Incredible Outdoor Experience

Modern TV is known for designing and installing innovative entertainment systems throughout an entire house, often when the house is being built or remodeled. They are also gaining a reputation for helping people enjoy their favorite TV shows and music outdoors.

“People are always looking for creative ways to entertain themselves and their guests in the backyard,” said Caterina Vado, sales and marketing manager for Modern TV, in San Jose. They might want a TV over the bar or a great sound system for their music.”

Before installing these systems, there are many things to consider, such as where to put cable lines and speakers, how to mount everything, and make it waterproof. If you want to be able to move the TV indoors and back out again, the installation needs to be accessible.

The next issue is that of where to put the speakers. Typically, people have mounted them under an eave or overhang. But Modern TV has high quality speakers that can be incorporated into the landscaping. They have speakers that look like rocks. Other speakers look like real planters that light up. Others mimic waterfalls and fountains. Some look like a Roman column or can be mounted on such a column.

“Imagine sitting in your backyard and having your favorite music come out of a waterfall on a beautiful day,” Vado said. “It’s quite an experience. To make matters better, all of the outdoor speakers her company offers are waterproof. And speaking of waterproof, Modern TV also offers waterproof televisions.

Once you have your TV and speakers outside, you need to have a way to control them. In the old days, you had to walk back inside to adjust the sound and change the channel or radio station. Now you can control your TV, radio, CD player, and iPod from a hand-held keypad. These keypads are enclosed in a little box that keeps moisture out.

In those cases where people have remodeled their home or landscaped it, but didn’t think about incorporating outdoor speakers, but now want to add them without digging up the yard, Modern TV offers a new product called Soundcast. 

It is a wireless, mobile, cone-shaped device that contains a speaker system, including a subwoofer. When not in use, the two-and-a-half foot tall device can be stored indoors and charged like a cell-phone or iPod. The charge lasts for about 12 hours of continuous use. With the Soundcast, you can play music directly from your iPod, which plugs into a dock on the Soundcast, or from your stereo system inside the house.  

 The speakers play in all directions. You can control the Soundcast directly with a keypad. The cone lights up at night, both for aesthetics and for safety, so people don’t accidentally bump into it. “It doesn’t require any wires and it sounds phenomenal, even in a huge yard,” Vado said. The speakers can actually be heard from a distance of 300 feet, the length of a football field. “At a retail price of only $699, it is ideal for people who want to entertain on a budget, or who don’t want to dig any trenches,” Vado said.

Franco Vado, president of Modern TV, said that outdoor sound systems are more affordable and better than ever. “The technology is constantly improving,” he said. “In the 42 years I have been doing this, people have always wanted to listen to music outside. In the old days, you had big box speakers. It wasn’t easy to have music outside, with components exposed to the weather. Now, with new technology, you can hide the speakers and they can last a long time, even in hard weather.”

To learn more, visit Modern TV, 1228-B Bascom Avenue, in San Jose or call (408) 293-1330. Visit their website at www.moderntvonline.com.