Playing subs in cold weather

Is it ok to use my subs when its below freezing out. Ive heard that its fine if teh subs are warmed up by playing at low volume, but ive also heard people say that a voice coil or cone could be busted. I find that kind of hard to belive. So id like to hear from you guys if its ok or not, and if it is ok should i start off by playing them at low volume and slowly increase it so the subs warm up?

-------------

yea im sure its fine, i dont know many people here in canada that remove their stereo just for the winter. just play a song at a very conservative volume throughout, and im sure after that the sub will be warmed up enough to handle daily [ab]use

If that were too much of a problem I don't think we'd have so many Canadian members.  The coil gets heated while playing (you know how coils are vented to cool them down), but the cone will stay cold.  If the gear is quality, the material should withstand normal temperature extremes for the life of the product, however long that may be.  A speaker won't last forever even in continuously moderate climates.  The worst thing you can do, and what is probably the biggest problem in this regard, is to blast your system on the way to school in the morning.  Do Tracy Chapman or something in the AM, and after the sun has warmed up the trunk during the day you can blast it after school.

I usually keep the volume down on the way to school anyways, there us such thing as to early in the mourning for bass lol. My subs are less then 6 months old, so they should hold up no problem. I figured everything would be fine since my cone is plastic, and voice coils would blow from being to hot, not to cold. I hate the cold weather though, i broke the drivers door handle this mourning trying to get the door open...all four were frozen shut.

-------------

The only problems I ever see are with cracked cones or cracked surrounds. I have seen the JL surrounds on the w)'s crack, sony and rockford cones crack and some various subs with rubber surrounds crack. The surrounds cracking were always a case of people blasting their systems without properly letting them warm up. The cones were just a bad design in both companies cases.

-------------
double-secret reverse-osmosis speaker-cone-induced high-level interference distortion, Its a killer

now, question... how come my systems dont feel like they are hitting as hard in the cold weather? i've been through about 5 systems in the winter, and they always feel like they arent hitting as hard or loud in the winter? maybe its just me?

-------------
1990 Honda Civic HB:
Clarion DXZ545MP H.U.
2- 6.5" Power Acoustik interiors
Diamond Audio 600.1 amp
Diamond Audio 15" M6MKII
Pyramid PB881X 4 CH. Amp

i think i hear less hard hitting bass from my mids now adays too. this is my first winter having my components and amp hooked up. but i know when i first start the car the sound comes off vary acousticy. it takes a good 30minutes if not longer before i can tell anything (not saying it takes 30minutes, usually just hearing a certain song or note will clue me in).
i'd like to know why myself. i've only assumed its something to do with the surrounds tightening/contracting up (like you see with power lines from summer to winter. just not that extreme)

It's not just you.  When it's cold (let's say at least -10C) the surround hardens up and the net result is a loss in efficiency because you need more power to move the sub.

Yeah I noticed that to, it seems like im not getting quite as much bass as I was. But oh well, its not quite the same playing the system on a cold winter day then it is on a warm summer night anyways But its gonna be a long time before those roll around again. Curse these New York winters!!!

-------------

Another reason for sound changes is colder air is alot denser than warmer air. Therefor harder to compress.

spl-Hz wrote:

---

Another reason for sound changes is colder air is alot denser than warmer air. Therefor harder to compress.

---

Thats what i was gona say.    Also, 1 thing id suggest is for woofers with porus surrounds (foam) should definately take caution seeing as moisture gets sucked up into the suround and can freeze, causing it to crack if its solid enough.  Boy am i glad for santoprene surrounds on the alpines.  Water proof baby!  Dosn't mean it can't form a glaze over the top, , but that can be cured if you warm up your car and play it low for the first song.

-------------
2003 Chevy Avalanche,Eclipse CD7000,Morel Elate 5,Adire Extremis,Alpine PDX-4.150, 15" TC-3000, 2 Alpine PDX-1.1000, 470Amp HO Alt.