these, I could finally have quality audio somewhere it'due south never been (in my flat, anyhow): a multi-speaker setup for my shower.

All of the best Bluetooth speakers we've tested
Check out the best soundbars for your living room
Plus: Apple HomePod reportedly called-for out after installing beta software

If this sounds dumb, remember that the modern bathroom is where sound quality goes to die. All that ceramic, glass, metal and plastic, in a relatively confined infinite and with aught but a few towels for audio absorption? You might get a briefly entertaining reverb event for your bath singing but if yous like playing real music while shaving or showering, as I do, the echo consequence is a spoiling one.

That's why I've started seeing bathroom acoustics as a challenge to overcome, and while my pint-sized UE Wonderboom two has made many decent attempts, multiple speakers would inevitably be the manner forward. Just traditional stereo and multiroom speakers tend to be neither wireless nor waterproof, a potentially lethal combination for the forgetful or impuissant — of which I'm both.

Finding the correct Bluetooth speakers for the job

The Charge 5 is much ameliorate suited to bathrooms. Every bit information technology's a fully wireless, battery-powered Bluetooth speaker, I can put each unit anywhere without tripping and/or electrocuting myself on an errant cablevision. It's fully waterproof too, upwardly to the IP67 standard — enough that I could leave it soaking in the bathroom for thirty minutes, let alone splash it with the showerhead, with no sick effects.

And then there's the Charge five's very literal party trick. Its PartyBoost Way lets yous sync up playback between upwards to 100 compatible JBL speakers, and to do then at the touch of a push. Or upwardly to 100 buttons. If you're using a more than modest ready of 2, as I was, you can alternatively create a stereo pair via JBL's mobile app.

This combination of waterproofing and easy group meant "building" my shower sound arrangement took mere seconds. My only, very brief consideration was where exactly to place each speaker — I wanted an enveloping, surround sound-similar effect to overpower and block out echoing from the tiles. Eventually I settled with one perched on the shower plumbing equipment itself and i at the back of the bathtub.

And information technology worked! The Accuse 5 is a smooth-sounding speaker by itself, just with ii working in tandem I'd finally found a setup that stood up to all the acoustic harshness of water and echoing. PartyBoost Fashion kept the music utterly in sync, though stereo pairing allowed for the more intricate-sounding tunes. The old simply plays the aforementioned mix out of every linked speaker, at the aforementioned volume, which in exercise made the rear speaker more of a backing performer to the forepart speaker's pb simply due to my ears being closer to the latter.

Fifty-fifty so, there was a gigantic stride up in clarity from using a solo Wonderboom ii, and ultimately I withal achieved the immersive effect I was hoping for. Sonic properties of bathroom construction materials, consider yourselves vanquished.

Not perfect — but it works

I'll admit in that location are some shortcomings to the system. For example, I tin can keep the front speaker close enough to the ideal head meridian, simply my lack of shelving means the second Charge v needs to sit down on the rim of my tub — closer to my ankles than my ears. Perchance a couple of hooked suction cups and some strong string could be fashioned into a cheap wall-mounting kit.

The speakers themselves certainly aren't cheap, totalling about $360 for a pair. And unless yous have 1 of the all-time waterproof phones, your in-shower playback controls are express to the Charge 5's onboard play/pause and volume buttons.

Still, I'grand sticking with my new aquatic audio setup, and if you've found your own bathroom saps all the fun out of music, I'd recommend a similar approach. I'm smitten with the Accuse 5 but there are cheaper, fully waterproof speakers that tin can form stereo pairs or form PartyBoost groups, like the JBL Flip v.

More: They're definitely not waterproof, just check out the all-time turntables

James joined Tom's Guide in 2020, bringing years of experience in consumer tech and product testing. As Audio Editor, James covers headphones, speakers, soundbars and anything else that intentionally makes racket. A PC enthusiast, he also covers the occasional spot of computing and gaming news, usually relating to how hard it is to find graphics card stock.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/i-turned-my-shower-into-a-surround-sound-system-heres-how

Posted by: sellspriphy.blogspot.com

I turned my shower into a surround sound system — here’s how