I installed these about two years ago. These baby's rock. They are installed on the outer portion of a covered patio, so they get a lot of exposure to the elements. Rain, and hot Texas sun. They are holding up great and sound as good as or better than when they were new (due to break-in).
I don't buy into the cable marketing hype. I paid around $50 bucks for 100 feet of 12 AWG Wire from Big Box store. Nothing fancy, just wire on a black plastic spool. I bought one spool of 25' red, and one 25' green, to keep the polarities straight. Same cable different color.
If I would have bought 16 AWG Monster (the largest they had, but the plastic sheathing on the Monster Cable was so thick that it looked bigger than the 12 AWG wire, and the wire itself looked thick because the clear plastic that Monster uses to sheath their cables magnifies the internal cable to make it look bigger. Wow.) It would have run me over $650. For smaller wire. Savings for not believing the hype=$600
The length of your run should determine the gauge of your wire. Basically, the longer your run, the larger (smaller number) the diameter of your wire.
I found the following information on Crutchfield's website that may be of use to those of you who want to run your wire for these speakers.
Speaker Wire Lengths (Crutchfield)
Distance from speaker to amplifier:
Less than 80 feet, 16 Gauge
80 to 200 ft, 14 Gauge
more than 200'12 Gauge.
I could have gone with 14 AWG at my lengths, but I didn't think it would hurt go up in size. I've since read that using too large (smaller number) of a cable gauge can hurt performance, but there is so much conflicting information out there when it comes to home audio, I sometimes don't know what to believe. Anyway, they are outdoor speakers for ambiance and party time. I'm not as concerned with accurate audio reproduction with these as I am about my indoor speaks.
Anyhow, so I ran the lines from my receiver, to the outside, along the covered patio perimeter, and terminated them with banana plugs, made a bend in the wire for a rain drip and plugged them in. These speakers sound great, especially for having no acoustics in the outside. Definitive Technologies recommends installing them next to an eave with the low range speaker aimed at the wall, for best bass response. Mine are out in the open, the bass response isn't booming, but I'm not complaining. If I really want bass I can turn on the subwoofer that is next to the patio inside connected to my main syste and have it play, that gives a lot of bass response you can really feel outside.
As far as volume, I've never turned them all the way up, I've never needed too. Outside in the summer during the day we've been known to crank it up and it's plenty loud for hanging in the pool and party times. This would be an area of about 60ft x 40 ft.
Thanks for reading, good luck on your speaker purchase.
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This Item  Definitive Technology AW6500 Outdoor Speaker - 6.5-inch Woofer, 200 Watts, Built for Extreme Weather, Single, Black |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $299.00 | $229.99 | $449.99 | $26.95 | -36% $159.99 List: $249.00 | $242.98 |
| Delivery | Get it as soon as Friday, May 17 | Get it as soon as Friday, May 17 | Get it May 15 - 17 | Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16 | Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16 | Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Sound quality | ||||||
| Value for money | ||||||
| Sold By | GRAMOPHONE | Herdio Direct | Electronics Expo (Authorized Dealer) | SoundCover | Amazon.com | Foresight Distributors |
| speaker size | 6.5 inches | 6.5 inches | 6.5 inches | 15 inches | 5.25 inches | 10 inches |
| power source | Corded Electric | Corded Electric | Wired | Corded Electric | Corded Electric | Corded Electric |
| connectivity tech | Wired | Wired | Speaker Wire | Bluetooth | Auxiliary | — |
| speaker type | Outdoor | Woofer | Outdoor | Outdoor | Outdoor | Subwoofer, Woofer, Surround Sound |
| mounting type | Wall Mount | Wall Mount | Wall Mount, Ceiling Mount | Wall Mount | In-Ceiling; In-Wall | Inside Mount,Outside Mount |
| weight | 9.2 pounds | 12.07 kilograms | 20 pounds | — | 8.33 pounds | — |
| control method | application | — | — | touch | application | — |
| model name | AW 6500 | — | Polk Audio Atrium 8 Pair | Two large outdoor speaker covers for C-Bracket mounted speakers - black | AW5500 | IOSUB |
| impedance | 8 ohm | 6 ohm | 8 ohm | — | 8 ohm | — |
From the manufacturer
Definitive Technology AW6500 Outdoor Speaker
- Bringing great audio quality outside has always been tricky. The Definitive Technology AW 6500 puts worry about sound quality and speaker resilience to rest with fully sealed speakers that perform wonderfully rain or shine.
- Racetrack-shaped planar pressure-coupled low bass radiators deliver rich, warm audio. Their total bass radiating area is greater than much bigger woofers and brings greater bass presence to every measure.
- Active drivers, in conjunction with the low bass radiator, double the bass output but still maintain a weather-tight seal. This allows for the ultimate in placement flexibility, reliability and performance.
- Integrated galvanized steel mounting brackets and unique enclosure shape allow a full 360 degrees of rotation. Now you can put your speakers just about anywhere while directing the audio to reach everywhere.
- The AW 6500 comes in black or paintable white. Both make a statement with any outdoor décor.
Features
- Fully sealed design provides indoor speaker sound for the great outdoors
- Active driver pressure-coupled to racetrack Planar Low Bass Radiator for rich low end
- Rugged PolyStone enclosures ensure a great performance even in the elements
- Galvanized steel mounting brackets give 360-degree placement flexibility
Reviews with images
Great speaker for the money
I've owned these for 4 years and they continue to sound great. I have two other Definitive speakers in my surround sound system and these sound as good as or better than them. The bass is so good that neighbors ask me where the sub woofer is.A couple things to note:It takes about 30 hours of break-in listening for the sound to really shine.The speakers (and the bass) sound best with 100 watts rms or more per channel and high-quality source material. You can really hear the difference in hi res sound files (24/96 or 24/192). For the best sound don't use Apple airplay as it's limited to 16 bit and 44.1k playback (it down samples higher res sound files).Suggest connecting with the largest gauge speaker wire you can afford, especially for runs over 20 feet. The difference between 14 and 10 gauge is audible in the bass. Check out Belden 5T00UP 10 gauge. I wouldn't recommend using anything less than 14 gauge wire even for short runs.Listening more than 45 degrees off-axis the speakers sound a little boxy due to high frequency directionality and attenuation. This is the only real flaw I've found. This means there is smallish "sweet spot" between the speakers with the best sound, especially if you sit close to the speakers. Moving further away, angling the speakers inward, or moving the speakers closer together will fix this.To increase the bass response mount the speaker where the bass can reflect off a solid surface. Under the eaves is good but I have mine sitting on a piece of stone in a raised garden about 3' off the ground. See photo. If you have them connected to your surround sound system set the speaker size to large.The speakers are weather resistant but not waterproof. Mount them in a place that's shielded from direct rain and snow. I have mine on the ground and place covers over them when it rains. If they're exposed to rain, the interiors will fill up with water and it takes a while for it to evaporate as there aren't drain holes or you have to turn them upside down and shake out the water. The speakers weren't damaged when this happened.These are great speakers, especially for the money. You'll love 'em.UPDATE: April 2021After almost 8 years one of the speakers has failed. Woofer and midrange don't work, only the tweeter. Opened it up and there is a some corrosion inside from water intrusion. The crossover board still looks good though, which I suspect is the problem. Going to contact DT to see if they sell a crossover board. Will update with results.Also...there are a lot of 1* reviews from people who bought this speaker from a 3-party seller. I suspect that what's being sold is a counterfeit speaker. Only buy these from Amazon. They sound great, and are well made, but unfortunately only water resistant, not 100% water tight. Keep them protected from direct contact with rain and snow.
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Top reviews from other countries
Ernesto Martinez
Las mejores bocinas x ese precio
Reviewed in Mexico on February 16, 2024Color: BlackVerified Purchase
Ótima opção para Audio externo. Excelente custo benefício.
Excelente produto
Reviewed in Brazil on May 3, 2023Color: BlackVerified Purchase
Junior
Amazing speakers - earth shaking bass if on a wall
Reviewed in Canada on July 13, 2022Color: WhiteVerified Purchase
Junior
Reviewed in Canada on July 13, 2022
Added a second zone in my backyard with the Definite Audio AW6500 outdoor and they have amazing Bass and balanced sound as well.
I am running them on a legacy stereo Harmin Kardon 120 Watt per channel AMP and using AirPlay 2 device by Belkin.
Placement is key to maximize Bass and Wall / Corners are best.
I have these in a metal Gazebo and the sound is very good.
Highly Recommend these speakers. You don’t need a subwoofer with either ones.
Images in this review
Luis P Jaramillo
Suena muy bien, buena bocina pero no tiene servicio de garantía o soporte en México
Reviewed in Mexico on December 23, 2021Color: BlackVerified Purchase
