Monitor Audio's new speakers bring hi-fi sound to the great outdoors

Monitor Audio's new speakers are designed to work just as well indoors as out. The Climate Series 3G models are weatherproof, so can handle life in the great outdoors, but promise "exemplary acoustic performance" of the type we usually see in the brand's high-fidelity loudspeakers.

The range comprises two models: Climate Medium (CL2 M) and Climate Small (CL2 S). Their weatherproof designs make them ideal for commercial use like retail spaces, restaurants and gyms, as well as indoor use in settings like swimming pools and homes with high levels of humidity. (Though if your home is so humid you need an outdoor speaker, we would recommend getting it seen to.)

Both models feature Monitor Audio's C-CAM black dome tweeter, whose first incarnation debuted in 1982. It's been refined over the years, with the latest version delivering "clarity, realism and detail", according to Monitor Audio.

Compared to this, the brand's Rigid Surface Technology II (RST II) drive unit technology is a spring chicken, having been honed over the last two decades. Its pistonic motion gives "total realism and clarity" with a lifelike sound.

Each model has a large, sealed Auxiliary Bass Radiator (ABR) on the rear, which works like a sealed port tube. This not only prevents ingress from the elements, it also allows for satisfyingly deep bass. And the crossover uses high-quality conductors and capacitors to give the purest signal delivery to each drive unit.

The sealed cabinet enclosure – made from dense ABS and reinforced with glass-fibre – gives the speakers an IP rating of IP66. That's dust-tight, and immune to powerful water jets, so they should withstand even a British summer. And the die-cast aluminium 'Quik-Link' bracket gives the speakers versatile positioning, allowing them to rotate through 180 degrees in both vertical and horizontal planes.

The larger model packs a 165mm (6”) RST II bass-mid driver, compared to the smaller model's 100mm (4”) RST II bass-mid driver. They both have the same 25mm (1”) black C-CAM dome tweeter and 'Quik-Link' bracket system, and both come in matte black or matte white.

The Climate Medium (CL2 M) cost £750 / $900 per pair, while the Climate Small (CL2 S) are £600 / $750 per pair (Australian pricing is TBC). They go on sale in September.

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