Recommend me some outdoor speakers
Recommend me some outdoor speakers
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rash_decision

Original Poster:

1,412 posts

200 months

Wednesday 8th July 2020
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Hi all, looking for some recommendations for some outdoor speakers for the garden. They don’t need to keep the neighbours up at the weekend, but would like a nice sound from them. Ideally amplified that I can just connect a Bluetooth receiver to and stream from the phone whilst sitting out.

I was looking at Bose Lifestyle 101 (I think!?) but these seem to be quite old and possibly wasted on my needs? Something similar in size and function maybe?

HRL

3,353 posts

242 months

Wednesday 8th July 2020
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VEX

5,259 posts

269 months

Wednesday 8th July 2020
quotequote all
So, initial questions are.

Do you have anything Sonos wise in the house already
if yes stick with sonoS
if no, read on.

What do you want it to do? The Bose speakers you suggested are passive, ie they need an amplifier to run them.

Now you could put an amp inside the house and wire out to them, look at the likes of Monitor Audio, Polk etc if you like that idea but realistically you are at £400 upwards to do it this way.

Or

Do you want a chunky pair of water proof, outdoor speakers that can be charged up and put where-ever. Link on Bluetooth and away you go?

If so, the Sonos move is ok, but pricey as are Denon Heos and BlueSound for their portable solutions and some need Wi-fi to work. Or another option would be SoundCast. A little unknown over here, I have a little VG1 and I supplied a pair of VG3’s to a PH chap on the IoW last month, which he loves.

Really depends on budget and use case.

V.

rash_decision

Original Poster:

1,412 posts

200 months

Thursday 9th July 2020
quotequote all
VEX said:
So, initial questions are.

Do you have anything Sonos wise in the house already
if yes stick with sonoS
if no, read on.

What do you want it to do? The Bose speakers you suggested are passive, ie they need an amplifier to run them.

Now you could put an amp inside the house and wire out to them, look at the likes of Monitor Audio, Polk etc if you like that idea but realistically you are at £400 upwards to do it this way.

Or

Do you want a chunky pair of water proof, outdoor speakers that can be charged up and put where-ever. Link on Bluetooth and away you go?

If so, the Sonos move is ok, but pricey as are Denon Heos and BlueSound for their portable solutions and some need Wi-fi to work. Or another option would be SoundCast. A little unknown over here, I have a little VG1 and I supplied a pair of VG3’s to a PH chap on the IoW last month, which he loves.

Really depends on budget and use case.

V.
Thanks for the replies.

I currently do not have anything Sonos in the house, so possibly avoid..............?

The Bose ones I was looking at were active, so I may have the model number wrong, 501, maybe??

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BOSE-Lifestyle-Powered-...

I'd like some speakers that I could mount on my shed/mancave and leave alone to connect with via BT whenever required. I have power in the shed, so no issues in that respect. Just something easy, for when I sit in the garden to switch on and connect up to.

Budget, I was unsure about this, I'm not that into audio equipment to appreciate what i need to spend, hence my asking for advice. One of my work mates pointed me in the direction of the Bose, hence my example, but appreciate guidance from the learned. £100-150??? Or am I way off with this?

I currently have a Bose sounddock that I lift out into the garden when required, but it's ever such a slight pain at the end of the night clearing stuff away, especially after a few beers, and you just want to get in the house! Haha

VEX

5,259 posts

269 months

Thursday 9th July 2020
quotequote all
Hi Rash,

So, budget is tight. Given that even with those speakers you will still need a little bluetooth receiver thing to make the music available for the speaker to amplify, but if it is that tight something like this 'could' work

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Garden-Party-BBQ-Outdoor-...

Never seen them until I searched on ebay,
Never tested them,
Never used them,
Wouldnt bet my life on them,
But in budget and tbh worth a punt!

You could also go for a Bluetooth receiver and amp with passive externals. But without looking this would push budget upwards.

For reference, these would be interesting, just well over budget.
https://www.litheaudio.com/garden-speakers.html

Hope that helps.

V.

rash_decision

Original Poster:

1,412 posts

200 months

Thursday 9th July 2020
quotequote all
Yeah in my limited knowledge, I see my budget could be tight unless buying used.

I have a little bluetooth receiver for the 'in doors' stereo system and it works very well via line in on the amplifier, cost me £23 and does a very good job.

These look as if they would suit my needs.................

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Garden-Party-BBQ-Outdoor-...

I think I will have a think about giving these a go.

The other link, to the rock speakers, looks gimmicky, and would like to know if the high cost is associated with that aspect rather than quality speakers. biggrin

cs174

1,271 posts

243 months

Thursday 9th July 2020
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JBL Charge 3 Bluetooth speakers are fantastic value. Around £100.

belleair302

6,995 posts

230 months

Thursday 9th July 2020
quotequote all
The JBL is an excellent speaker waterproof, dust proof, good batter life and sounds pretty good. Worth the outlay.

Scrump

23,752 posts

181 months

Thursday 9th July 2020
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Similar to the JBL is the Anker Soundcore 2. The updated version of these can be paired wirelessly for true stereo. Waterproof, Batteries last 24 hours and Bluetooth built in. Currently £30 each, so £60 for a pair.
I have two of them and can highly recommend.

rash_decision

Original Poster:

1,412 posts

200 months

Thursday 9th July 2020
quotequote all
Scrump said:
Similar to the JBL is the Anker Soundcore 2. The updated version of these can be paired wirelessly for true stereo. Waterproof, Batteries last 24 hours and Bluetooth built in. Currently £30 each, so £60 for a pair.
I have two of them and can highly recommend.
These sound a good option. That way I can place them wherever we need the sound depending on garden guests or weather!!

Scrump

23,752 posts

181 months

Thursday 9th July 2020
quotequote all
Make sure you get Soundcore 2 (not the old Soundcore). Also make sure they are the updated version of Soundcore 2, the early Soundcore 2 could not be paired.
Mine are not the updated version so I miss out on stereo.

Edit: I had the price wrong. The Soundcore 2 (updated version) is £40 so £80 for the pair.

Edited by Scrump on Thursday 9th July 17:49

jinkster

2,412 posts

179 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
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h0b0

8,901 posts

219 months

Sunday 12th July 2020
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I have 2 TIC GS3s powered by an amp, something like this



You bury them up to the foam so you only see the top few inches. They put out a decent amount of sound and many compare them to the Bose FreeSpace 51s

Cliftonite

8,686 posts

161 months

Sunday 12th July 2020
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Just be considerate to your poor neighbours and manage without garden speakers!

The Mad Monk

11,102 posts

140 months

Sunday 12th July 2020
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rash_decision said:
Hi all, looking for some recommendations for some outdoor speakers for the garden. would like a nice sound from them. Ideally amplified that I can just connect a Bluetooth receiver to and stream from the phone whilst sitting out.
Oh magic!

A next door neighbour who thinks it's quite OK to play music on loudspeakers in the garden!

Absolutely brilliant!

Remind me? Where do you live?

h0b0

8,901 posts

219 months

Sunday 12th July 2020
quotequote all
Have you never listened to music outside? I used to bring out the bluetooth speaker but that a ball ache and the sound wasn’t great. Rarely had it above “background” and When we did the noise didn’t travel.

I replaced the set up with 2 buried speakers (as pictured above) and have it running from a Sonos connect amp. Now the sound quality is 10x better and the experience is seamlessly smooth. The volume hasn’t increased but the quality of the sound has.

To suggest people are antisocial because they go for a better experience is a little........dumb.

We have gone to “full volume” (which from a connect amp means you can still have a conversation normally) twice. Once for the July 4th parade and once for andrea bocelli live stream from the Duomo. The neighbors are fans.

Where do I live? America. In my town, people are very considerate and also reasonable. We allow people to have fun and we make sure our fun isn’t negatively impacting those around us. (No, it’s not because of guns). It’s, respect. It’s treat others as you want to be treated yourself. I’m not religious, but there’s some sense there.




rash_decision

Original Poster:

1,412 posts

200 months

Friday 17th July 2020
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Cliftonite said:
Just be considerate to your poor neighbours and manage without garden speakers!
What neighbours!?

The Mad Monk

11,102 posts

140 months

Friday 17th July 2020
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rash_decision said:
Cliftonite said:
Just be considerate to your poor neighbours and manage without garden speakers!
What neighbours!?
It worked!

They have all moved out - complaining about the noise!

rash_decision

Original Poster:

1,412 posts

200 months

Saturday 18th July 2020
quotequote all
The Mad Monk said:
rash_decision said:
Cliftonite said:
Just be considerate to your poor neighbours and manage without garden speakers!
What neighbours!?
It worked!

They have all moved out - complaining about the noise!
laugh