What outdoor speakers do you use and why?

[larrym20]

Looking to order my outdoor speakers this week and I'm trying to find a general consensus on what everyone prefers. Thinking about rock or omni-directional.

I will be doing fm transmission as well but want something outside for Halloween and low volume for Christmas.

Any website recommendations would be appreciated as well.

I'm in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area so weather isn't really an issue either.

Thanks,

Larry

Edited September 19, 2012 by larrym20

[Tim Fischer]

I haven't used them, but Monoprice has some relatively cheap outdoor speakers that I've heard good things about.

We don't typically use speakers but I'm thinking about it after last year, which was unseasonably warm and we had a lot more walk-up traffic. Of course this year will probably be back to everything buried in 3 feet of snow lol.

[George Simmons]

Looking to order my outdoor speakers this week and I'm trying to find a general consensus on what everyone prefers. Thinking about rock or omni-directional.

I will be doing fm transmission as well but want something outside for Halloween and low volume for Christmas.

Any website recommendations would be appreciated as well.

I'm in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area so weather isn't really an issue either.

Virtually all ordinary consumer loudspeakers are omnidirectional, so there's no need to be concerned about that.

As suggested above, computer speakers are an excellent low-cost option. You can find them at almost every garage sale for about two bucks. If they die, no need to cry...

Being in Texas, I'd say weather is more of an issue for you than it is up here in the tundra. Liquid precipitation and/or runoff are non-outdoor speakers' biggest threat, and we don't get much precipitation that's in a liquid form that time of year.

[k6ccc]

I am using some onmi directional speakers that sort of look like an 8 inch in diameter green mushroom. If you have every been to Disneyland and noticed the speakers they use in the flowerbeds, that's what I'm using (or more likely a copy after the patent ran out). I think they are rated at 75 watts each and I think I paid about $80 per pair. I have 4 of the speakers scattered through my yard. I got them from Best Buy on-line. I will post a link and photo tonight from home. Each speaker is connected to one channel of a 75 watt amplifier (a total of two 75 watt per channel stereo amps).

[wallleyes]

I got a pair of big stereo speakers for $10 at a garage sale.I cover them up with black 39 gallon garbage bags and set them on wood blocks.I hooked them up to my stereo system.

[digdeepfundraising]

im doing the same as wallleyes sound still travels through garbage bags(in the uk we call the bin bags )all tried and tested and no problems

[Guest Don Gillespie]

Bose speakers hung from my soffit line for protection from wind and rain and snow and sleet and hail and sun, really we use them all year round, when we sit on our deck in the summer to our Christmas display in the winter, but I imagine a cheap speaker will do just fine.

[Torqumada286]

Last year I used old computer speakers because they were ok and also free. I had 6 of them in the yard and no matter where you were you could hear. I had a static display last year but played Christmas music for people walking around. This year being my first year to sync music with lights I wanted more. I bought 6 - 8" Rock Speakers. Total cost of about $260. This was the best price I could find and I did research for months. If you do not need something that big they do have smaller ones. I would buy from them again. Free shipping and they are guaranteed for life. here is a link to their different speakers.

http://www.ebay.com/...lyfactorydirect Hope this helps. Let me know if you have other questions.

Do they require an amp?

Torqumada

[scubado]

For Halloween, I'd talk to my neighbors to see if you can use some bigger speakers. I use two systems. One is a 12 channel gemmy with an MP3 hooked up to it playing Halloween music. The LOR setup plays lightning and thunder cranked up on large speakers. During october keep the volumes down, but during the kids trick or treating I crank it up. Beware, thunder is rough on amps and speakers, I toasted a channel on my amp last year, I have two amps this year.

[SoCalJimH]

Since I use an FM transmitter I just picked up a couple used portable radios(mini-boom boxes) and covered them with plastic trash (bin) bags then hid them about the yard in the bases of my props and in a couple bushes. Easier for me to run a SPT power cord than to set up an amplifier and run speaker wires.

[Tim Fischer]

Since I use an FM transmitter I just picked up a couple used portable radios(mini-boom boxes) and covered them with plastic trash (bin) bags then hid them about the yard in the bases of my props and in a couple bushes. Easier for me to run a SPT power cord than to set up an amplifier and run speaker wires.

I used to do exactly that, but the tuners had analog dials and the freq would drift due to temperature changes. One night I came out and the speakers were playing a top 40 station...

[k6ccc]

I am using some onmi directional speakers that sort of look like an 8 inch in diameter green mushroom. If you have every been to Disneyland and noticed the speakers they use in the flowerbeds, that's what I'm using (or more likely a copy after the patent ran out). I think they are rated at 75 watts each and I think I paid about $80 per pair. I have 4 of the speakers scattered through my yard. I got them from Best Buy on-line. I will post a link and photo tonight from home. Each speaker is connected to one channel of a 75 watt amplifier (a total of two 75 watt per channel stereo amps).

Here is the link to these speakers on the Best Buy site:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/TIC+-+OmniSpeaker+Speaker+System+-+Green/4219922.p?id=1218463913999&skuId=4219922&st=4219922&cp=1&lp=1

[-klb-]

I use the previous generation Bose 151's for Halloween night, sitting out in the shrubs. I keep intending to mount the pair up in the entry way, so they are well out of reach, and spread well, without overwhelming people at the door.

Longer term, I know of a pair of Bose 51's that now have something like 3 years of being bolted to bleachers for a month, and work great.

I've also been looking for a source for cheap digitally tuned radio to put in the shrubs and forget inside a plastic bag. Something around the $20 price point like the analog ones so I'm not too upset if it gets the same fate as many of the neighborhood JackOLanterns that night. Unfortunately, I still have not found one.

[Tim Fischer]

Join Freecycle in your area and request one. It is a great place to get stuff you can use in a display. They are things someone no longer want but is not worth selling. Go to frecycle.org and sign up. It is free to sign up you just have to have a yahoo email account which is free too. I live in a fairly small area and there are 5 groups around here in which I am a member of 3 of them. I get all kinds of stuff and give away all kinds of stuff.

Just a note - at least in our local Freecycle, you can only have one 'wanted' post a week and only request the same item once in a month. And they frown on having more 'wanted' posts than 'offer' posts. They used to also enforce that you had to have an 'offer' (something you're giving away) before you post a 'wanted' but I'm not sure that's the case anymore.