The Aquila 50 Waterproof speakers are a range of high-quality box speakers designed for outdoor use. The following review is written from the point of view of someone who received a set of these speakers. The Aquila 50 speakers arrived well packed in a plain brown cardboard box. Inside the shipping box, the product box is a basic but stylish design which seems to have become fairly popular with high-end brands recently. it is a brown cardboard box with a single colour print, in this case blue. The box proudly proclaims the product name along with an abstract graphic, which seemed to be a representation of the product. On the sides, there is a basic product description in several languages, along with the basic tech-spec and other information, like the barcode, WEEE mark, etc. The colour choice is marked on the top of the box, the choice being black or white – this is the black version.
Opening the top of the box reveals a layer of plastic-based foam packaging. Lifting this out of the way, the contents of the box can be seen: the 2 speakers, packed in polythene bags, with the brackets fitted round them on the outside of the bag. Also included in the box are 2 small packets, each containing a pair of hand-wheel screws and thin padded foam washers. a further pair of packets contain the screws and rawl plugs for fixing the brackets to a wall. The brackets are simple U-style brackets, which allow the speaker to rotate in one plane The brackets include right-angle keyhole slots, indicating that the bracket could be installed to hold the speaker vertically or horizontally. The brackets have centre holes to allow the cable to be routed straight through the wall behind the bracket if desired, to allow for a neater installation.
The speakers themselves have a plain front, with no logo breaking into the punched metal grille. The top and bottom of the speaker have a central threaded hoe to allow attachment to the provided brackets using the hand-wheel screws in the package. I am not sure where the padded washers are supposed to fit, as there are no instructions (With this exception, the installation is common-sense). One side of the washer has a a peel-off self adhesive, so they are obviously designed to stick to something, presumably to reduce friction and hold the speakers in place. The speakers have a series of raised bumps around the fixing hole, so putting it on the speaker would negate this feature. The back of the speaker has two further threaded fixing points, though nothing obvious to fix to them is included in the package, I believe that ball-joint brackets, which allow more directionality are available.
Also on the back is a large flexible plastic cover, which comes off to reveal a pair of push-type speaker terminals, like the ones found on the back of a Hi-Fi. The cover also has a small round hole in the centre to allow access for the cable. They were easy to install on a brick wall using the included plugs and screws, and I have them fitted under the edge of the eaves, where they are barely noticeable from the ground.
