I know a little about home audio but I'm completely new to outdoor
speakers. The situation I have is I have a nice stereo setup with a
Yamaha receiver which has two sets of speaker outputs and I've decided
to use the 2nd set to run speakers outside. Of course I have issues
like wondering how to run the speaker wire outside through a brick
house but my main concern is what type of speakers to get. I know
nothing about outdoor speakers.
Is there a certain type to look for? Originally I was looking for
something that may be used in amusement parks, something that would
stick into the ground and be sheltered but once I started doing some
research I found most look very much like regular speakers except more
weatherproof and simply hang underneath a eave
Well first, how weatherproof are these? They seem to be made to
install permanently so I take it you don't have to move them in and
out seasonlly and they can stay out permanently. Where I live in
Colorado it doesn't rain but so often but we can get extreme heat at
times as well as extreme cold at times and snow. In the back of the
house there is a hot tub and I plan to mount these just outside the
back door underneath a eave. That shoudl protect them from a lot of
direct weather but if the winds blow right they could be subjected to
high winds as well as rain and snow to some degree.
Also, are there any specific brands I should look at?
As well, what is a good price range to look at? Inside on one stereo
system I have Polk speakers, the other Klipsh. The polks were around
$150 each, the Klipsh's around $299 each. Most of the listening where
the hot tub and picnic table is will be around 10-20 feet away at the
most. I want to easily be able to hear it and have good quality sound
but yet don't need it super loud. As well, I want sound that quality
wise is within the same range as the current indoor speakers I have.
Any ideas of what I should be looking into? Like I said I want
something I can leave outside permanently.

With regards to the wiring issue, if you can get to the attic and can access
the eaves, the easiest thing to do is to drop your speaker cable through the
eaves rather than trying to get new cable run through an existing brick
wall.

Almost of the outdoor speakers that I have seen have mounting brackets.
Typically, the speakers can be removed from the brackets fairly easily, so
it is not a big deal if you wanted to take your speakers out of the weather
during the winter if necessary. With regards to speaker selection, just
like anything else, you get what you pay for. Klipsh likely makes a good
outdoor speaker. My choice of speaker would likely be one of the Paradigm's
Stylus® Series.
http://www.paradigm.com/Website/Site...lusseries.html

I would reccomend finding your local Paradigm dealer and comparing between
the Stylus® 150, 250, and 350. IMHO, the Stylus® 350s are going to be the
best of the lot, but you will need to justify if the additional cost is
worth it to you.

Hope this helps...

"MarkW" wrote in message
...
I know a little about home audio but I'm completely new to outdoor
speakers. The situation I have is I have a nice stereo setup with a
Yamaha receiver which has two sets of speaker outputs and I've decided
to use the 2nd set to run speakers outside. Of course I have issues
like wondering how to run the speaker wire outside through a brick
house but my main concern is what type of speakers to get. I know
nothing about outdoor speakers.
Is there a certain type to look for? Originally I was looking for
something that may be used in amusement parks, something that would
stick into the ground and be sheltered but once I started doing some
research I found most look very much like regular speakers except more
weatherproof and simply hang underneath a eave
Well first, how weatherproof are these? They seem to be made to
install permanently so I take it you don't have to move them in and
out seasonlly and they can stay out permanently. Where I live in
Colorado it doesn't rain but so often but we can get extreme heat at
times as well as extreme cold at times and snow. In the back of the
house there is a hot tub and I plan to mount these just outside the
back door underneath a eave. That shoudl protect them from a lot of
direct weather but if the winds blow right they could be subjected to
high winds as well as rain and snow to some degree.
Also, are there any specific brands I should look at?
As well, what is a good price range to look at? Inside on one stereo
system I have Polk speakers, the other Klipsh. The polks were around
$150 each, the Klipsh's around $299 each. Most of the listening where
the hot tub and picnic table is will be around 10-20 feet away at the
most. I want to easily be able to hear it and have good quality sound
but yet don't need it super loud. As well, I want sound that quality
wise is within the same range as the current indoor speakers I have.
Any ideas of what I should be looking into? Like I said I want
something I can leave outside permanently.