Indoor vs Outdoor Speakers for Covered Patio in SoCal

[michaelm101]

Can someone please comment on the conditions that an indoor vs outdoor speaker can endure.

I ask because we have a covered patio (in inland So Cal) and I'm currently running outdoor speakers in there
for an HT setup, in addition to a separate 2CH setup.

The speakers (Polk Atriums) are sonically inferior to the speakers I run in the house.

Thanks as always, for your excellent advice and comments!

 

[F1nut]

Your Polk speakers, like most if not all outdoor speakers, are sealed up tight to keep water, dust/dirt, bugs and small critters out. They also use materials designed to withstand high heat and extreme cold.

What indoor speakers are you comparing the Atriums to? Polk makes a few Atrium models, which do you have?

 

[RVT1K]

Is there a risk of them getting wet? I wouldn't put anything for inside on the patio if there is a chance they will get wet.
Ours is screened in and we had rain last night/this morning and it gets wet if there is any wind.

 

[michaelm101]

Is there a risk of them getting wet? I wouldn't put anything for inside on the patio if there is a chance they will get wet.
Ours is screened in and we had rain last night/this morning and it gets wet if there is any wind.

The pair that act as the fronts for the TV may get some moisture from rainy weather. The other 2CH pair is definitely safe from the elements.

 

[HPMguy]

You definitely want water and critter proof. You don't want to find that mice have chewed up the speaker cones....

 

[Sgt Shultz]

Can someone please comment on the conditions that an indoor vs outdoor speaker can endure.

I ask because we have a covered patio (in inland So Cal) and I'm currently running outdoor speakers in there
for an HT setup, in addition to a separate 2CH setup.

The speakers (Polk Atriums) are sonically inferior to the speakers I run in the house.

Thanks as always, for your excellent advice and comments!

You might prefer the Kicker KB6/KB6000 to the Polks.

 

[michaelm101]

Your Polk speakers, like most if not all outdoor speakers, are sealed up tight to keep water, dust/dirt, bugs and small critters out. They also use materials designed to withstand high heat and extreme cold.

What indoor speakers are you comparing the Atriums to? Polk makes a few Atrium models, which do you have?

You might prefer the Kicker KB6/KB6000 to the Polks.


View attachment 3096616

View attachment 3096617

Nice, but although I've use horn loaded cabs for PA for decades, I never got into horns for home audio. And, yes, I do realize that the Klipsch company made their name on them. Perhaps, I'll open my mind and have a listen...Thx.

 

[HPMguy]

note the metal screen for a grille -- rodent proof.....

 

[twiiii]

Unless the speaker has specifically coated paper cones I would want speakers with some other material that is not susceptible to moisture. Another issue could be smog and salt water if to near the ocean. Anything that will rust or oxidize will near the ocean. I know I lived 15 miles in land from the ocean in Northern California. If the rain and mist don't get to the products the fog will. I remember my dad use to buy anew car every 5 years and had the car under coated to keep the rust from compromising his cars. trucks he had under coated to and sold them every 5 years.

I now live in the desert and when we traveled I always traded my cars that I towed on the west coast or Houston. Why Because I could always get 3 to 4000 dollars more because the used car manager would put my cars on a lift and inspect them for rust. Living in the Desert Southwest with less than 9 inches a rain a year and the average daytime humidity below 15% and most summers below 10%. They saw no rust and gave me the money and shook my hand for bringing a clean used car they would get big bucks for. Of course they didn't realize that though the odometer said the cars only had 40,000 or so miles they had been towed and extra 60,000 miles easily that didn't register. Plus I would put fairly new take off tires on the vehicles and make sure the car was freshly washed and waxed. Spending $300 or so to get an extra 3 to 4000 dollars was easy math for me. I sold my CR-V to my Acura dealers Service managers mom; and made extra money that way, too. when buying a MDX . Can't tow them, but I had sold the RV by then. Ist picture, Palm Desert, 2nd picture, CC factory buying a new coach, 3rd picture. Harrisburg, Oregon, at a Country Coach RV annual fall rally. Notice the 2012 CR-V matches the color of the stripe. It was a week old.

 

[F1nut]

michaelm101,​

You quoted my post to you, but did not answer the questions.

 

[michaelm101]

Your Polk speakers, like most if not all outdoor speakers, are sealed up tight to keep water, dust/dirt, bugs and small critters out. They also use materials designed to withstand high heat and extreme cold.

What indoor speakers are you comparing the Atriums to? Polk makes a few Atrium models, which do you have?

Comparing to speakers similar in size: canton S, Paradigm Atom, Optimus 7. The Atriums are 5s. I run a sub out there in the summertime.

 

[Sgt Shultz]

Nice, but although I've use horn loaded cabs for PA for decades, I never got into horns for home audio. And, yes, I do realize that the Klipsch company made their name on them. Perhaps, I'll open my mind and have a listen...Thx.

I'm using a pair on our rear lanai and they sound fantastic.


If not familiar with Kicker they're big in the automotive sound industry, first used them in a yota 4x4 way back in the day. Had a pair of 4" full range Polks first, the Rockford amp blew those, replaced with Infinitys, one cought fire. Replaced with the Kickers, no more problems, still have those little mothers around here somewhere.

They ate the Fosgate power like it was candy.

 

[michaelm101]

I'm using a pair on our rear lanai and they sound fantastic.
View attachment 3096696

If not familiar with Kicker they're big in the automotive sound industry, first used them in a yota 4x4 way back in the day. Had a pair of 4" full range Polks first, the Rockford amp blew those, replaced with Infinitys, one cought fire. Replaced with the Kickers, no more problems, still have those little mothers around here somewhere.

They ate the Fosgate power like it was candy.

I see you've got them mounted horizontal. Is the horn dispersion not affected by this?

 

[F1nut]

Comparing to speakers similar in size: canton S, Paradigm Atom, Optimus 7. The Atriums are 5s. I run a sub out there in the summertime.

Ok, so the Canton S Plus is an outdoor speaker, which I have no experience with. I do with the Optimus 7, as such I'm surprised you prefer it to the Atrium. I found the 7 pretty dreadful. No experience with the Paradigm Atom, but with some of their others. I can see it sounding better, but that big port hole would rule it out.

Take a look a the Atrium 8. It has a much bigger driver, which digs much deeper than your 5 resulting in a much fuller sound.

 

[michaelm101]

Ok, so the Canton S Plus is an outdoor speaker, which I have no experience with. I do with the Optimus 7, as such I'm surprised you prefer it to the Atrium. I found the 7 pretty dreadful. No experience with the Paradigm Atom, but with some of their others. I can see it sounding better, but that big port hole would rule it out.

Take a look a the Atrium 8. It has a much bigger driver, which digs much deeper than your 5 resulting in a much fuller sound.

The Canton have metal grills, but never knew they were outdoor speakers. The Optimus do better with background music at low vol. I think I want a bit more crisp out there? Thx!

 

[Sgt Shultz]

I see you've got them mounted horizontal. Is the horn dispersion not affected by this?

Yes, with it mounted this way the horn will have wider dispersion, that's the way horns work.

 

[kwkshift]

If you're open to upgrading your outdoor speakers, the best performing weatherproof/ outdoor speakers I have ever come across are the Near LB8's and LB6's. They definitely aren't cheap, but they perform more like a real HiFi speaker than anything else I've seen.

 

[F1nut]

Culled from the net, hope it helps.

Last year I had a client in Beverly Hills that wanted the best outdoor sound for his extensive back yard. After selecting electronics (see below) we had about 150 Watts @ 8 ohms per channel to work with. He let me order a pair of whatever speakers I thought should be considered with the intent to audition all of them and return the ones he didn't want. Over three months, we ordered a couple at time starting at the lowest price range, kept the best for comparison and shipped the others back for a refund. Below is what we listened to in order of price range:

$200 - JBL Control One
$230 - Peavy Impulse 6
$250 - Canton ProX
$250 - OSD AP850

$350 - Russound 5B65
$350 - Sonance Mariner
$375 - Polk Atrium 8

$400 - Bose SoundTouch 251
$400 - Definitive Technology AW650
$400 - Klipsch AW650
$400 - Proficient Audio AW830
$440 - KEF Ventura 6

$500 - Yamaha NS-AW992
$530 - Bogen NEAR A12
$530 - Speaker Craft OE8
$550 - PSB CS1000

$600 - Boston Acoustics Voyager 70
$670 - Niles OS 7.5

$700 - NEAR LB8
$750 - Jamo 8A2
$750 - Martin Logan 75AW

$950 - Focal OD706

At $375-$400, we found the Polk Atrium 8's and the Definitive Technology AW 650's to be the best sound for the value. The Atrium 8's had a cleaner top end while the AW650's had more bass. Above $700 the NEAR LB8's sounded better or comparable to the other more expensive options and clearly appeared to be the best built. However they were not necessarily worth almost double the cost of the AW650's. The Focal OD706 were slightly more natural sounding and musical than the LB8's but not worth $250 more unless you were a serious audiophile using them in a more sound friendly partially enclosed outdoor space. We were so impressed in the Atrium 8's that we ordered pairs of Atrium 5's for each of the 3 outdoor TV's. They are an outstanding value for only $79 on line. Several of the better known speakers distorted when turned up really loud and we blew a couple tweeters and fried a crossover.

 

[peterp1]

The Canton have metal grills, but never knew they were outdoor speakers. The Optimus do better with background music at low vol. I think I want a bit more crisp out there? Thx!

I have a pair of Atirum 6's on my deck, paired with passive in-ground sub buried under the middle of the deck, and I am very happy with the sound. The Atrium's are pretty "bright" speakers with sparkling clean highs without being harsh (in my opinion), so a bit surprised you want something more "crisp". The sub really makes all the difference in filling out the low-end outdoors -- though I see you also ran your Atrium 5's with a sub. Maybe try Atrium 8's, buying them from a place you can return if you don't like them.

The Atriums are absolute beasts for outdoor durability -- mine are on the left and right side of the far end of the deck (pointing back towards the center of the deck) -- they are completely uncovered and directly exposed to rain and elements. They have even been buried under snow at one point after a particularly heavy snow storm. During the summer, they are in direct sunlight with high temps on the hottest days. They've been out there, completely exposed, for 4 years and still sound and look like new. I couldn't be happier with them in terms of quality, or sound (save for deep bass extension that the in-ground sub solves).

 

[peterp1]

This is a picture of the in-ground passive sub that is paired with the Atrium 6's. Both the mains and passive sub are driven by a small Nobsound 2.1 amp (sounds amazing). I tried to sneakily install all this stuff while my wife was out, but she came back home and caught me pulling deck planks. I believe her words were "We don't need that!!!!" . She changed her tune a week later when she heard the system as we were sitting on the deck .