outdoor music speakers?
 

I'm going to construct an 11' high cover for the patio below. It is 42' wide, so I will probably use a "double stereo" approach; L and R channels on the front and back left side, then R and L channels on the front and back right side.

What model speakers and/or enclosures should I be looking at? The all-time low temperature here is 25 F.

Thanks!

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

Poke around this site and see what they have. I have bought from them before and had a good experience.

Patio speakers:


Parts-Express.com - Search Results

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

If your handy you could make a couple of these. Look how much you'd save cause I think you'd only need 2.

http://www.stereo.holgerbarske.com/p.../kleinhorn.jpg

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

Richard - can't help you with the speakers - but your yard is SO NEAT AND TIDY!! I am so impressed!

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

:ha: THANKS! That really made my day! :ha:

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

Bose makes some excellent outdoor speakers!

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

Love your back yard Richard. Makes me remember what blue skies & warm weather is like :)

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

As does Boston Acoustics.

Outdoor - Speakers - Boston Acoustics - Speakers, Home Theater, Mobile Audio, Sound Systems and More

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

I Second that Boston Acoustics sounds VERY nice they are a high end speaker at a decent price!

Also Look at Speaker Craft there sound is good and have a lifetime warranty which is great for anything outdoors. About how much are you looking to spend? Are you going to want soft mount, rocks, other? It sounds like you want two sets of speakers. Are you looking for Top Qualify sound outside or kind of just background music?

What ever you do get, do not settle for less then 8" drivers!

If you are looking for home Audio I have some Boston Acoustics in wall's right now, a Pair of VRi593 and a Center Channel VRi553

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

I have Boston on my computer, but I have some friends that have outdoor speakers that look like rocks (very good quality sound - manufacturer unknown)

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

See the patio in the picture below? I am putting over it an 11-foot high patio cover (parts arrived today!). The overall shape is a rectangular box. The supports are 1.5 inch tubular steel. The sides and top are covered with 30% shade cloth. It is tall enough to clear the window on the left side of the house yet fit under the eve.

The speakers will be mounted in the corners of the patio cover just below the "ceiling". The cost of the cover was $1700, and I'm only willing to pay a small fraction of that for speakers. For example, $600 for 4 speakers is the wrong price. On the other hand, I'm not going to settle for cheap public address system! :D

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

I have seen those speakers that look like rocks. Just too cool!!!!! And, they sound great.

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

Yes, The rocks do sound good.

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

I built a set of back loaded horns with 3" tang bands I'd put up against most 8" drivers anyday.

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

In the early 1970's I worked in a state of the art electronic music studio. In 2006, the Polk audio speakers that came with my wife's Sony computer monitor were significantly better than the speakers in our studio 30+ years ago. So high-fidelity is relative. I have a set of 5 Mirage speakers powered by a Yamaha receiver in my living room. If I can find something inexpensive but similar quality for my patio I'd be thrilled.
:lurk:

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

I bought a set of these some time back and put them in my sofa while the wife was away. I never told her and one night I put in a Star Wars movie and cranked them on. She was like "Why is the sofa shaking"? I just acted like she was crazy and said I didn't feel anything. Had her going for a few! lol

Tactile Transducers

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

You should look at some of the JBL speakers as well. Its going to be hard to find quality outdoor speakers for less than $100 a peice unless you buy them used.

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

Wow, and here I'd just get the boxes and guts for outdoor monitors (the kind used for concerts) and assemble those.

My yard is currently wired with Marshall high-output wedges I put together myself (for about 1/3 the cost of buying assembled ones, I spent less than $1000 on the whole kit and caboodle, mixing board, CD/Casette decks, dongly bits), which is all connected back to a distrow and a small 50-channel mixing board, all in its own little shed. I can control my parcans from there too.

The only thing is that I had the distrow to begin with. If you don't have mobile lighting-director equipment already, this option could get more expensive for you.

EDIT - You want smaller, mountable instruments, don't you? Stuff that's leech-powered, not direct....

Go to the nearest car audio store, purchase a set of good woofers (two instruments), two pairs of good mids, and two pairs of tweeters. Then just build your own boxes out of luann or good plywood, and cover them in vinyl (you can get this at most respectable fabric stores). You can get wire and connectors at Radio Shack or similar dealers, and mounts from the hardware store where you bought the plywood. Construct four boxes to hold the mids and tweeters, and a pair of boxes for the woofers. You can twin the woofer wire with two of the mid-high boxes (ideally, the left and right rears) to end up with four dolby-jacks that can be plugged directly into your sound system, or filtered through a little 6-channel mixer. I have wired houses in this manner for less than $500 using Bose and Sony XPlod instruments - if you want Harmon Karden it will cost a bit more.

Then, if you find that your sound is particularly muffled after a damp night, you can always go and buy just the vinyl or waxed paper speaker cones and swap those out. However, since your instruments are going to be under the protection of the deck roof (if I'm not missing something here) you shouldn't have that problem.

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

Oh its protected? Then I vote for these:

http://www.gadgetlounge.net/images/AvantGuard.jpg

Its only bout $10,000.00 for the set.

oops update: $12,470.00

Better pic: Avantgarde Acoustic - Galerie

click on: customer | Europe | 29.03.2007

I don't believe this but I heard you can grow these from seed but the germination is slow.

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

Go Beth! haha!

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

A quick hijack and then I'll shut up - but we knew Jim Marshall in the 60's when he had a shop in Bletchley, UK and was really getting going - all the groups used to trail in there. I'm gone!

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

Nope. The "ceiling" is 30% shade cloth.

I'm considering these: Yamaha NS-AW190BL

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

Richard ever ones got so many good ideas. I'm not sure what i could add. but all take a stab at it. the problem with out door set ups is that the dynamic power has to be significant to over come the fact that there are hardly any walls. normally speakers of any kind depend heavily on reflective dynamic sound in order to deliver good acoustic saturation. that being said and I'm sure that was probably obvious. this is a highly competitive field if you go with JBL or akia of one of the other higher end brands you are defiantly paying for the name particularly with bows the important consideration here is what kind of music do you listing to speakers for rock don't work for classical all that well thats just and example. thy requirer vary diffident ranges of response sensitivity. so the first thing i would do is set down and decide what do you really want your sound system to do? classical rock jazz or what ever. also there are some vary nice speaker systems that use the walls as the emitters that way the entire surface of you house could becomes the sound emitter. not saying the quality is that high but you defiantly get a wide area of saturation. also don't forget the more people you have in an giving sound field the more dynamic power you will need body's absorb sound as well as plants the cloth that will be hanging over your head, the bark that most people use as mulching so on and so forth. so all the being said talking with a sales person at a reputable show room mite be a good idea. and after you decide all that then you will have a pretty good idea of what kind of system to get. then look for the best price . buy the way i vote for Polk Audio. there a smaller company that has dominated in the last 20 years by being vary competitive in the price market. I'm not saying they are the best just for the money you get allot. they are built like Small tanks and have a vary high rating for life expectancy. out door speakers have a much shorter life Span then indoor systems. OK i wont ramble any more but this is a fairly complicated subject.
link to Polk's Atrium Series speakers. they meet or exceed military specifications for environmental endurance Polk Audio - Atrium Series - The Speaker For All Seasons

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

I think you need to go with the Fostex drivers made from banana pulp. Really is there any other choice?

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

Peaches.

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

I think I'm going with these YAMAHA all-weather model 390 speakers, available from many retailers at $80 a pair.

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

not a bad Chou's but Polk audio is rated higher for over all life expectancy but i cant knock them as i have several Yamaha products in my arsenal of Musical instruments as well as indoor speakers

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

Yes, I looked at those but the equivalent rated speakers are currently twice the cost of the Yamaha models. Maybe the price will fall for Christmas sales?

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

it wouldn't surprise me to find a sale or two this season every ones hurting in the audio business Yamaha posted a loss for the first time in the history of there co, this year Polk isn't doing much better either and Awki is just about bankrupt i cant blame you in any way for looking for a deal thees days Speakers have always been over priced any way there hasn't been a new technology in 30 years with the exception of liquid mags and we know were that teck ended up good luck with the installation just remember to buy enough dynamic powered but even if you under buy you can always add more later

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

Eh....I just regular indoor speakers
I have 2 tucked under my outside bar, one in the window of the pool cabana
Then another one on a longer wire inside the door that I pull out & point where I want it

I have picked up several sets of speakers from people getting rid of them
My pool cabana stereo has an 8-track & record player built in
Going on 6 years now & they all work fine

I've thought of building my own rocks to hide some further out in the yard

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

that works fine for a wial the problime as i see it with indoor speekers is that the paper cone even thou its silacon sprayed will eventualy fail do to water infaltration of even high leveals of humidity seeping in to the glues that hold the mag and sounders in place but iv uesd indoors out side many times

Re: outdoor music speakers?
 

Yes, whatever I buy has to tolerate rainfall. The only "protection" they will have is 30% shade cloth.