Eagled eared trade-focused reviewer Richard Stevenson takes a listen to the Monitor Audio Climate CL2 weatherproof indoor/outdoor speakers packed with clever installer-friendly features.
Monitor Audio has been in the on-wall indoor/outdoor loudspeaker market for almost two decades, so it knows about rocking the patio or your local bar. The Climate CL2 series fetters that expertise into two new models based on a 5in driver in the CL2 S and the 6in driver CLS2 M we have here.
The glass fibre-reinforced ABS cabinet in matt white or matt black, complete with an IP rating and UV protection, is straight out of the outdoor speaker playlist. Yet that is where the similarities between the CL2 and the plethora of other outdoor speakers we have tested end. Their IP-66 rating is unusually high ingress protection for a speaker, the five-year warranty shows the brand’s faith in the product’s longevity, and they come supplied in pairs, making the £750 retail ticket for two of the CLS2 M’s something of a bargain.
But before we dive into the speaker itself, let’s talk about the outstanding ‘Quik-Link’ bracket supplied. This is not something one usually gets excited about given the typical pressed steel U-bracket in this sector, but the Climate bracket is genius.
It’s a seriously robust aluminium casting that is powder coated for durability and has four screw mount points for serious ‘not-coming-down’ appeal. There is pre-wired internal cable routing with Wago-style speed clip terminals for the incoming signal, a rubber cover to seal the connections and a coaxial signal connector concealed in the pivot/mount. At the rear of the bracket there are multiple incoming routing options for incoming signal cables running through the wall or on the wall.
The speaker attaches to the notched pivot mount and is locked firmly in place with a long Torx T25 head bolt with a large pan head. The bracket can be mounted vertically or horizontally with the bracket pointing left, right, up or down, and offers 180 degrees of speaker ‘tilt’ in 11-ish degrees steps. Simply bolt it on the wall, clip in the speaker cable, close the rubber cover seal, place the speaker, pivot to the desired direction, and tighten the bolt. Job done and it looks incredible. Brilliant!
The CL2 M speaker itself is not far behind in innovation, either. According to the paper specs, it is a two-way design with ABR porting to avoid having a hole in the cabinet that could let in water or, speaking from experience, nest hornets.
Yet the drivers are MA’s bespoke 152mm RST II (Rigid Surface Technology) bass-mid unit married to an equally custom-designed 25mm C-CAM (Ceramic-Coated Aluminium/Magnesium) Black dome tweeter. The unique ABR implementation is essentially the entire rear panel area with a suspended hex-printed (giving it RST-like properties) radiator plate.
AROUND THE FRONT
The front baffle has a neat step around the perimeter to match the step of the ABR roll surround groove, both highlighted in grey. The design is very slick, and the CL2 is the best-looking multi-use speaker aesthetic I have seen. I can see the soft, cable-free look being highly appealing to residential customers and premium public venues.
The specification reads 42Hz -30Hz (on wall), 100W continuous/200W peak power handling, 85.5dB/W sensitivity, and a nominal 6-ohm impedance. The Maximum Peak SPL (AES75, Z-weighted) is an impressive 110dB.
The ABR, facing backwards and close to the wall, gives a good 3dB gain in the LF region, helping to provide the sound richness and punch – particularly useful in outdoor scenarios where LF seems to evaporate. Installed at a floor/ceiling junction indoors, it will double that gain, allowing these relatively compact speakers to deliver bass like a much larger unit. Ideal for pubs and restaurants? I think so!
Indoor/outdoor speaker tuning is always a balancing act. Outside, without walls or ceilings to bounce sound, you need a speaker with high HF output and wide dispersion. That combination can easily sound bright and lively indoors. With all, coping with indoor/outdoor performance demands is a serious challenge – HF energy playing acoustic pinball. I have found dual-purpose speakers need an HF compensator switch to get the best from both environments. The Climate series does not have that facility… but doesn’t seem to need it.
Cold Comfort
I won’t lie; testing speakers outdoors in January’s arctic frosts wasn’t fun. So, I mounted a pair of CL2 M on lengths of 100 x 50mm timber with long cables so I could do the Hokey Cokey and test them in, out, in out – dodging frostbite and angsty polar bears. This left me frankly baffled about how MA has made a speaker that sounds so good in a room and on the patio without any HF tweaking between.
Indoors, the CL2 M punch well above their price point if considered a ‘bookshelf’ speaker, driving weighty bass tunes with impressive energy and dynamics. The HF is upfront enough to deliver in-fill and background at low levels but never aggressive at higher volumes, and the dispersion is wide enough not to cause hot spots. Give them volume, and the whole design works cohesively with the ABR, adding real substance to the sound.
Outside, they gain fabulously spacious air and imaging, and the HF doesn’t fade too much with distance from the speaker. Again, the ABR and close-to-wall location deliver decent outdoor bass and richness for music. The CL2 M keeps a nice balance at lower volumes if there is an issue of disturbing the neighbours. My neighbours never complain (because sheep like rock n roll, to paraphrase Keith Moon), so the CL2 Ms got some party-level action. They manage that remarkably well for a small speaker, keeping a good balance even at over 100dB @1m sound pressure. You can’t say that about too many dedicated indoor bookshelf speakers at this price, let alone an IP-66, UV-protected indoor/outdoor one.
I can’t say I have ever seen a better designed, well-thought-through multi-use speaker – and certainly not one that sounds as good as the CLS2 M at their frankly ludicrous £375 each. This is at retail, including VAT and the best bracket in the business at any price! The smaller CLS2 S comes in at £300 each, but unless you are really tight for space on the project, the ‘M’ sets the gold standard for affordable indoor/ outdoor speakers by a country mile.
