speakers and cold

[gpuma]

Odd question:

I live in a townhouse, my gear is at the 4th floor. Lugging my 2x12 cab up and down is a major Pita so I was thinking what if I keep it in the garage?

 

During the winter the temp in the garage can get in the low 20s I guess. Would it hurt the speakers?

[DetroitBlues]

Um, probably not...

[Genericmusic]

Give them plenty of time to reach room temperature before firing them up. I would think speakers would be especially vulnerable because at lower temperatures materials become more brittle and vulnerable to cracking. Speaker cones, depending on the material and how cold it is could be at risk, especially those with butyl rubber compounds.

[y2kc]

Gpuma,

 

Isn't Chicago weather awesome. I think the weather here in the winter will have it's way with anything left to freeze for too long. You might want to downsize to a lighter cab in the winter and carry it up to your house. Of course you are welcome to leave all your cool guitars here.

 

y2kc

[mars_hall]

I think the cones would be taking on a lot more moisture in the garage and react accordingly (age), so a quicker life and eventual loss of definition, which may not be a bad thing if there is too much there already.

 

The temperature wouldn't be a problem, the moisture and mold could be.

 

It is usually affordable to swap speakers and if the tradeoff is your back, well.....

[buzzy]

I also think that moisture absorbed in the paper cone changes the way a speaker sounds. I try to box my raw speakers with rice when stored in my basement.

[TalismanRich]

The old Valco Supreme that I brought to PSP a couple of years ago spent over 30 years in the attic of my parents house. In the summer, figure it was well over 100 degrees, in the winter, it was well below freezing at night a lot of times and I'm sure there were times below zero.

 

When I had it reworked, it was capacitors and tubes that were changed along with the rotted leather handle. The speaker is still original, 60 years old. It still cranks fine.

 

I think 20s in a dry garage would be a piece of cake in comparison.