Price Paid:  $78.00 from eBay

Summary:
If you are in the market for an inexpensive, clear sounding pair of outdoor speakers, I reccommend these Yamaha AW350's.

I listened to several brands (Bose, Polk Audio, Infinity, Dual), and by far the best sounding was the Infinity. The Bose and Polk were very dissappointing. The Infinity Jr. had the sound I was searching for, but was a little out of my price range (I just recently purchased new floor speakers, and my budget was limited).

So, I relied on the reviews on Audioreview, and purchased the new Yamaha's on eBay for less than $80 including shipping!

I hooked them up to an old Denon receiver, and they sounded great. They are very clear for outdoor speakers. The highs and mids are great, and the bass is satisfactory. I use these on my patio and I am more than pleased. I plan to add a second pair for the pool deck.

So, I will have 4 solid-sounding yamaha's for the price of 2 soilid souonding Infinitys.

Strengths:
Inexpensive, easy to install, all hardware included, and they sound great.

Weaknesses:
Too soon to advise, but some my not prefer the design. A bit bulky, but for the price very manageable.

Price Paid:  $77.00 from HypAudio.com Factory

Summary:
These speakers replaced a 15 years old set of 4" full range Radio Shack Weatherproof speakers so anything would have been an improvement. I spent a good deal of time reading reviews and sampling various speakers before I settled on these. The speakers would not be mounted in with a wall behind them so they had to have very strong bass characteristics. They were very easy to mount on the corners of my deck railing, angled toward the center of the deck where the table was and everyone usually congregates. No matter where you sit at the table stereo imaging is perfect. The sound sounds like it is emanating from atop the built in pool just on the other side fo the deck. The bass lived up to all my expectations. The sound is very natural, not boomy and very tight. The tweeter sounded a bit bright so I actually had to dial down the treble a little, but it was wasn't tinny at all. I think the best way to describe it is that you heard the cymbols with equal loudness as you did the main instrument. These are not small speakers by any means. I have seen smaller bookshelf speakers. The speakers are able to be painted any color, but I kept mine white as that is the color of my deck funiture. These speakers are capable of playing quite loud. I have an Onkyo 602 receiver and I have that at about 60% and then I have an L-pad set at 40% and its loud enough to drown out normal conversation at that level. Set the Lpad at 10% and normal conversation with just the music in the backround ensues. Set the L-Pad at 80% and the neighbors will complain! I have had the product a week so its not even broken yet and I love it. Very satsiified!

Strengths:
Weatherproof design, easy to mount and install. Comes with brackets, speaker stands and safety cabling to prevent the speaker from falling should the mounting job be sub par.

Weaknesses:
Somewhat larger then I thought.

Similar Products Used:
Radio Shack 4" full range speakers still worked, so that is a testimount to their longevity, however It sounded like a cb radio.

Price Paid:  $79.00 from eBay

Summary:
These sound as good to me as my Bose 251s. They are an "old school" design but I like them. They were easy to mount on the deck. Installation took about half an hour. The only thing I'm still concerned about is how well they will endure harsh Minnesota weather. Time will tell. I expect that the rubber surround on the 6 1/2 will eventually fail. But until then...we're rockin'!!! I would strongly recommend using two pairs if you can afford it. That really does a lot to improve the sound and the coverage, especially at lower volume.

Strengths:
Very nice sounding speakers. Excellent frequency response: 55Hz-40kHz (87dB)40watts nominal/ 130watts Max.

Weaknesses:
None noted.

Similar Products Used:
Bose 251s. Bose 101s

Price Paid:  $129.00 from Best Buy

Summary:
I am an audiophile from way back. I decided I needed some outdoor speakers and started doing some research on the net. The one common thread that kept coming up was the lack of bass on all outdoor speakers. I also read that the only way to go was Bose, Infinity or Niles. I listened to the Bose and the Infinity and was not impressed. The Niles OS-25 sounded like the best speakers going with response of 55Hz-21 kHz +/-3dB. But the sticker price of $500 made want to continue looking.
The only way to generate more sound is to move more speaker area. The OS-25’s have a 6.5 inch woofer and a 1 inch tweeter. The Infinity and the Bose have smaller speakers and they sound it. Then I found the Yamaha NSAW350 speaker, they have a 6.5 inch woofer and a one inch tweeter just like the Niles with and the response is 55Hz to 40kHz, +/-3dB, which is better than the Niles. OK these sounded like they were worth checking into.

I listened to and bought the NSAW350 locally. These things sound great, for a bookshelf speaker that is, and the price is right. They are very clear and clean with enough bottom-end that when I start cranking them, the whole deck will vibrate from the sound level. These are a best buy in my book, you can’t beat the bang for the buck! I would love to put them side-by-side to a Niles OS-25 to see which sounds the best.

My recommendation: Before laying out the big bucks for some of the more expensive speaker systems, you owe it to yourself to listen to these. I think they sound BETTER than the more expensive competition that I listened to. For the price of one set of Bose, Infinity or Niles you can buy two sets of the Yamaha’s, this will give much more sound volume and fill – you won’t be disappointed !

Strengths:
bang for the buck
a very good value

Weaknesses:
none noted

Similar Products Used:
n/a