What are the minimum and maximum allowable temperatures that the Algonquin outdoor speakers can handle? More specifically, what is the minimum recommended outdoor temperature?

I just came in after enjoying a very chilly -25 celsius night sitting in my hot tub and listening to some music over my Algonquin outdoor speakers. While they sounded OK, I did notice that they sounded somewhat subdued and were not quite as full-sounding and lively. They may also have sounded somewhat delayed in their response. Keep in mind, though, that I was playing a radio station and not a CD or DVD.

Is it possible that they will not perform as well at extreme cold temperatures? Does sound "sound" different at colder temperatures?

Or perhaps they sounded fine and it was my own senses that were so dulled by the cold

Any thoughts?

Bryan

With our current cold weather, the surrounds on the cones are very stiff, so they won't be moving as effectively. Kind of like when you first sit in the car and the foam in the seat barely gives way.

I'm sure Axiom might be able to tell you for sure, but it seems that some of the Axiom employees live in very cold climates of Canada and they have been manufactured to withstand those arctic conditions.

I figured that the cold temperature would affect the cones somewhat so I'm sure they weren't moving as "freely" as normal. Do you think I could cause any damage to them if played at such cold temperatures? I agree that Axiom (being a Canadian company) has probably stress-tested and designed them to withdstand our cold climates but their literature doesn't actually specify a temperature range. I don't want to damage them but I would still like to use them when its freezing outside and I'm sitting in the hot tub. That's one of the reasons I bought the hot-tub and speakers!

Thoughts? I'll probably send Axiom an email and ask them their official position but I thought some of the eager Axiom board members would probably be online - and I'd like to jump in the hot tub again tomorrow.

Bryan

p.s. jakewash - I'll PM you about getting together over the holidays to tweak my system and perhaps have a listen to your set-up.

I think the rubber they are using for the surrounds is an all weather variety, butyl, etc. It should withstand anything we can throw at them all though as you are finding out, they may sound different at our colder temps.

I shall be waiting for that PM, I will get to use the new soundcard and see how things graph out in your place, it should be fun.

I believe Alan even mentioned once they could fall in a swimming pool and still be fine after the water was drained out, not sure about icey waters.

Axiom says they test in their environmental chamber down to -20 Celcius... sounds like you've just exceeded the test conditions. Brr....

Jason

That just means they sometimes do testing with the door open!

Hi Icehawk21,

I chatted with Ian, Axiom's designer, and what you were hearing is in fact quite accurate. At those temperatures, the effect of extreme cold on the Algonquins is a somewhat rolled-off bass and treble response, so your impression of them sounding "subdued" is quite accurate.

Ian remarked that after you play them for quite awhile, the voice coils should warm up and the frequency response should return to normal.

If there's a lot of snow around your hot tub, the absorption of snow is considerable, so the sound might also be affected.

Regards,

Alan

Snow is a great bass trap.

Send some out west for testing.
We're getting -45 Celsius with wind chill tonight.
http://www.cbc.ca/weather/conditions.jsp?station=YWG

We're already at -40 with windchill.

I don't see how you guys survive that stuff. They must make clothes a lot warmer up there!

We build igloos.
Walls and ceilings of ice: warm!
(the floors are made out of snow)

Yeah, it's 50 degrees down here and I'm freezing my hoo-hoos off.

Our beer has a higher alcohol content and tastes better, hence more consumption and more blubber

Yes, and sled dogs pull my wheelchair

It's warmed up, only -17F (-27C) and the wind has dropped to near nothing!

(Alan) Thanks for the Axiom reply and the description of my situation. I didn't sit in the hot tub long enough for them to warm up and sound better.

I have less snow around the hot tub after shovelling off my deck/patio for a couple of hours yesterday - just to get to my hot tub. But there is a lot of snow around the patio that might be affecting the sound.

I'm assuming by your reply, though, that I shouldn't worry about doing any damage to the speakers by playing them at such low temperatures - correct?

BTW - it is now -27 celsius with a wind chill down to -40 celsius. Perfect temperature to go jump in the hot tub and enjoy some tunes. Anyone in Calgary want to join?

Yous guys are insane. In other news, we're finally getting a little rain!

Bryan if I wasn't looking to make an ice rink in the back yard I would be over!

The newly poured patio at the end of summer is going to be the new ice rink, but I need to get some poly down first. The rink would be ~14' x 30'. Should be fun if warms up enought to use it.

-26 w/o windchill -41w Gee, there's a windchill warning, what a surprise.
Because of the wind there's at least three of us outside shovelling this afternoon.

+9 here in Peterborough tomorrow. Extremely unseasonal

OK, if we must ... Vero Beach 5-Day Forecast

Crap.

Don't you guys know that as soon as you start marking your territory with cold temp stats, Rick'll come in and make EVERYONE feel bad?

Still sitting at -28C (-17F) luckily still no wind to speak of.

The cold front swung into Austin this morning. We dropped 22 degrees (F) in 19 minutes. Talk about a fast moving front. Brr.

Hi icehawk,

No, no damage will occur playing them under such cold conditions. I once skiied in the BC interior (Panorama) and we had cold like you are experiencing. There was a hot tub outside the condo we rented (no Algonquin speakers however) and it was quite a trip to dash out there and immerse oneself, steam rising all around you.

Regards,

Alan

Alan,

Thanks for the reply mentioning no damage should occur while playing them at such cold conditions. I was a little concerned that I might be damaging them.

The dash out to the hot tub is a little cool, to say the least. But its worth it once you sink into the hot water. It's a weird feeling, however, having your hair follicles freeze together while sitting in 102F water. I had brought a glass of water with me and it had almost frozen solid before I took my first sip. Luckily, the dash back to the house isn't nearly as bad.

Thanks again for the info - now I can play the Algonquins to my hearts content.

Bryan

MAybe you can develop a habit of playing them for a while to warm up before you go out to listen?

So speaker break in isn't a myth after all!

Nice thread Icehawk. There are a few things about the west I really miss, and one of them is soaking in the Banf hotsprings in -25C weather watching it snow. I always wanted to try sneaking a bottle of wine in, but could never figure out how.

They wouldn't just think you were happy to see them ???

REALY happy! I had a friend who tried to smuggle a case of beer into a bar under his coat. He fell down the stairs and ended up on his back at the feet of the bouncer with several bottles rolling around his head. It didn't work.