Anyone have experience with Atrium 60s?

[jrlouie]

Well, today's a sad day :( One of my Atrium 45's got blasted from a massive pipe falling from a high-rise building being renovated next to my patio. Obviously the construction company will be reimbursing me. I figure while I am at it, I might as well upgrade to the 55's or the 60's. I noticed that the 60's have a ported design (although it can be plugged). Anyone have issues ever with leaving the port unplugged? Any arguments for or against the 55's or 60's regarding durability? I realize the specs on the 60 are better, but I'm just curious about durability.
thanks!

p.s. - the big L-shaped pipe on the ground was the culprit. good thing i was bbq'ing at the time ;)

[ilikesound]

damn, that must have been quite the pipe! i install these all the time, the 60's are better. as far as durability, a pipe falling off a building onto a speaker is never a good thing! they're pretty much all the same to me, i can't tell if they've been engineered differently or not, but im sure that they haven't thought of them falling off the wall at all. you should just go with the better spec'd model imho. sorry to see your loss in such drastic detail!:(

[cmy330go]

I don't have any experience with the 60's, but I can tell you that the 55's sound much much better than the 45's. The 45's have always sounded very tinny to me. The 55's IMO are one of the only outdoor speakers that actually sound like a decent bookshelf speaker. I can only assume the 60's would be even better.

[jrlouie]

as far as durability, a pipe falling off a building onto a speaker is never a good thing!
I most definitely wasn't referring to durability in regards to foreign object thrashing them ;) I was just referring to typical weathering and such. Appreciate the feedback though on the 60s.

[jrlouie]

damn, that must have been quite the pipe!
Yeah man, that pipe looks like steel to me. Hard to tell, but it looked 8-10 inches in diameter. It just obliterated the railing there. Ripped it clean out of the brick wall and bent it completely over. That could've been fatal if I had been BBQ'ing :eek:

[jrlouie]

Let me ask another question. If you look at my first picture where the fence is bent over, and imagine it as it was before, standing upright, I mount my Atrium to the fence all the way in the corner near the brick wall there. Would the Atrium 60 be okay left with the port unplugged in that scenario or does that qualify as an "unprotected installation" in which the manual suggests plugging the port?

[appadv]

I think the Atrium 60s are a great buy. In fact, I might purchase a pair of them for my patio.

[zacgo1]

I am running a pair of 65SDIs which are similar to the 60s. I have not blocked the port. I have been really impressed with the bass of these speakers. I have only had them for a couple of months so I can't comment on durability from experience, but I doubt that will be an issue.

[Yashu]

Are the Atriums bright? What kind of sound do they have? Do you think they would work as nearfield monitors?

[jrlouie]

...Do you think they would work...
Well, that's a very broad/subjective thing. I had the Atrium 45s. In my opinion they weren't good for typical nearfield monitors. My ears required either tone control adjustments or corner reinforcement depending on the usage at the time. Almost all usage since I have owned them has been for background music. That being said, I certainly have gotten lots of use out of them. I think they have served their purpose very well.
I have never heard any of the other Atriums.