Outdoor speakers

[Sk1Bum 13,400]

I currently have a pair of Niles OS 6.3 outdoor speakers driven my a Carver M200t. I mostly play smooth jazz, blues with the occasional talk radio or St. Louis Cardinals baseball game.

 

The Niles speakers have served me well, but they are getting pretty long in the tooth. I'm hoping for a great Amazon Prime Days deal on either Klipsch AW-650s or Polk Atrium 8s.

 

Any thoughts, suggestions, other recommendations?

 

Klipsch AW-650 on Amazon

 

Polk Atrium 8 on Amazon

 

 

[AndrewJohn 11,182]

I have the polk atrium 8's outside on my patio..., they are OK, and I too updated from Niles, to the Polks, so they were an improvement.  But from others I've asked, (I think @itchitch has the Klipsch, too), I will go with the Klipsh, probably this or next year.

[stereo_dog 1,756]

6 hours ago, Sk1Bum said:

I currently have a pair of Niles OS 6.3 outdoor speakers driven my a Carver M200t. I mostly play smooth jazz, blues with the occasional talk radio or St. Louis Cardinals baseball game.

 

The Niles speakers have served me well, but they are getting pretty long in the tooth. I'm hoping for a great Amazon Prime Days deal on either Klipsch AW-650s or Polk Atrium 8s.

 

Any thoughts, suggestions, other recommendations?

 

Klipsch AW-650 on Amazon

 

Polk Atrium 8 on Amazon

 

 

I have two pairs of the Klipsch AW 650’s. I love them. I’ve got them powered by a small Fosi amp, they sound great. Painted them to match my siding. Picked up a second set last fall for$75.  

[oldtexasdog 2,529]

I have had the polks for a good while and have enjoyed them but I have never had anything else to compare them to?

[itchitch 4,711]

I do have the Klipsch AW-650 (White) on our upper deck.

They are significantly better than the Boston Acoustics Voyager 2 that they replaced.

 

I wanted a bit more bass so I added an OSD Forza - 8 passive sub.

The Forza is just 'okay'. I selected it because of price and it had speaker wire in AND out.

I should have gone with a 10" sub, at least.

 

There is a big difference in sensitivity between the Forza (lower) and the Klipsch.

I had an in wall pot so I wired the them so the pot controls the Klipsch - allowing more power to go to the sub.

This allowed me to get 'more' bass (from the sub) at volume.

 

I recently replaced my Polk Audio Atrium Sat300 - they were about 13 years old.

They really didn't hold up well, fully exposed in the flower beds in the front of our house.

I bought a pair of OSD Forza 6.5" Landscape Speakers.

They have a few nice (included) options for ground mounting.

These are a huge upgrade from the Polks (even when new).

OSD is mostly a commercial brand so their speakers have a built in transformer.

You can drive them with a stereo amp or a Voltage amp.

 

Each speak has an 8" Sonance CRKW Rock Subwoofer.

I had bought these when they were on sale 20 years ago and the still sound great.

(They have been painted three different colors over the years)

[Sk1Bum 13,400]

14 hours ago, stereo_dog said:

Picked up a second set last fall for$75.  

 

That's a great price.

 

[Sk1Bum 13,400]

Amazon's Prime Deal Days are here, and the Klipsch outdoor speakers aren't on sale, $349. The Polk Atrium 8's are 35% off at $195.

 

Of course I'm leaning towards the Klipsch... 

[stereo_dog 1,756]

1 minute ago, Sk1Bum said:

Amazon's Prime Deal Days are here, and the Klipsch outdoor speakers aren't on sale, $349. The Polk Atrium 8's are 35% off at $195.

 

Of course I'm leaning towards the Klipsch... 

I saw that they were not included in Prime days. The Klipsch 350's are really nice, my wife even says so. 

I am looking at the WIIM Ultra, very good price. 

[stereo_dog 1,756]

You can get factory refurbished direct for $319 from Klipsch: https://www.klipsch.com/products/aw-650-outdoor-speaker-custom-klipsch-certified-factory-refurbished

 

Looks like free FedEx shipping included. 

[Sk1Bum 13,400]

1 hour ago, stereo_dog said:

I am looking at the WIIM Ultra, very good price. 

 

That's as good of a price as I've seen. 

[Half Life 1,480]

3 hours ago, Sk1Bum said:

4 hours ago, stereo_dog said:

I am looking at the WIIM Ultra, very good price. 

 

That's as good of a price as I've seen. 

 

Just in case anyone needs some enabling:

 

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=wiim+ultra

 

$263.20

[Sk1Bum 13,400]

6 hours ago, stereo_dog said:

You can get factory refurbished direct for $319 from Klipsch: https://www.klipsch.com/products/aw-650-outdoor-speaker-custom-klipsch-certified-factory-refurbished

 

Looks like free FedEx shipping included. 

 

The factory refurbs are $329 at Amazon. 

[stereo_dog 1,756]

3 hours ago, Sk1Bum said:

 

The factory refurbs are $329 at Amazon. 

Yeah, better deal buying direct. I think I saw a 90 day return ? I bought some bookshelf speakers for my son through Klipsch, refurbished. I think they have Amazon pay, too. 

Edited Wednesday at 01:27 AM by stereo_dog

[stereo_dog 1,756]

16 hours ago, Half Life said:

 

Just in case anyone needs some enabling:

 

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=wiim+ultra

 

$263.20

I didn't need any enabling, but peer reinforcement is appreciated. Should have mine this afternoon. 

[Sk1Bum 13,400]

1 hour ago, stereo_dog said:

I didn't need any enabling, but peer reinforcement is appreciated. Should have mine this afternoon. 

 

I have to say the WiiM Ultra is the best bang for the buck I've purchased since getting a working M-500t for $120 on eBay. I've ended up with 3 WiiM Ultras, and I got them all at the current price.

[Half Life 1,480]

Agreed!  I really enjoy mine.  I also have a Wiim Mini that I use in my metal working shop.

[jjptkd 1,555]

On 6/23/2026 at 3:24 PM, Sk1Bum said:

 

The factory refurbs are $329 at Amazon. 

 

If you dont mind buying used i see there's some Klipsch CA 800's on eBay- they are beasts and solid performers- bigger pro versions of the 650's.

[stereo_dog 1,756]

47 minutes ago, jjptkd said:

 

If you dont mind buying used i see there's some Klipsch CA 800's on eBay- they are beasts and solid performers- bigger pro versions of the 650's.

You can also get a dedicated subwoofer with that series. 

[Sk1Bum 13,400]

Ohmigosh, I just now noticed, the Polk Atrium 8s are $185.25 each. I thought that price was for a pair until just a few minutes ago.

[Receiver2000 4,954]

I have seen these B&O A9 speakers in Palm Springs used outside on patios a few times. Apparently there are different grille covers - saw some that were a foliage pattern. It's B&O so they have to be expensive. But they look good.

[jjptkd 1,555]

6 hours ago, Sk1Bum said:

Ohmigosh, I just now noticed, the Polk Atrium 8s are $185.25 each. I thought that price was for a pair until just a few minutes ago.

 

These are the speakers on eBay I was talking about, buyer is asking $150 each shipped but they are not your average speaker, these things really rock and sound great. Only down side is they are a bit large but if you have the room not sure you can beat them at this price. 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/236815187976?_skw=klipsch+ca&itmmeta=01KVZ1FN3HHX2QSF9H9YRV0965&hash=item3723490008:g:E8MAAeSwto1qBOW2&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAA8GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xBPbP6jalJVCDR5D8McU62X88FwnpimqSwfsC3SQgfAMVFokWYAA1rjthSLjUvb1HOiVBA2cZkQBJc%2FFLG9NOeGNsnPFiJI63EvqzpUZXCjKjF%2Fudn1SKToMXK8Yjxmpz8w%2BAPF2eEq8LThx94WOOoDvy4v7BtJD%2Fib%2FZTzaPgWQSwgmBbdy2X2rLWOnD1e0JOVNF7t52tV7wSvbTXgpD8jQYCikpM%2FljYueA9uQ7tcAO3FhEktwzZ1TCE3VJUjyetbQwGwv5hG55IBsDqGNlGTtXM%2FtzmJiFWU0%2BpiXuoT5A%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR4jSvuHfZw

 

https://www.klipsch.com/uk/products/ca-800t-outdoor-speaker

 

 

[Receiver2000 4,954]

I had that type of speaker at a previous house. They were mounted tucked away under a first story eave facing the patio space. Completely out of the way and protected from the sun and weather. Don't remember the brand but they sounded great. Played them for 10 years and they were working fine when we sold the house.