# Speaker and cold weather, do they mix ?



## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

I just read a post about bringing in a pair of speakers from the garage to warm up before installing them in a cab and was wondering...

Does the cold weather affect speakers ???  

I`ve been removing and storing all my speakers in a closet that I now call the speaker closet inside the house since I thought the cold might not be good for them, am I wrong ? 

The cabs go in the cold no problem but what of the speakers ? 

Any speaker specialist here ?


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## tomee2 (Feb 27, 2017)

In theory, the voicecoil could shrink in the cold more then the pole piece or magnet and possibly rub. But once warmed up it would be ok. 
Also, the glues and adhesives when frozen could be stiff and possibly crack. Maybe, if it's really cold. 
All this is just thinking what could go wrong..


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

How about car speakers? Are they built different because of the cold weather?


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

laristotle said:


> How about car speakers? Are they built different because of the cold weather?


Good point !!!


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## tomee2 (Feb 27, 2017)

laristotle said:


> How about car speakers? Are they built different because of the cold weather?


Pretty sure they are. A friend once worked for Pioneer designing car speakers for Ford etc.
He said the design specs were way more demanding then the home stereo stuff he was doing before. Pro sound is pretty much the most demanding. They're designed for cold and extreme heat and UV and damp etc. 

My points were what I always heard about old JBLs that have very tight voice coil clearances and alnico magnets that might damage if dropped cold. Is it true? Who knows.


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## tomee2 (Feb 27, 2017)

I just remembered another thing about cold and speakers that I used to hear, so another old wives tale so to speak..
home stereo speakers often use soft foam for the outer surround. That stuff is fragile, and might crack if frozen and you cranked the volume. It lasts maybe 20 years then just falls apart.
Pro sound and guitar speakers won't use it, they usually have paper or cloth accordion surrounds, or rubber for subwoofers.


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

tomee2 said:


> Pretty sure they are. A friend once worked for Pioneer designing car speakers for Ford etc.
> He said the design specs were way more demanding then the home stereo stuff he was doing before. Pro sound is pretty much the most demanding. They're designed for cold and extreme heat and UV and damp etc.
> 
> My points were what I always heard about old JBLs that have very tight voice coil clearances and alnico magnets that might damage if dropped cold. Is it true? Who knows.


I believe that your may be correct on that, a quote on the properties of Alnico indicates a fragile metal to high g-forces.
From wiki: "They are the only magnets that have useful magnetism even when heated red-hot.[5] This property, as well as its brittleness and high melting point ".


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

tomee2 said:


> home stereo speakers often use soft foam for the outer surround. That stuff is fragile, and might crack if frozen and you cranked the volume. It lasts maybe 20 years then just falls apart.


Yeah, I remember the first time I encountered the falling apart issue...it just crumbled on the slightest touch.


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## tomee2 (Feb 27, 2017)

Paul Running said:


> Yeah, I remember the first time I encountered the falling apart issue...it just crumbled on the slightest touch.


There's a thriving industry of replacement foam surrounds on ebay now. It used to be a specialty item but you can now pretty much buy any foam needed to repair any speaker ever made. I've refoamed maybe 20 speakers in the past 15 year or so, mostly Advent, Boston Acoustic, Cerwin Vega, and JBL. Once repaired they're usually good for another 20 years.


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

tomee2 said:


> There's a thriving industry of replacement foam surrounds on ebay now. It used to be a specialty item but you can now pretty much buy any foam needed to repair any speaker ever made. I've refoamed maybe 20 speakers in the past 15 year or so, mostly Advent, Boston Acoustic, Cerwin Vega, and JBL. Once repaired they're usually good for another 20 years.


What about paper sourrounds ?

Never seen these without the full recone kits ! why ???


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## tomee2 (Feb 27, 2017)

The paper ones are part of the cone and would be hard to replace without making it sound different. The foam ones are glued to the cone so the replacement sort of acts like the original foam did, as it already had glue there.
Replacing the foams on old speakers "works" but it might not get it back to factory new spec. A good example is JBL never sold replacement foam surrounds, only full recone kits, for all home and pro speakers. You can buy aftermarket foam, but not factory. The die hard JBL users really looked down on refoaming speakers but recently it's more accepted as ok because recone kits from JBL are now pretty much gone for the vintage speakers from the 70s. JBL was still supporting 40 year speakers up until about 10 years ago with factory spare parts and someone there finally said enough.

A torn paper or cloth surround can be repaired though, often with light use of glue and thin paper backing.


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

tomee2 said:


> My points were what I always heard about old JBLs that have very tight voice coil clearances and alnico magnets that might damage if dropped cold. Is it true? Who knows.


I want to make sure I'm this understanding this correctly, you're saying if they're dropped while cold?


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## tomee2 (Feb 27, 2017)

nonreverb said:


> I want to make sure I'm this understanding this correctly, you're saying if they're dropped while cold?


This is what I was told and read many years ago... alnico shocked when cold could reduce magnetism. I've never researched it to see if it's true. I might be googling it now though haha...


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## tomee2 (Feb 27, 2017)

So I can't find anything that says cold alone will demagnetize alnico, but plenty if sources say dropping or hitting any magnet repeatedly will demagnetize it. Alnico is very stable with temperature, especially high temperatures.
Not sure if dropping a combo will demag a speaker, but a bigger risk is breaking the magnet loose from the frame, shifting it or the pole piece sideways. That'll turn any speaker into junk pretty fast.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Agree about frozen cones being brittle and possibly cracking at surround or glue joints.
And uneven flexing could cause coil rub and possible damage.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

Frenchy99 said:


> I thought the cold might not be good for them, am I wrong ?


I wouldn't risk leaving them to freeze in a garage all winter; can't do them any good and you could find weasels living in them when you go pull them out in the spring - then what are you going to do - loosin off a 12 gauge at the weasels will fuck the speakers right up for sure.


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

Then there's going cold into a warm _moist_ room.


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

Unless we're talking about pouring dry ice on it, I'm not sure how much effect cold has on speakers. It doesn't take long for a thin cone, spider and voice coil to warm up once inside. The magnet itself would take longer but that doesn't affect the performance of the speaker anyway.
The thing that really makes speakers susceptible to damage is age.


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## Sketchy Jeff (Jan 12, 2019)

plastic and adhesive stuff could be brittle in the cold

and if the place you bring it in to warm up is really humid you could get large amounts of condensation especially on a heavy magnet.. if the room was really really humid there could be enough to form drops that would run down onto the coil and cone

if i was bringing a big heavy speaker in from -40 i'd put it in a garbage bag before bringing it in then let it warm up for a while before using it

j


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

After reading all the comments, still think I'm doing the right thing keeping the speakers inside the house.

I was just wondering if any specific information was out there towards this subject.


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

what about condensation inside the speaker, from temperature changes & freeze/thaw cycles?

it's not sub-0 all winter long. especially spring and fall have lots of temp and humidity changes


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## Boogieman (Apr 6, 2009)

Michael Zaite (of Dr. Z amps) suggested in an interview I had read somewhere that storing speakers in a damp basement or anywhere that the speaker could wick up a lot of moisture is a no-no. I know my own garage is not ideal for speaker storage.

I store my speakers in a closet, individually boxed with silica gel packs inside. I also place wood scraps between boxes, if they are to be stacked.


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