My father in law wants to do a multimedia setup outside. He's going to put up a flat screen tv and some outdoor speakers. I'll need two different kind of speakers. Two of them will be mounted on the patio, facing outward towards the yard. Obviously, those will have specifically outdoor speakers. My question is this. For the other two (or three) speakers, they are going to be underneath the patio, up in the "ceiling" of the patio, if that makes sense. Basically, these will be the sound for when the tv is on. Now I know they make outdoor in-ceiling speakers, but is that necessary? They will be exposed to no elements other than the heat of living in Arizona, and even then they will be getting no direct sunlight. Just the ambient heat. Since they will be under the cover of the patio, I figured we might be able to get by just buying regular speakers for there. However, after thinking about it, I realized the cones inside the speakers may not be able to hold up to the elements as opposed to ones that are made specifically for outdoor use. Anyone have any thoughts?

I have pretty much the same outside setup only i have the TV and speakers mounted on the house itself and dont have the speakers mounted on the celing. For the 2 speakers inside the "screenhouse" i use http://www.amazon.com/Dual-3-Way-Ind.../dp/B000A5S926 and for the 2 mounted on the screenhouse pojnted towards the yard I use the same. For the price they are excellent. BTW, I did use regular speakers for the inside part for a long time and had no problems.

I think you would be better off getting outdoor rated speakers. The paper and cones are treated so they are more resistent to temp and humidity changes. I would think in Arizona you dont have much humidity but the heat might make the paper dry out and fall apart. Maybe if you use indoor speakers with kevlar material or something durable it wouldnt matter.

yeah, that's kind of what i was worried about. hmmmm