Polk Audio Atrium 45 All-Weather Speakers (Pair, White)

by Polk Audio

Product Details

Product Manual [682kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 6.2 x 9.5 inches ; 12 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 12 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006I5O1
• Item model number: AM0748-A
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,394 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

  #68 in

  Electronics > Home Audio & Theater

• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Tired of leaving the door open to hear your music on the deck? It's time for a pair of high-quality outdoor speakers like the Atrium 45 from Polk Audio. The speakers each feature all-stainless-steel and brass hardware for years of rustproof reliability and a rustproof aluminum bracket that permits multiple mounting options and full 90 degree rotation: you can aim them to deliver the best possible sound in a variety of positions.

The Atrium 45 speakers have a wide dispersion pattern, and they're very efficient, operating on as little as 10 watts per channel. They're designed to deliver good sound quality across a large listening area, but Polk recommends multiple-pair setups if you want high sound levels in an outdoor setting, as sound tends to dissipate more quickly outdoors than in.

The speakers' white finish is paintable to match your decor or trim color--you can even paint them green to blend with foliage. Their sculpted front baffle and rounded enclosures minimize diffraction (sound reflecting off of hard edges) for more open and lifelike imaging, and their rustproof aluminum grilles offer 55 percent open area for better high-frequency response than speakers with denser grilles.

Sealed-enclosure (acoustic suspension) cabinets result in taut bass, and the speakers' 2-way design incorporates a 4.5-inch long-throw polymer cone driver with butyl-rubber suspension and a .75-inch dome tweeter with a neodymium magnet to broadly distribute high frequencies. Gold-plated, 5-way binding post terminals will never corrode. The plugs also allow hookups in a range of methods, including convenient banana-plug-terminated speaker cable.

The Atrium 45 meets or exceeds ASTM D5894-UV Salt Fog, Mil standard 810 Immersion and Mil standard 883 Method 1009 8 for salt and corrosion tests.

What's in the Box
Two speakers (each with detachable metal grille and built-in mounting bracket) a user's manual, and warranty information.

Product Description

Incredible sound anywhere you want it! Atriums meet or exceed Military Waterproofing Specs: ASTM D5894-UV Salt Fog, Mil 810 Immersion and Mil 883 for salt and corrosion. A sealed enclosure with 4.5" woofer & 3/4" dome tweeter / 90° swiveling mounting bracket / Two speakers included per carton

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, detailed outdoor speakers, November 6, 2006

By	Garret M. Hampton - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Polk Audio Atrium 45 All-Weather Speakers (Pair, White) (Electronics)

I bought these speakers originally as a replacement for a pair of weathered Boston Acoustics attached to our overhead lattice in the back yard. These speakers are very detailed and I can hear components of music within tracks that I would not expect to be able to hear outdoors. Having said that, bass extesion is not great, but, given the frequency range, I didn't expect it to be. I ended up reconditioning the Boston speakers and also hooked these up. The combination of their bass extension (must be 40-50Hz) with the detailed Polks is extremely compelling, making outdoor listening surprisnigly good. Even though one might pay more for the lower extension Polks, it is probably worth it if you like music. These are good for the price, but limited. That's not a critisism, as I knew this when I bought them; I was just hoping physics had changed since the last owner of the house bought the Bostons!!

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Speakers, June 26, 2007

By	C. Clark (Kentucky) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Polk Audio Atrium 45 All-Weather Speakers (Pair, White) (Electronics)

I have been using these speakers for about 2 months, and I'm finding them to be one of my better recent purchases. I'll go through the main categories and give you my impression:

SOUND: Obviously the most important factor. I set these up in my living room and let them play for about 2 straight days in order to break them in a bit. Once I put them outside, they really shined. They fill our deck and pool area with a pleasing and musical sound. They are not going to get you a ton of bass, but at the same time the music sounds "full" and does not have a "tinny" or overbearing treble sound. My wife and I agree that these are nice sounding speakers.

APPEARANCE: I got the white ones, and they match perfectly under my gutter overhang. They're well made and look like a quality item to anyone that notices them up there.

INSTALLATION: Clearly this can vary, but I found them easy to install. Basically just screw in the holders, then attach the speakers to the holders. Running the cables to the speakers is the tricky part, but i managed to hide it under the gutter as well. If you're using them outside, you'll need underground low voltage wire (like they use for landscaping lights). I bought my wire at Home Depot - cheap, $17 for 100'.

VALUE: For the price (I paid $125 including s/h) they're an excellent value.

MISC - One huge benefit of these speakers is they require very little power to drive them. I'm using an old Denon receiver with 60 watts (30 to each speaker) and it's more than enough. I can barely turn it up before it reaches a level that would be annoying to the neighbors.

To anyone considering these speakers, I highly recommend them!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Outdoor Speaker, October 10, 2007

By	Earle G. Thomas - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Polk Audio Atrium 45 All-Weather Speakers (Pair, White) (Electronics)

I bought these after listening to a neighbors pair that he had out around his unenclosed pool deck. They had been there for a year and looked brand new. He had another pair on his porch that were three years old and looked almost as good.
The bass response on these babies, despite their size, has to be heard to be believed. The outside enviroment is murder on bass, but these speakers sound great! For the price and size, you can't beat them.