Garden speakers

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Discussion

ds666

Original Poster:

2,807 posts

186 months

Friday 23rd September 2022
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I'd like a couple of linked garden speakers . Need to be able to live outside permanently , be mains powered and ideally Alexa enabled . Decently sound quality .

What should I buy ?
Thanks


visitinglondon

362 posts

196 months

Friday 23rd September 2022
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Garden speakers are very council. Shouldn’t you already have them built into your sex pond or did you buy a budget one?

Have you asked your neighbours what they think about your garden speakers? Maybe they are also council and join you in your sex pond but if not I imagine they would be rather displeased by your selfishness.

OutInTheShed

9,384 posts

33 months

Saturday 24th September 2022
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Maybe the OP's neighbours are a proper distance from his house?

ReincarnatedHere

628 posts

26 months

Saturday 24th September 2022
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visitinglondon said:
Garden speakers are very council. Shouldn’t you already have them built into your sex pond or did you buy a budget one?

Have you asked your neighbours what they think about your garden speakers? Maybe they are also council and join you in your sex pond but if not I imagine they would be rather displeased by your selfishness.
If/when the OP posts up the aerial view of his pad being surrounded by 15Acres and we're admiring his outdoor pool you're going to look pretty daft having a snobby attitude.

James6112

5,420 posts

35 months

Sunday 25th September 2022
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visitinglondon said:
Garden speakers are very council. Shouldn’t you already have them built into your sex pond or did you buy a budget one?

Have you asked your neighbours what they think about your garden speakers? Maybe they are also council and join you in your sex pond but if not I imagine they would be rather displeased by your selfishness.
wobble

justin220

5,455 posts

211 months

Sunday 25th September 2022
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Do you want speakers, or something that is hidden/blends in?

Something like the Qacoustics Qinstall Qi65LW might be what you are looking for

ds666

Original Poster:

2,807 posts

186 months

Sunday 25th September 2022
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Sorry for the delay in replying - one of the Aston's took a bit longer to clean than usual after the trip to Paris to drop older daughter off for her year at the Sorbonne .

Justin - not really what I was looking for but thanks for your positive contribution .

As it would appear I'm not going to get a sensible answer from some of the obviously hoi polloi, I shall look somewhere less council


Edited by ds666 on Sunday 25th September 10:48

C n C

3,586 posts

228 months

Sunday 25th September 2022
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Depending on where in the garden you want to put the speakers, and how much you want to spend, one option may be to get some non powered weatherproof speakers, then run the speaker cables through the wall of your house, or shed, and put an amplifier indoors.

As an example, I put a pair of B&W WM6 speakers (long ago discontinued) on the external wall of the house to provide good quality music on the patio, ran the speaker cables through a hole drilled in the wall, and connected them to an amp indoors, which has a Sonos Connect box connected to it.

This enables control of the music via a Sonos app on my phone.
I can use it to play any of my music collection (ripped CDs stored on a NAS) as well as music from Spotify etc..

They have been there for 15 years so far and still work perfectly. The sound quality is great too.

There is a used pair currently available on eBay for £150 here.

There are other waterproof speakers available from several manufacturers.

The B&W WM6 have been replaced by the AM1 (they are £650 a pair).

Supplier with a range of outdoor speakers at various prices here.


It's worth noting that it is quite challenging to get decent sound outside as unlike a hifi indoors, there isn't a ceiling and walls reflecting the sound back.


... and for those who say that outdoor speakers are "council", in our case, as the speakers point away from the house, they can't really be heard by neighbours in their house, and when we put on music outside, it's not at a stupidly loud volume. The neighbours at the far end of the garden can't really hear the music either, as their garden is 100 foot long, and ours is 200 foot.

Snow and Rocks

2,438 posts

34 months

Sunday 25th September 2022
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visitinglondon said:
Garden speakers are very council. Shouldn’t you already have them built into your sex pond or did you buy a budget one?
Not everyone lives crammed into claustrophobic suburbia...

I agree with the suggestion to keep the electronics indoors and just run speaker wire out to where you want the speakers. We have the B&W AM1s recommended above and can highly recommend them - quite often on sale down to ~£450.

Worth experimenting with placement - ours are in a covered veranda/porch and actually sound better pointing inward towards the house.

VEX

5,256 posts

253 months

Friday 30th September 2022
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OSD Audio have a great range of garden speakers. From Bluetooth Patio (wall mounted), Rocks hidden in the garden (hateful looking things, IMO) to a rather excellent Sub/Sat system. (Subwoofer & Receiver + Mini speakers around the garden.

Just power them up (12v waterproof psu) and connect via Bluetooth, Alexa compatible too.

Griffith4ever

4,785 posts

42 months

Saturday 1st October 2022
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I approach this in two ways. Different scenarios.

Quadrangle outside my front door is shared space , but, only we ever use it. For that I have two JBL charge 3 speakers. They pair as. Stereo pair, and controlled via my phone which has Alexa on it. They are wireless and last forever on a charge, and I take them inside when done. They are also waterproof if forget.

Garden is a field not joined to my flat. So no power.

I use a pair of q acoustics bookshelf speakers wired to a 12v amplifier, which is connected to an Echo Dot with a rechargeable base. The amp is powered by a car battery which is solar charged with a small 40w panel. The sound is exceptional. I do however have to put the speakers in the shed when im done, and the amp back in the garden "box" that the car battery lives in. I've forgotten on the past and am on my third amp in as many years :-) at least they are only £25 a pop.

The joy is I can listen full volume in the field. No one is anywhere within earshot and the audio is sublime for some flukey reason. Many a summers afternoon spent in my hammock listening to Guy Garvy on Radio 6 :-)

Booyakajon

146 posts

190 months

Sunday 2nd October 2022
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I have a pair of Bose 251s and a Polk audio outdoor subwoofer powered by a Sonos amp (in a media room) outside our bedroom balcony. Just the speaker cables go outdoors.
It gives really good sound. Prior to the Sonos amp, it was on a zone 2 of a Sony amp, but the Sonos gives much better control and also syncs with the Sonos system in the orangery.

And yes, I know, the lantern needs a good clean!

wjwren

4,484 posts

142 months

Thursday 13th October 2022
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ive had 2x sonos sl outside for the past year in a diy wooden bollard. They work great.

GAVGOLF

116 posts

167 months

Wednesday 2nd November 2022
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I recommend Yamaha outdoor speakers - i have 2 zones fed from sonos Amps with the speaker cable being fed in ducting out to the locations. Outdoor wifi powered by ubiquiti access point means brilliant wifi and control anywhere via Sonos app

paralla

3,978 posts

142 months

Tuesday 8th November 2022
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I have a pair of Monitor Audio Climate 50's on my roof terrace, They look and sound as good as the day they were installed 9 years ago.

Powered from a Sonos Connect Amp in the boiler cupboard with just the speaker wires going out to the speakers.

https://www.monitoraudio.com/en/product-ranges/cli...