“Because the outdoors lack walls to reinforce bass, this requires a little more clever engineering to provide more bass output in [outdoor speakers], while also being careful to not alter the sound too much,” says Cunningham. That’s why many outdoor speakers project loudly—not to harness a room’s inherent acoustic qualities. It’s important to remember that most outdoor speakers are passive, so the loudness rating on their spec sheet is only as good as how much power your amplifier can push out.