[kbuzz3]

This may be a little ridiculous but has anyone heard any of the newer outdoor speaker offerings? Seems all the brands make them and they range from $200 to about $800. From the outside they are "almost" indistinguishable. I know we are talking about a patio device but could'nt hurt to ask. Short list would be the usual suspects

PSB
Tannoy
Monitor
Klipsch (never thought i would say that but the little horn may have an advantage outside)

[Carl V]

I have had Boston Acoustic, Paradigm....Klipsch.

I've gone back to Klipsch over & over. for
my home,friends homes or Boats.
either the 6" or 8" driver. They work well.
Sound good. Made well.  I use three as
an outdoor under the eaves LCR for outdoor
Movie nite. simple Drapers 90" screen & Panny
It's amazingly fun & exciting. A simple Sealed Tempest
is brought out for Sub.

[Mitsuman]

Niles Audio 

[max190]

I've had these for 4 years now. Sound pretty damn good. I paid $100 for them at BestBuy
http://www.amazon.com/JBL-Northridge-N24AWII-Weather-Resistant-Bookshelf/dp/B0000632G5

If you want more bass go up to the 6" version. Still way under $200
 

[electricbear]

The best affordable outdoors I've heard and sold over the years are the Klipsch. Most OD speakers have little bass response and struggle to reach good spl. The large Klipsch with the 8"driver seem to produce the best bass and have a high db per watt when compaired to the others. If I were installing outdoor speakers they would be my only choice.

[Mitsuman]

I'm a big Klipsch fan myself, but for the $ Niles Audio OS series are simply the best I've heard. Mine produce surprising bass and SPL is not a problem as they're 90db efficient. As always YMMV, but I would buy another set of Niles in a heartbeat. 

[Scott F.]

I've owned a number of different outdoor speakers and listened to quite a few others most of which have already been mentioned. I can say without a doubt that for my ears, the Aperion audio Intimus outdoor speakers are the best sounding I've found so far. Smooth highs, good mids, really decent bass for an outdoor listening environment. They are $149 each and best part is if you don't like 'em, ship them back for a refund. It doesn't get much better than that.

Aperion Intimus Speakers



These things have great bass providing you mount them up under the soffit next to the exterior wall of your house.

If you look at the pic, these have a -3db 0 +3db switch on the back of the speaker. That helps you tune the bass to your listening environment.



What I think they did (I haven't opened up the cases) is use a voice coil woofer. On half of the voice coil they run it traditionally. On the other half they have it cut in around 80Hz or so making it a quasi-2 1/2 way speaker so you get better bass outdoors. Obviously they have a padding circuit for the level adjustment.

Pretty clever design if in fact that is what they do.

I use mine on our back deck with a Squeezebox and a little Jolida 1301A 30wpc hybrid. The deck system can kick it pretty well considering. It even images.

Well, there's my $.02 

[enal]

Its outdoor speakers...Buy something that won't break the bank to replace..!

I have 4 - 8 inch TIC Omni's for bass and fill like at Disney along with some of their 6.5inch for highs.  All of them are buried in the ground and fill the air with sound and doesn't blast the guests.

I went through many of the above mentioned and all went back or were sold for the TIC setup.

Inexpensive and effective..!

[ptmconsulting]

I picked up a pair of Niles speakers a few years ago and never looked back. I do pull them inside for the winter, and I do push in the loudness button when playing them (but that is probably an effective necessity on any outdoor speaker). They do sound good enough to use as a small indoor monitor as well. Very nice indeed.

[richidoo]

I've had these for 6 years,
http://www.outdoorspeakerdepot.com/ap70v8pasp.html
They sound great. I use a Sonos class D amp and couldn't be happier with the sound. The 8" ported driver plays low and loud, so music is satisfying even at low volume levels. I would not want a 6" after living with this. They play loud enough to fill the large backyard with good sounding music. They have taken glancing blows from pressure washer a few times. There's a touch of rust showing through the painted steel grill, but otherwise no problems.

[Bob in St. Louis]

I'm a big Klipsch fan myself, but for the $ Niles Audio OS series are simply the best I've heard. Mine produce surprising bass and SPL is not a problem as they're 90db efficient. As always YMMV, but I would buy another set of Niles in a heartbeat. 

I used to have a few sets of the Niles OS-10.
Parts Express has a Dayton line that is identical in both appearance and specs for a fraction the price.

I thought Scott had a pair of the Niles on his deck?

Bob

[Phil A]

I have Niles OS-20s outside about the upper portion of the deck for 14 years and have never even taken them inside for the winter.  They are up high and I didn't want to deal with dragging a 10 foot ladder out there every year.  Many speakes are labeled as indoor/outdoor.  I have Parasounds (forget which model but more than 10 years old) in the garage (on a volume control) hooked to the bedroom system.  They sound good, but like other speakers labeled as indoor/outdoor, they are not going to hold up the way the Niles have.  The next house is going to have in-ceilings in a covered area.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Hmm...must be a sign, I just received the PartsExpress flyer in the mail. 

HERE are the Daytons I was talking about.
HERE are the Niles OS-10.
The specs and appearance are the same.

Hope that helps.
Bob

[ptmconsulting]

Being the audiophiles we are, we all know that specs don't lie. They just don't tell the whole story.

[audiogoober]

Are the OS-10 and OS-20 both discontinued models?

[Scott F.]

I thought Scott had a pair of the Niles on his deck?

I used to on the front deck. Unfortunately the soft dome tweeters rotted out. In turn I bought a cheapie pair of Yamaha's for the front deck. Those tweeters are rotting out too

For the back deck, I bought the Aperions. They sound considerably better than the former(s) IMO.