Atrium 8 Outdoor Speaker with Powerful Bass (Each, White), All-Weather Durability, Broad Sound Coverage, Speed-Lock Mounting System

I bought a **pair of Polk Audio Atrium 8 SDI speakers** for my **back patio expansion**, and they have been **nothing short of incredible**! The **beautiful design** blends seamlessly with my outdoor space, and they are built to withstand the elements. I paired these with a **SunFire amp**, and the **sound quality is simply awesome**—rich, clear, and powerful, even in an open outdoor environment. Mounting was **easy**, and the build quality feels **top-notch**, exactly what I expect from Polk Audio. I’ve been a **Polk Audio fan for almost 40 years**, and their **reputation for quality and durability** is well-earned. I still have an **older set in my garage that’s over 20 years old**, and they still sound fantastic—**which is exactly why I chose Polk again**! If you're looking for **high-quality outdoor speakers** that will last, these are a no-brainer. **Highly recommend!** 🎶🔥

Great sound

I purchased these as replacements for outdoor speakers that were installed on a new-to-us house, but that were no longer working. I bought the white version, and they compliment our home's exterior trim color nicely. Installation was a breeze -- each speaker is bolted to the house with two wood bolts, then attach the wire, and that's all there is to it. In my case, I am using a dedicated "left" and "right" speaker setup, so I cannot address how well these work when they are wired with both left and right speaker wires. I can say that you need to slide the switch/contact cover over on the back of the speaker if you are wiring them as "left" or "right" like you would for normal speakers, or else the sound is quite a bit softer. This makes more sense when you look at the unit itself--but there are two ways to wire each speaker, so follow the directions for your application and you'll be fine. As you'd expect, there is not a ton of bass to these speakers, however when connected to a home-owner quality sound system (Sony), they sound quite good as an external speaker, and better than ones that we had at our previous house. I'm hopeful that I can get at least 5 solid years out of these speakers in order to justify the price. We'll see how that works out, but I think Polk quality is quite good for my purposes, and I have confidence that it has been money well spent.

I previously had the Polk Patio 200’s which are a twin to the Atrium 5’s. Thought they kicked s for outdoor music and still do. Then I stepped up to the Atrium 8’s and wow just another audio dimension added. Power, spaciousness, and sound went up, up, up. Excellent speakers for backyards, patios, or anywhere outside because they can handle any type of weather thrown at them. Place them near the corners and bass is solid. So happy I upped my backyard tune source.

I installed this speaker on my deck, where I do not need (or want to spend the money on) truly high quality sound, like I have inside. For what it is --faux stereo from a single speaker-- I am very happy with the sound. If for any reason the speaker called attention to something off in the sound, I would return it, but it's totally, pleasantly listenable. Before I bought this, I was tempted to get a pair of mid-level (you can always spend tons more) outdoor Cambridge speakers on sale at my favorite quality audio store -Audio Advice- but decided to save my money. They may well have been five stars for me (for an outdoor speaker). Five stars would have to be richer, with better separation and range; these lack depth for soft classical, jazz, and some acoustic, but are very good for more robust folk, rock, bluegrass and jazz (so there's my tastes). A professional (and honest) DJ friend liked the sound! Some reviews comment on lack of bass, but I found it to be fine. I did turn bass up two notches on the receiver, but I prefer blend/balance - I don't really like heavy booming bass, if you do, you won't get it from this. Installation is easy. I drilled the hole for the speaker wires from inside two inches from a known stud, so I could easily locate the stud from the outside to install the bracket for this heavy speaker. I bought an inexpensive receiver (Sony STRDH190) for this speakers/location, and again not demanding or expecting too much, the speakers do fine with this (whether playing via wired AUX/inputs, bluetooth, CD or better quality streamed on wifi with a Chromecast audio, and FM). It's under an eave so will never experience direct rain or snow. I will update this with info about longevity someday. It's just fine still after a hot summer.

Having just moved to a very old house in a downtown area, I tried pretty much everything to meet my reclusive neighbors... After waving, smiling, offering brownies, and doing good other neighborly deeds such as picking up their dog's poop for them when the dog poops in my front yard (without waving a finger...), I decided that my next salvo towards obtaining a friendly relationship with these reclusive nutjobs was to add audio to my front porch. After doing some research online and visiting my local Best Buy (only to find that there really is no audio section in a Best Buy anymore), I decided to go with Polk Audio based on a good experience I'd had with their indoor speakers. And to make sure that my efforts to establish and maintain a friendship with my neighbors would go un-noticed, I decided on the Atrium 8 speakers, the largest in the Polk Audio Atrium lineup. And these speakers are large. Probably the largest enclosed box speakers that can be installed by a single person as limited by OSHA if they ever decided to get into the business of regulating the safety of DIY consumers. Yea, they're large, but surprisingly manageable from an installation standpoint. The most difficult task you'll likely have is running the speakerwire to where you want to place these outdoors (I had to get creative and go thru the porch ceiling on my 90+ year old brick home. But once the wire is run, just follow the instructions, mount the bracket, and the speaker slides into place, then you can secure it and it's position via the two screw-like fastening cap thingies. So installation took me an hour on a Saturday, and then I started playing some music whilst sitting on my porch, drinking some wine....all afternoon. The superior sound coming from the Polk Atrium 8's did the trick. No matter what I played, neighbor after neighbor came by either to admire or request to hear a specific song whilst gardening. Even the neighbor with the dog decided to pick up the poop this time around. People walking down my street towards the downtown area would smile and dance. And, as the Polk Audio Atrium 8s continued to crank out the tunes through the evening, my porch was visited by several aliens, the ghost of James Brown, and a congressman stopped by just to say hello and admire the fantastic sound coming from my Polk Audio system. Thanks to Polk Audio, I now have new friends in my new city, and a way to make my new neighbors smile.

At first I plugged this speaker to the amp inside the house to test and compare with my Focal Aria bookshelf speakers. Remarkably, the tech parameters of Polk Atrium 8sdi were matching my hi-end home speakers. The sound quality was impressive as well. I think they did really good for the price. Do, however, keep in mind, that while all other models in Polk Atrium line up are going to be sold in pairs, but 8sdi is sold as one. Yes, the price is way different, but it is worth it. I got both speakers hanging outside, under the roof, powered by FOSI amp. The sound is crisper than my Focal set up in the house and it is performing equally well in high, mid and low ranges. FOSI Class D amp is always on, I placed it in the laundry room, so all you have to do is connect your phone or a pad or whatever that has Bluetooth, to start enjoying the music. We tried several different genres like jazz, pop, classical and were very impressed with quality of the sound.

I had a wiring problem which was no fault of Polk's. Amazon was amazing with the return process but the speakers were delivered in 2 separate boxes but had to be returned in one. An extra trip to UPS was the result. I kept the second pair after correcting the wire short. Sound is heavy on the bass end. Mid range is decent and the most you can expect from an outdoor speaker, highs are great. The speaker operates at 8 ohms if using the one speaker stereo option Two speakers operate at 4 ohms if using the 2 speaker option, so... Make sure you have an amp that can supply enough power to two speakers (at 4 amps). Otherwise the your receiver/amp will either clip the high volume passages or particular frequencies when the demand for more power is called for by your played recording. (FYI ohms/resistance is not static when music is played) Worse yet, the integrated amp may temporarily shut down altogether for over heat protection. The better listening solution- get a receiver/amp or a dedicated amp that can handle the power requirements these speakers ask for, especially if you like your music LOUD.