Sound and lighting in an easy-to-install landscaping solution that can withstand the worst of UK weather? Richard Stevenson checks out ADI | Snap One’s Episode Radiance Bollard speaker system.
I am a recent convert to the ‘little-and-often’ school of outdoor speaker design, thanks to hearing Lance Hopley’s superb outdoor system at retailer/installer, Potters of Tenterden. Multiple speakers, evenly spaced around the entire outdoor area, create a visually discreet system with sensible volume across every zone. It’s the perfect system to love-thy-neighbour, as I can speak from personal experience how neighbours really don’t enjoy a sizeable 2.1 outdoor speaker set to ‘rock volume’ with Sounds of the 70s on a Sunday afternoon.
The Episode Radiance outdoor bollard speaker from ADI | Snap One is a combined speaker/LED bollard light that combines discreet landscape audio with elegant path and accent lighting. Unlike traditional outdoor speakers, whose aesthetics generally come from the school of form following function, the Radiance is an exceptionally neat-looking, well-designed product that you would actually want to see in a landscape design. There are precious few outdoor speakers of any sort that you can say that about.
I can easily see these illuminating a garden path or surrounding a patio area in a high-end residential setting or providing gentle audio and lighting along a hotel walkway or commercial terrace. The design is solid, practical and premium and available in black or white. We had both colours to try and I can vouch for black looking a whole lot better after a heavy downpour kicked up mud from the flower bed.
At its core, Radiance is a 70V line speaker housed within a sleek, minimalistic bollard form factor, with a three-part modular design; mount, speaker and light unit that all lock together without tools. The number of speakers or lights in the chain is a function of the output of the 70V amp and attached 12V or 15V, AC or DC lighting transformer, so there isn’t a hard limit on the number of Radiance units you could run with the right accessories and wiring. We ran six units on the optional solid metal ground stake mounts, using basic pink LSOH speaker cable. I would probably go with buried armoured cable to save homeowners and groundmen putting a spade through it. A dial on the speaker base gives options of 16/8/4/2W tap settings.
Our review system came with Episode’s 500W two-channel hybrid amp, delivering 70V line for the bollards and standard 8-ohm for the sub, along with the MB1 unit that combines audio and light into one two-core cable. That makes wiring as simple as daisy-chaining a single two-core from bollard to bollard as far as you need or to the limit of what the attached 70V amp and lighting transformer will handle.
We also had a play with Episode’s Radiance outdoor bollard subwoofer for LF infill. The cylindrical shape matches the bollards well, and it’s far less tacky than my pet peeve, a plastic rock, even if the unit is a bit of a beast both physically and sonically. One for the more discerning residential customer rather than combined with Radiance’s mainstream work for audio ambience and lighting.
The installation experience is where Radiance truly stands out. Episode has clearly thought through the typical challenges faced in outdoor AV integration, even in the UK’s fickle weather. These units are die-cast zinc with a whopping IP66 ingress rating, UV protection and temperature tolerances of -30 to +70 degrees! That meant my ‘clean-up’ after the downpour was a simple case of hosing them down.
The bollard’s robust housing is easy to handle and everything clicks together with reassuring precision. You can hammer in the ground stakes without fear of damaging them
thanks to a clever installation tool/buffer, and they didn’t flex or bend even when I had to dig them out of baked solid clay soil with a crowbar. For decking or concrete, a pedestal mounting base is also available.
GROUND WORK
In use, the Radiance is no less brilliantly designed as the speaker fires upwards at a 360-degree diffuser, creating sound in all directions. This plays perfectly into that ‘little and often’ school of outdoor speaker placement. The six units we had running created a really even volume across a superbly large area. No neighbours were harmed or annoyed in the making of this review. Well, until I let rip with the sub, at least. This certainly underpins the audio performance, and when integrated sensibly, can be equally discreet while boasting impressive sound levels, sound richness and weight, even at low volumes.
While the lighting is entirely optional, it’s excellent and I would say an absolute must-have for any Radiance install. Comprised of two parts: a bright uplighter in the top and a 360-degree ambient ring around the top section, each part is independently controlled. The main ring light throws out very good all-around lighting for paths and safety applications with no hot spots or shadows, while the uplight makes for a good marker or ambient lighting up against a wall or the side of a building.
Neither LED supports variable dimming, but the 7W fixture’s 150 lumen uplight and 175 lumen ring are well judged for brightness, with a relatively warm 2700K colour temperature for softer accenting. Given I have more Hue White & Colour ambience bulbs and fittings around the house than John Lewis’ warehouse, I would have liked some colour options and smart control integration on the LEDs. Yet, arguably, that is perhaps out of the scope of requirements for most bollard light installations – particularly commercial ones where light output and safety are a priority.
Episode has clearly aimed the Radiance line-up at the growing intersection of AV and landscape design, and has hit a sweet spot of design, practicality, robustness and simplicity. Each module (mount/speaker/light) is exceptionally well-engineered, well thought out, and the IP66 rating is frankly incredible for a speaker and light product of any sort. IP66 includes water protection from a strong jet from any direction, making cleaning very easy. The only higher IP ratings are fully submersible!
For AV integrators looking to offer both residential and commercial clients a sophisticated outdoor ambient sound and light solution that is super versatile, incredibly easy to install and just as easy to maintain, I have not seen anything better on the market. Exceptional.
