We’ve been very active in outdoor speakers for years. We’ve been in the custom biz forever and have gone through numerous speakers where the manufacturer said "all weather." Then we’d see them in two years- all rusted out! Then we’d file for warranty and realized the fine print was one year on outdoor speakers!
About 1997 B&W entered the true all-weather speaker business. They
didn’t enter with another "me too" flimsy speaker that would fall apart in
two Wisconsin winters. The WP-1 became quite a classic in the outdoor world. It ran $550
per pair, came with a great mounting bracket arrangement- and actually sounded good! The
entire package was so successful that we sold bazillions for surround sound too- because
they sounded good and the mounting flexibility was state of the art.
Well, as B&W often does, they’ve just surpassed their own work with
three new models! We carry the two better models.
The WM-6 at $600 per pair is large and punchy. If you want outdoor
speakers with a big kick and don’t mind a little size, these are the ones to get.
The new WM-4 runs only $450 per pair and is a slight upgrade over the classic WP-1. WM-4 is a bit smaller than the WP-1 was and will work nicely in surround applications as well- or anywhere that you need to wall or ceiling mount a speaker.