Is cold weather bad for speaker cabinets?

[alembicguy]

After a lifetime in sound and lighting I can answer pretty definitively. They don't care. I've had gear in badly heated warehouses, in trucks at -20, outside on loading docks for hours. They come thru every time. Cables, on the other hand, cannot be unwrapped frozen. The rubber insulation can break, and crack off. I ruined a few VERY expensive snakes over the years trying to lay them frozen. Let them warm to room temp. I always let amps warm a bit first to avoid condensation. My sub zero routine, open all the cases, but don't disturb for half an hour.
Your bass cab can freeze, but to be safe, give it some defrost time inside before firing up.

This times a million ^^^^^^^^^

 

[MegaSwing]

Over time it could hasten the deterioration of the component materials like paper, foam, and adhesives, but short-term it's probably no big deal. As others have said, moisture should be a primary concern, followed closely by theft. If you leave stuff in barns, garages, sheds, and attics, critters should also be a worry. Mice LOVE that stuff.

 

[Coolhandjjl]

Moisture is the killer. If you think it might be overly moist in there (not dripping of course), stick an open bag of (unused man, gross) cat litter in the cargo area.

Heh heh... you said moist.

 

[hombass]

How bad is it to subject your cab to cold temperatures? Say, leaving it the back of my pickup truck for a couple nights? (The back is covered) It's going to be a cold, snowy weekend here in Massachusetts. Just wondering if the cold and moisture is bad for the speakers.

I have gear i love. It stays in a temperature thats comfortable to me. 60-70° always. Condenstaion would be the main problem, sweating when you bring it in out of the cold leave it covered while it warms up. General of thumb for anything you really like and care about is store it in the climate thats confortable for you. Thats cameras, electronics, speakers, guitars all such valuable things.

 

[two fingers]

I'd be more worried about theft. Throw a deer carcass or something over it and you'll be fine.

You don't live near me. Around here a thief would knock over your bass cab to get to a deer carcass.. . And then they will steal some of that fancy running water.

 

[bigtone23]

Just let it warm to room temp for about a half hour or so before playing. Doesn't hurt (especially if the initial fire up is within an hour of a frigid load in) to play the cab at a very low volume for a couple minutes to make sure everything is moving freely. I do this with my car audio, too. Never had an issue by doing this.