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Outdoor speakers.

28K views 167 replies 32 participants last post by  markrubin 
#1 ·
Can any regulars on this forum point me in the direction of the best environmental speaker manufacturers.


Im only interested in SQ rather than units disguised as rocks or dog turds.



Thanks in advance.
 
#127 ·
I've been reading this thread.... and I too will be needing 2 outdoor speakers. I have an Integra 7.6 AVR that will be driving these two speakers. The listening outdoor area will be 25' x 30' . My question is, are the Bogen NEAR A8 a good complement to the AVR? Or is the AVR not good enough for these speakers. I will be listening to cd's on my BD disk player for the most part.


Thanks


Paul
 
#128 ·
CM: I bought a pair of A8's to try on your recommendation (possibly to replace Speakercraft OE8 three )...have yet to try them


this reminds me my favorite outdoor speaker (in the 1980's) used to be the NEAR AES-2: this was before Bogen bought them: they were in a fiberglass enclosure for outdoor use: sounded excellent


NEAR stands for New England Audio Resources
 
#129 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by hidefpaul /forum/post/14151664


I've been reading this thread.... and I too will be needing 2 outdoor speakers. I have an Integra 7.6 AVR that will be driving these two speakers. The listening outdoor area will be 25' x 30' . My question is, are the Bogen NEAR A8 a good complement to the AVR? Or is the AVR not good enough for these speakers. I will be listening to cd's on my BD disk player for the most part.


Thanks


Paul

I dont think there will be any sort of issue.
 
#130 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by markrubin /forum/post/14152175


CM: I bought a pair of A8's to try on your recommendation (possibly to replace Speakercraft OE8 three )...have yet to try them


this reminds me my favorite outdoor speaker (in the 1980's) used to be the NEAR AES-2: this was before Bogen bought them: they were in a fiberglass enclosure for outdoor use: sounded excellent


NEAR stands for New England Audio Resources

The pressure is on me now.



You wont be disappointed, but bear in mind that the OE8 was in my final 2 so you may not find a huge difference.


Good luck.
 
#132 ·
Coldmachine,


Thank youi very much for the info. I am a Sonos user and am looking to add an outdoor zone (LOVE Sonos by the way and recommend it to everyone). Found your thread in the Sonos forums and it led me here. Yoiur review is very through and as a result I am now strongly leaning towards the A8's.


Within the Sonos forums, people seems to strongly recommend Polk Atrium 60's and I had largely decided on them until I cam across your thread. Why did you choose to pass them up in the test? Anyone have any thoughts on comparison?


Also, for my application, I have about a 25-30 ft. to the fenceline and would be installing under eaves with about a four foot roof hangover running on a Sonos ZP100. Any thoughs on how to get the best dispersion and are the A8's still my best bet for this application?


Thank you again! It is great to have so much helpful information at your fingertips...
 
#133 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by barts1971 /forum/post/14156584


Coldmachine,


Thank youi very much for the info. I am a Sonos user and am looking to add an outdoor zone (LOVE Sonos by the way and recommend it to everyone). Found your thread in the Sonos forums and it led me here. Yoiur review is very through and as a result I am now strongly leaning towards the A8's.


Within the Sonos forums, people seems to strongly recommend Polk Atrium 60's and I had largely decided on them until I cam across your thread. Why did you choose to pass them up in the test? Anyone have any thoughts on comparison?


Also, for my application, I have about a 25-30 ft. to the fenceline and would be installing under eaves with about a four foot roof hangover running on a Sonos ZP100. Any thoughs on how to get the best dispersion and are the A8's still my best bet for this application?


Thank you again! It is great to have so much helpful information at your fingertips...

Kind words indeed. Thank you.
 
#134 ·
Got my replacement pair of A8s directly from Bogen -- prompt service btw -- and there are exactly the same indentations on the cabinet. I see now that the speaker brackets, which ship on the speakers, dig into the sides of it during shipping. The brackets should not be packed attached as they are.


Don't know if and how I'm going to resolve this at the moment.


As an aside, I really appreciate the sound; it's much better than I expected from an outdoor speaker; clean, able to play loud w/o distorting, and with appealing body thru the frequency range.
 
#135 ·
I shipped back the pair of A8Ts that I got (19.9kg package..ugh) and am now tracking the arrival of the A8s: they are due to arrive tomorrow. They weigh 2lbs (each) less that the A8T, so hopefully I'll be able to mount them without too much trouble. These are real hefty speakers!
 
#136 ·
Got my A8s today. They have the same rub marks (like a small laceration....that's what it would be in my day job at least, LOL) on them. They really ought to package these so that the bracket doesn't dig into the speaker. I won't send them back...they're gonna be outside, so it'll all be pretty much imperceptible. Can't wait to get them hooked up!
 
#140 ·
I thought this was suppose to be the Ultra High end gear forum?


Weatherproofed Danley Labs SH-100B's or SH-95's for small to medium spaces.


SH-50's or Sh-25's in an array if you have a REALLY big back yard (SH-25's are over 4 feet deep).
 
#143 ·
I hooked my A8s up to the zp100 for the first time on sat. night. Just been too busy to get much done! At first, I just set one speaker on a bench and brought the zp100 outside. It was great! But, then I went ahead and mounted the other speaker on my house where I wanted it and hooked it up too. Both are still temporary hookups (I'm waiting for the waterproof boot for the back before I mount them permanently), but I got to listen to the two of them together. The one speaker had a short run (like, 8 inches) as it was sitting next to the zp100; the other I hooked up with the 100' outdoor wire I got (don't want to cut it til I know where everything is going). 14G. And no trouble at all. Sounds great, no issues. You'll love it! I admit, when I first saw how big the A8s were I was worried I got in over my head. But, the patio is so big, 2 A8s is just right. And mounting them is simple. I found a stud through my siding and put up the bracket. Then you mount the speaker in it. Even for this relatively unhandy woman, it was not bad. I'm still nervous about drilling a hole through my house for the speaker wires, but I'll hopefully get up the courage this week and get some pics up here.

Andrea
 
#144 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by strolee /forum/post/14234708


Has anyone used the A8's yet with the Sonos ZP100? I'm thinking of doing this setup on my backyard deck and it would be great to get some feedback from the group. I want to make sure that the ZP100 can effectively drive the speakers, both at low and high volumes.

Yes, tried it last week as a trial run for my distribution system in order to try out speaker placements. Low volume retains good clarity and bass. The volume was fine, depending on the size of your area and you preference.


As for size, I used them on a raised deck of 50ft diagonal with a speaker on each corner.A single unit with a single pair on the diagonals was easily enough for normal listening. 2 synchronized units with 2 pairs was very loud indeed.


The speakers are easily driven (91db sensitivity) and the ZP100 doesn't seem to sag with bass heavy stuff, which surprised me.
 
#145 ·
Thanks very much for the input drs and coldmachine. Sounds good!! My deck area is on the smaller scale, around 20 feet. I usually tend to like to go bigger than smaller, but wondering if the A8's will be complete overkill, and if I should consider the A6's. I don't mind spending the extra $$ on the A8's, just don't want to over power the area. Any thoughts? Also, any issues (weight wise) with screwing the A8's directly onto the side of a cedar deck?
 
#146 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by strolee /forum/post/14235841


I usually tend to like to go bigger than smaller, but wondering if the A8's will be complete overkill, and if I should consider the A6's. I don't mind spending the extra $$ on the A8's, just don't want to over power the area. lsoAny thoughts?

You've answered your own question. A8s. Its a better speaker.


For that sort of area, they'll be fine. The ZP100 isn't a hugely powerful amp, its only 50w.


IMO, it wont be overpowering at all, just nice.
 
#147 ·
Considering getting the same speakers as I have read very good reviews.


Was looking at these, BA Voyager 7 and Mirage Oasis Omni 6 and kept coming back to the niles.


I do have a question, you have three speakers hooked up??? Is that for left center and right?????


Quote:
Originally Posted by Vincehoffman /forum/post/13934781


I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Niles OS7.5s in this thread so far. When we built a new rooftop deck off our 2nd story loft last year I did beaucoup research on this subject. The end result was a trio of the OS 7.5s driven in Trifield as a second zone by a Meridian 541 pre-pro, a 557 (200w/ch) and a 505 (160w/mono) off of our living room Meridian surround system. It sounds killer, goes way loud when required, and doesn't require a sub to offer decent outdoor bass. Highly recommended!







Happy Trails!
Vince@Freewheelcycle.com
 
#148 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Suzook /forum/post/14325660


Considering getting the same speakers as I have read very good reviews.


Was looking at these, BA Voyager 7 and Mirage Oasis Omni 6 and kept coming back to the niles.

I do have a question, you have three speakers hooked up??? Is that for left center and right?????

Yup, I'm using an old Meridian Pre-Pro running Trifield for the "patio zone". Meridian's Trifield "3-speaker stereo" processing provides great stereo coverage of the entire deck. The electronics exclusive to the deck system are pictured. It is slaved off of our living-room Meridian set-up as a 2nd zone and shares all the living-room sources. Remote control of the deck system is accomplished with a Meridian 512 Remote IR sensor stuck in the corner of an outwards facing window. The only fly in the ointment with this set-up was having to buy 2 pairs of the speakers to get the three I needed. Niles only packages 'em in pairs. If you want to accomplish something similar, Let me know and perhaps I can sell ya my spare...


Happy Trails!
Vince@Freewheelcycle.com
 
#150 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by rblnr /forum/post/14334922


Outdoor Trifield! Love it!


May be something only M-heads can truly appreciate.

Try some full surround. If the speakers are mounted up high and outside the listening area, its mighty impressive.


I think it was Peter who described it as a "dome of sound". Its a very apt description.
 
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