What are the best sounding outdoor speakers?

About 8 years ago a friend of mine asked me for a recommendation for outdoor speakers to get her husband for Christmas. After some research I recommended some Cantons (Kanton?). They were $500 sound decent and have stood up to the outdoor elements in Montana for all these years.

Mike

You should hear the Klipsch AW-525 or better yet the AW-650.

How about the Niles RS8si rock speakers? I was thinking about getting a pair of those and putting them on the outside of my lanai facing in through the screen. This way the whole lanai/pool/hot tub gets coverage and by facing them in towards the house I won't blast out the neighbors (that bad, haha). Also, I can hide them well in the bushes with this arrangment. They're not cheap though ($400ish each?) but the smaller 6 1/2 two way version is about half the price. Is the sound of the 6 1/2 good or should I splurge on the 8" two way RS8si's? My lanai is fairly large. I'll bury the cable (enclosed in some small pvc pipe, etc.) around the base of the lanai to the house and feed them with zone 2 of an Arcam AVR300.

Scott

I just found these Sonance ones as well:
http://www.abtelectronics.com/product/13124.html

They look like they perform better on paper going lower freqwise, less load and higher sensitivity than the Niles:
http://ww1.onecall.com/PID_21112.htm

Anyone have any experience with these brands? Which is the better quality? I know the rock idea is kind of fugly but actually it would work well in my lanai/garden application. The coverage I could get from where I could put them is better than standard speakers (can't hang standard speakers on the outer lanai poles facing in) and wiring the rock speakers on the ground would be a heck of a lot easier than trying to wire ceiling/wall mounts (my attic/crawl space sucks).

Scott

As far as rocks go I’ve only heard the Niles RS8Si (8” rock) and their 6”. The 8” sounded great and can be run as a single rock or as a pair. They are expensive and sold individually.

Does anyone know a good mail order supplier to purchase the Klipsch WA-650 outdoor speakers?