Outdoor Speakers

Stretch · 7 Nov 2010 at 20:14

I’m toying with the idea of getting some outdoor/weatherproof speakers for my garden.

I want something that will perform well enough for summer parties, BBQs etc in similar way a reasonable home stereo would.

Do you have to spend a fortune to get anything worthwhile, or would I be better off just putting standard speakers outside when needed?

jellybeard999 · 7 Nov 2010 at 20:51

http://www.richersounds.com/product/bookshelf-speakers/tdl/rock/tdl-rock-speaker

It even labels itself as a bargain

Serious response though, decent outdoor speakers do exist, but I'd expect them to be pricy. How often would you use them in all honesty? Is it that much hassle to move speakers a few times a year? Maybe a second set would make life easier?

AtticusFinch · 7 Nov 2010 at 21:51

You can get outdoor speakers from £200 for something basic and passable from JBL, through to some more expensive jobbies at around £500 for something a bit better. As with everything hifi the sky's the limit though.

Stretch · 7 Nov 2010 at 22:06

jellybeard999 said:
http://www.richersounds.com/product/bookshelf-speakers/tdl/rock/tdl-rock-speaker

It even labels itself as a bargain

Serious response though, decent outdoor speakers do exist, but I'd expect them to be pricy. How often would you use them in all honesty? Is it that much hassle to move speakers a few times a year? Maybe a second set would make life easier?

Hmmm, not sure about the plastic rock look

I'd probably use them about 5-10 times a year for parties and my gf would like them for gardening so they would get a moderate amount of use. However the garden is quite large so I'm not sure the neighbors are going to like it much if she's down the bottom with the stereo on full blast

I'm weighing up if would be better to get a second set of regular speakers or an outdoor set. All depends on the price difference. I've seen a set of decent indoor speakers on eBay for £100 so I wouldn’t want to spend much more than that unless they were really good.

How long would you expect a set of outdoor speakers to last out exposed to the elements.

AtticusFinch said:
You can get outdoor speakers from £200 for something basic and passable from JBL, through to some more expensive jobbies at around £500 for something a bit better. As with everything hifi the sky's the limit though.

Got a link to the JBL speakers please?

lucid · 7 Nov 2010 at 23:28

Outdoor speakers need to survive extremes of temperature, humidity, getting soaked and the damage caused by freezing. Think about how the frost and icing up can wreck tarmac and you start to appreciate what tough conditions outdoor speakers have to cope with.

TBH, hoping for the same performance from an outdoor speaker costing the same as an indoor speaker just isn't a realistic expectation.

If you only have £100 to spend and you want your tunes loud and with decent bass then don't waste it on outdoor speakers. Buy some second-hand indoor Hi-Fi speakers and just hang them outside as and when you need. Making decent bass outside is hard - Go for something a little bigger than the average bookshelf speaker and with bass reflex ports. Just remember not to leave them out overnight or the morning dew will kill them real quick.

If you have £400 to spend then I can recommend Bose 251 environmental speakers. I installed some for one of my clients a couple of years ago. They're pumping sound in to 12m x 12m enclosed courtyard and they sound good.