Amp or Receiver to pair with Atrium 6s?

mikahc38

Hi.

I am looking to purchase a pair of outdoor speakers to mount underneath the eaves of my shop which is perpendicular to the shallow end of our pool pad where our pool chairs and table are located. Our pool is a 16 x 32 with a pool pad that is 12' shallow end x 10' right side x 6' left side x 6' deep end.

I have been researching purchasing either the Polk Audio Atrium 6 outdoor speakers or the Klipsch AW-650 outdoor speakers. Leaning towards the Polk Atrium 6s.

We want a good sounding outdoor speakers that we can use our phones to connect via Bluetooth.

Not sure what amp or receiver would be best paired with the Atrium 6's where we can use Bluetooth.

Any suggestions or recommendations?

Thanks and kind regards.

Mikah

F1nut

Good sounding speakers will be negated by the piss poor audio of your phones.

mikahc38

Ok. So, what do you recommend?

F1nut wrote: »

Good sounding speakers will be negated by the piss poor audio of your phones.[/quote

rooftop59

F1nut wrote: »

Good sounding speakers will be negated by the piss poor audio of your phones.

Eh, outside sitting by the pool sipping on a cold adult beverage, I really like the option of bluetooth or satellite radio or spotify connect, etc. Basically any good ole 2 channel integrated or receiver with something like this would do the trick: https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=38071&gclid=CjwKCAjwztL2BRATEiwAvnALcqQ5VbrGcXliA73oftLmLVEQKrvBeURaisA6RZvq7OYx_SnaQMQR9hoCajYQAvD_BwE

Or even simpler, get something like this and call it a day: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-rBtCtjgiyLu/p_022RS202/Yamaha-R-S202.html

If you want a little better SQ on the patio, add on old CD player or logitech squeezebox to the setup.

gyosa

Airplay would be far superior to Bluetooth ....

Bk

rooftop59

gyosa wrote: »

Airplay would be far superior to Bluetooth ....

Bk

Oooh that reminds me...this is your cheapest decent audio quality option to add to any 2 channel integrated or receiver:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Open-box-Google-Chromecast-Audio-Media-Streamer-Black/383570407702?epid=217053957&hash=item594e93f116:g:o1sAAOSwae9e1His

And you don't have to have an apple device to use it...

mikahc38

rooftop59 wrote: »

F1nut wrote: »

Good sounding speakers will be negated by the piss poor audio of your phones.

Eh, outside sitting by the pool sipping on a cold adult beverage, I really like the option of bluetooth or satellite radio or spotify connect, etc. Basically any good ole 2 channel integrated or receiver with something like this would do the trick: https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=38071&gclid=CjwKCAjwztL2BRATEiwAvnALcqQ5VbrGcXliA73oftLmLVEQKrvBeURaisA6RZvq7OYx_SnaQMQR9hoCajYQAvD_BwE

Or even simpler, get something like this and call it a day: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-rBtCtjgiyLu/p_022RS202/Yamaha-R-S202.html

If you want a little better SQ on the patio, add on old CD player or logitech squeezebox to the setup.

I had looked up the Yamaha you linked too earlier today and wondered about that one. I was glad to see you linked to that one in your reply.

So, I have read where people simply upgrade their amp and keep existing speakers and they notice a big change in the quality of the sound coming from their speakers.

What is the biggest factor from one amp verses the next that would make this change?

Is it mainly the watts per channel that affects this?

rooftop59

If you're actually wanting better SQ, the yammie is underpowered and might disappoint you. If you want better SQ, the sky's the limit. What is your budget? Are you comfortable buying used?

Current makes more of a difference than watts, but there are lots of other elements. Honestly, if you are comfortable buying used, there are some older non-hdmi AVRs that are beasts that would sound much better than a cheap new reciever. They had much bigger transformers, better parts, and were designed more for audio than video. E.g. something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-RX-V1500-AV-Receiver/333577729348?hash=item4daac83544:g:cmUAAOSwov5emfoV

I had one many years ago and it was a very good sounding avr. And you could power multiple speakers down the road if you wanted, even run dual zones!

Or, even a little beefier: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-RX-V2500-HT-Receiver-130W-7-1-Channel-with-Remote-Bundle-Made-In-Japan/184312871759?hash=item2ae9e73b4f:g:3EwAAOSwiX9ezZIr

mikahc38

rooftop59 wrote: »

If you're actually wanting better SQ, the yammie is underpowered and might disappoint you. If you want better SQ, the sky's the limit. What is your budget? Are you comfortable buying used?

Current makes more of a difference than watts, but there are lots of other elements. Honestly, if you are comfortable buying used, there are some older non-hdmi AVRs that are beasts that would sound much better than a cheap new reciever. They had much bigger transformers, better parts, and were designed more for audio than video. E.g. something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-RX-V1500-AV-Receiver/333577729348?hash=item4daac83544:g:cmUAAOSwov5emfoV

I had one many years ago and it was a very good sounding avr. And you could power multiple speakers down the road if you wanted, even run dual zones!

Or, even a little beefier: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-RX-V2500-HT-Receiver-130W-7-1-Channel-with-Remote-Bundle-Made-In-Japan/184312871759?hash=item2ae9e73b4f:g:3EwAAOSwiX9ezZIr

Hmm.. now you got me thinking.

I have an older JVC sound system I bought back in mid to late 80s or early 90s. It had 5 or 6 separate components. 1. AM/FM Receiver. 2 Equalizer 3. Cassette player. 4 turntable.. and seems like on other component.

Is it possible to add something to this to make it WiFi or Bluetooth capable and hook up outdoor speakers like the Atriums 6? The speakers that came with it are indoor speakers and are loke 3 ft tall and fairly wide. It was an awesome system best I remember.

So, might could just get some good speakers and hook to my old JVC system.

TopperDude

if you do end up getting something new to power those Atriums, consider the Marantz NR1200 2ch stereo receiver. Has bluetooth along with network streaming / HEOS. Should be a good match.

mlistens03

F1nut wrote: »

Good sounding speakers will be negated by the piss poor audio of your phones.

This definitely used to be true, and it still is, but the sound quality of phones has come a long way in the past years. I mean, I can distinguish my 2nd gen iPad Mini from my Marantz CDP, but that doesn't mean my iPad doesn't sound great, and my dad's iPhone XS sounds even better.

If you can get a CD player it will sound better, but you won't have billions and billions of songs at your fingertips. If you can get a CDP like my Marantz CD6004 (Thanks again Drew!), which you can plug your phone into so you can use it's DAC, that will make huge strides towards better sound even when streaming iTunes or Spotify.

gyosa wrote: »

Airplay would be far superior to Bluetooth ....

Bk

Even with Bluetooth 4.0? I was under the impression that 4.0 would be equal or superior to Airplay. Well I'll take your word for it (And hunt down a way to airplay to try it out for myself )

Oh, and I'd agree with the thought of getting an old top of the line AVR on the cheap. I found a Pioneer SC-25 for $50 at a garage sale, and it sounded great.

Good luck! -Micah

mikahc38

Well. I bought a set of Polk Audio 200 Patio speakers paired with a Sony 2 Channel 200 watt Stereo Receiver with Bluetooth inly because wanted something sooner rather than later and can be picked up today.

I wasn't sure what speaker wire to get so ordered outdoor 16ga bare speaker wire.

Hope to get hooked up this evening.

Any helpful hints on what to do and be on lookout for hooking them up and anything on what not to do?

Speakers will be minutes under eaves if my shop about 10 to 15 ft apart. 16ga speaker wire ok?

mikahc38

mlistens03 wrote: »

F1nut wrote: »

Good sounding speakers will be negated by the piss poor audio of your phones.

This definitely used to be true, and it still is, but the sound quality of phones has come a long way in the past years. I mean, I can distinguish my 2nd gen iPad Mini from my Marantz CDP, but that doesn't mean my iPad doesn't sound great, and my dad's iPhone XS sounds even better.

If you can get a CD player it will sound better, but you won't have billions and billions of songs at your fingertips. If you can get a CDP like my Marantz CD6004 (Thanks again Drew!), which you can plug your phone into so you can use it's DAC, that will make huge strides towards better sound even when streaming iTunes or Spotify.

gyosa wrote: »

Airplay would be far superior to Bluetooth ....

Bk

Even with Bluetooth 4.0? I was under the impression that 4.0 would be equal or superior to Airplay. Well I'll take your word for it (And hunt down a way to airplay to try it out for myself )

Oh, and I'd agree with the thought of getting an old top of the line AVR on the cheap. I found a Pioneer SC-25 for $50 at a garage sale, and it sounded great.

Good luck! -Micah

Thank you!

rooftop59

Atrium 6s are better speakers. Patience is a virtue!

mikahc38

rooftop59 wrote: »

Atrium 6s are better speakers. Patience is a virtue!

I know. So true.

mikahc38

Well. Got the Polk 200 Patio speakers mounted on shop and Sony 2 channel installed inside shop. Our pool pad is a much cooler place to hang.

Sound on these suckers are good enough for us. Wife super happy. Can easily hear sound at deep end of pool that is 54 ft away.

Can turn up loud enough to drown out noise from the neighbors nonsense and turn down low enough to have a conversation and still hear music really good.

Thanks to all of you who gave advice and recommendations. Really appreciated

Mikah

TopperDude

Glad to hear final result turned out well

KAT

Are any Polk Outdoor Speakers Bluetooth

mikahc38

KAT wrote: »

Are any Polk Outdoor Speakers Bluetooth

No. You have to get an amp or stereo receiver that has Bluetooth capability to power the speakers.