Recomendations needed for Permanent Outdoor Speakers (1 Viewer)

[Trevor Schell]

Hi Everybody!,
I am looking at investing in some outdoor speakers. I would want to leave these outside all year long and in my location we experience temperatures as cold as -35 Celcius or -30 Ferenheit during the winter months.
I would need something very weatherproof if there is such a thing.
Anybody have any experience with these type of speakers?
I want to take advantage of the Denon 5800's multiroom features.
Thanks!
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Trevor
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June 12,2001

 

[TimS]

Hey,
I am sure your going to get many recommendations and replies. Thought I would throw in my two cents. My comments are very similar to a reply I posted about in walls a while back. Let me say first though that I not only install and consult on audio and video, I sell equipment too. So thusly I might be biased in some manner to a particular brand. I will try to objectively state the ideas and things I have learned however in listening.
First a general opinion on out door or all weather speakers. In this specific instance when I say out door/all weather, I mean specifically a speaker that has a plastic enclosure/box, most likely with a metal mounting bracket, that is able to take complete water exposure(another words hosed off with water to be cleaned), and is also resistant to other outdoor elements. For a given price point for a set of out door/all weather speakers, as long as it is a acceptable speaker manufacture to you, its going to pretty much sound the same. There will be subtle variations in their sound; however, a $400list pair of Boston out door/all weather is going to pretty much sound the same as a $400list pair of Mirage out door/all weather speakers. Brands I have personal experience with, and find this fact to be true are Boston, Mirage, B&W, JBL, Niles, Infinity, SpeakerCraft and many others "high end " brands.
With that though about sound quality in mind, you have to ask yourself as a consumer, what separates my choices then. The things I would focus on then are warranty, years in business,warranty anything design wise that might differentiate the sound of the speaker vs. the competition and warranty. Obviously you can see I feel warranty is very important on this kind of speaker. Those things being what you want to focus on, I really would suggest you look at a brand called SpeakerCraft. They are made in the usa, owned by the same company sense their begging's, have been making in all weather/out door speakers for over 25 years, have a lifetime warranty on any product failure.
www.speakercraft.com
The reason I personally prefer to sell them over other brands is two fold. They do
have in my opinion a slightly better sound with certain models over there competition. They also play louder then there competition and will take a higher rated power then their competition. All of those things are subjective of course, because how a speaker exactly sounds vs. another is really your opinion. However, what is not subjective is the fact that these have a lifetime warranty against failure. No other manufacture I am aware of has this feature. You can't underestimate the worth of this, sense an out door/all weather is subjected to heat, cold, dust, moisture, and other environmental concerns that can definitely cause a failure. I have had speakers from Speaker Craft over eight years old fixed or replaced with no hassle.
As far as the cold is concerned, I suggest you call the company or Emil them to ask them about that and how it will effect the speaker, etc. I am in so cal so we never have it get that cold. Finally be sure whatever wire your actually exposing to the elements is "direct burial". This will give it an extra jacket to protect from those nasty elements. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[Trevor Schell]

Thanks Tim, for the help.
I went out to a local dealer today which were selling outdoor speakers made by Boston.
They were pretty good while I was not keen on the white color.
The speakers available from Speaker Craft are very nice,
especially the Rock style.

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Trevor
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June 12,2001

 

[Jay_E]

Tim,
Have you ever used Klipsch outdoor speakers? http://www.klipsch.com/products/comp...ry=all-weather
I may be able to get a "good deal" on the SA-1's and was interested on how they compare to the brands listed above. Thanks.
Jay

 

[Phil Iturralde]

More research INFO - Tom Nousaine Sound&Vision Outdoor speaker review/article: http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/SoundAndVision/FrameSet/0,1670,_sl_SoundAndVision_sl_Article_sl_0_cm_1653_cm_166_4224_1_cm_00,00.html

 

[TimS]

Jay,
Those Klipsh sound about as good as anything in its respecitve price range. How good a deal is "a deal" however as these have a five year warranty.

 

[Trevor Schell]

Thanks everybody for the assistance.
The article from Sound and Vision has high regards to the Boston acoustics as with an article I just read in the HT Magazine.
Since I can get these locally which I had a chance of looking at on the weekend,,These would be the ones for me.
Thanks again Tim for the help.
Really appreciated.
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Trevor
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June 12,2001
[Edited last by Trevor Schell on July 16, 2001 at 08:37 PM]

 

[Gil D]

S&V neglected to include the NHT OutdoorOne in their shootout. I recently picked up a pair from 6th Ave Electonics in NJ for $188+shipping. Don't know about longevity of the NHT, but they do sound good. The bass response of the NHT has been enhanced specifically for outdoor use.
I would try to go with a speaker that has a 6.5" woofer as you will get more bass which will be pretty lean outdoors as it is. Mounting near wall boundaries will help.
The Boston Voyagers have a long track record of solid reliability and I don't think you can go wrong with them.
But for the price, the NHT is a good buy. I plan on bringing them in for the Winter season as I can't hear much with the snow blower running

 

[Jay_E]

Gil,
S&V did include the NHT OutdoorOne in their review and if I recall they thought highly of them. That $188 price sounds great. Do you have a web address or phone number for 6th Ave. Electronics? Thanks.
Jay

 

[Jake T]

They have an article in the current issue of Home Theater magazine on this subject.
Jake

 

[Gil D]

Jay,
I was thinking of the HT Mag review.
The website iswww.6ave.com and the phone number is listed on the webpage. The OutdoorOne is not listed online, you need to phone the order in. It's a great deal considering they retail for $399. Just watch the S&H fee and don't buy the speaker cable the rep will try to sell you.
Thanks goes to member "Ricky T" for the heads-up on the 6th Ave deal.

 

[Jay_E]

Tim,
Thanks for your previous help. Do you have any recommendations for an outdoor volume control? I have seen this Niles control mentioned before http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S...90WVC1&o=M&a=0
Or how about a waterproof RF universal remote control? Any ideas? Thanks again.
Jay

 

[Jay_E]

Thanks to "Gil D" and "Ricky T" for the 6ave.com deal on the NHT OutdoorOnes. I order a pair yesterday and they shipped them the same day. They are even an authorized dealer according to NHT's web site.
Jay