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View Full Version : Followup to Outodor Speakers...



jblnut
10-18-2004, 06:50 PM
Thanks to many of the forum members who recommended some of their favorite outdoor speakers for deck/patio use. I did a lot of research and eventually came to one conclusion - surprise - I wanted some kind of JBL. A few ebay auctions later and I now have a mint pair of S36AW's mounted about 8' off the ground and about 8' apart on the back of the house. They face slightly downward, right at the hot tub. I'm driving them with another ebay bargain - a Harman AVR25 (these are a steal at $50-100 used, they were $700 new and have a ton of clean power).

I drove them fairly hard in the basement for a few days to break them in and make sure they were solid (they are). Inside and sitting on top of my 940's, they sounded way bright and weak in the bass. But outside, up high and against a wall they actually sound pretty good. Very good actually as a few friends attested to the other night. I ran Floyd's "Pulse" concert through them as we enjoyed a 3 hour rainstorm (very much like their '94 concerts near Boston which we were all at) in the tub.

Overall I'm very happy and would recommend them heartily. They are very clear and not boxy/boomy like most of the cheaper outdoor speakers I've heard. The bass isn't tremendous but it's only a 6" driver in a fairly small non-ported enclosure. Next year I need to wire up some kind of sub in the tub so you can feel the bass through the water....

You can never have too many pairs of JBL's in the house, or outside the house for that matter :-)

jblnut

Audiobeer
10-18-2004, 08:31 PM
Originally posted by jblnut
[B
You can never have too many pairs of JBL's in the house, or outside the house for that matter :-)

jblnut [/B]


Amen! :)

mikebake
10-20-2004, 07:56 AM
I have JBL's outside, Control 1AW's, and also a pair of Infinity Outriggers in another area of the deck......anyway, just go to a big box electronic store and get an el-cheapo loss-leader powered subwoofer or two, hide them somewhere in the vicinity, and cover them with appropriate sized grill covers. It'll work! Two more things; raise the subs up three extra inches or so to help keep rain/snow away, and use a GFI circuit for the power.

Even a cheap sub dialed in right will improve the sound for you outdoors.

MBB