Outdoor speakers

mhartman29

Anyone have any recommendations for relatively inexpensive outdoor speakers? Say, around $100-150? I realize they are probably more $$$, but how good is Polk's Atrium line?

Ricardo

I've had a pair of Atrium 55's for close to 3 years and they sound as good as the first day (yes, they sound good). They get rain, direct sunlight which can be VERY hot in summer, and snow in winter.

That makes them REALLY good in my book.

okiepolkie

The Atrium series sound good. I would probably go with something bigger than the 45's if you are trying to do a whole back yard. For a porch, you will probably be fine, but think about trying to fill your whole back yard with small bookshelf speakers-isn't going to happen.

mhartman29

This may be a dumb follow up question, but I was planning on powering the outdoor speakers with the lmc's zone2 internal amp. Not sure how much amplification that provides. Do the larger Atrium speakers require more power or separate amplication?

shawn474

I have had the JBL N26AWII speakers powered by an audiosource amp one for the past 4 years. They have survived snow, rain, sleet, hail, and direct sunlight. They sound good enough for my patio and are definitely in your budget.

Shawn

MillerLiteScott

I have JBL's, Proficient and Mirage. It is a toss up between the Proficients with a 6.5" bass driver and the Mirage with 5.5" driver. The Mirages are up under the eaves and the Proficients are just on the side of the house. I paid $99.00 for the Proficients and $199.00 for the Mirages.

The JBLS are not in the same class as the other 2 IMO. I would love to hear a pair of the Attriums in my set up but I have other things higher up the list. I may try to spec some for a project I am doing for a client.

Scott

DForeman

I am using Atrium 45's for the back deck (for 3 years now) and am happy with them. They are powered by an Audiosource 200 amp (80 watts into 8 ohms). They are extremely durable and have survived many rain storms and a couple of ice storms. Mine are black but I understand the white version of this speaker can be painted (if that is at all important to you).

mmadden28

I have the Atrium 45s set up in my pool area. I am quite happy with thier sound (I've had some time to listen to them more). Of course I keep them at background listening levels, not rock the night away dance party levels. But I don turn them up once in awile when working outside. I'll likely add more speakers where more sound is needed. I don't want to have to crank it up so hight that somebody would have to shout at a party if they're close to them, i want a decent level all around and I want clear and quality sound.
You can certainly get some via PolkDirect on ebay for that budget. Actually I think I am gogin to get some Attrium 55s for the pool area and move the 45s to the deck or porch. I have two sets of 45s but I need three sets, so I might as well try to get bigger ones for theare athat would benefit the most.

I am running mine off my old Sony reciever-nothing special-I plan to eventually run them off a second zone off my main receiver. They don't require much.

Oh and thier paintable.

Here is a link to my post with pics.

mmadden28 wrote: »

...

For the record, I haven't been able to compare the 45s with anything bigger yet.

mmadden28

DForeman wrote: »

...They are extremely durable and have survived many rain storms and a couple of ice storms. Mine are black but I understand the white version of this speaker can be painted (if that is at all important to you).

Crap, I never even thought to check them after the hail storm last week. Must;ve hailed for a half hour or more in threewaves. Looked like snow on the groun (I'll have to post a pic). While I am sure the 45 survived, I want to see how the paint held up. I'll let ya know tonight.

strider

I snagged a pair of Atrium 45's off of Amazon a while back when they were $75 shipped. I enjoy the **** out of them. They sound pretty damn good for what they are, a bookshelf type speaker that can stand the abuse of being outside. They're also pretty cool because you can paint the cabinets; I'm still trying to get my wife to paint them to look like the brick wall they're mounted on, though.

zingo

I have a pair of Boston Acoustic Voyager outdoor speakers. They sound great, hold up to weather very well, and are being run off of the "B" section of a receiver. If you can find them on sale, you can probably stay in your $150 range.

jgido759

I've had my Atrium 45s for about 4 years now. At first, they were powered off of the "B" channel of my Yamaha RX-V595. Sounded very good. Starting this year, I began powering them from an old Sony receiver (not sure of the model, got it from my Dad when he passed last year ) directly and the sound has improved, even though is is rated less that the Yammie.

mmadden28

mmadden28 wrote: »

Crap, I never even thought to check them after the hail storm last week. Must've hailed for a half hour or more in threewaves. Looked like snow on the ground (I'll have to post a pic). While I am sure the 45 survived, I want to see how the paint held up. I'll let ya know tonight.

Well, no issues at all-no dents and no paint dings: :cool:

mmadden28

mmadden28 wrote: »

I have the Atrium 45s set up in my pool area. I am quite happy with thier sound (I've had some time to listen to them more). Of course I keep them at background listening levels, not rock the night away dance party levels. But I don turn them up once in awile when working outside. I'll likely add more speakers where more sound is needed. I don't want to have to crank it up so hight that somebody would have to shout at a party if they're close to them, i want a decent level all around and I want clear and quality sound.
You can certainly get some via PolkDirect on ebay for that budget. Actually I think I am gogin to get some Attrium 55s for the pool area and move the 45s to the deck or porch. I have two sets of 45s but I need three sets, so I might as well try to get bigger ones for theare athat would benefit the most.

I am running mine off my old Sony reciever-nothing special-I plan to eventually run them off a second zone off my main receiver. They don't require much.

Oh and thier paintable.

Here is a link to my post with pics.


For the record, I haven't been able to compare the 45s with anything bigger yet.

Just had several people over for get-togethers over the past weekend, and I've received several comments on how good they sounded--Especially being outside in open air and all, some were dumb-founded at how good they sounded. I thought they sounded especially good as well. :cool:

Did you ever decide what you were going with?

Lawrence Grand

Anyone have any experience/recommendations with wireless outdoor speakers?