I have done maany systems with speakers outdoors. Most of them are small and consist of one or two areas with speakers under the eaves. I usually use Russound speakers.

A couple of years ago in my own house I installed two on railing posts by my pool down near the deck surface. As an experiment I covered them for the first winter with taped up plastic bags, and this year I left them open to the snow. We get almost 2 feet of snow in the winter so for at least some of the winter they would have been in direct contact with snow. I go to turn them on this week and they don't work, so I would say that my experiment proved not to leave your speakers out in the snow. I feel like this is obvious but enter the post that they are all weather speakers so I had to see for myself.

I'm wondering what you all do as far as caring for your customers' speakers in the winter. Do you take them down and store them for the winter or leave them out in the elements? Would that depend on their mounting location?

Would using a different (more expensive?) speaker mean that I can leave them out exposed to the elements? More expensive sometimes means better sounding, but doesn't always mean that they will stand up better to the elements.

Thanks for your input, Craig.

I had some cheap Amazon 70v speakers in my yard in our old house. They got buried in snow year after year, and never failed. Are you sure it's the snow that killed them?

Are they Waterproof or Water-resistant? I have used outdoor speakers that couldn't handle direct snow/rain for long periods and others that are more waterproof and still working after 5+ years of being covered in snow.

So many are just designed to handle the extra heat and moisture of being outside but not for direct contact with snow. Anything that is considered landscape speakers SHOULD be able to handle anything.

Both of you raise good points.

I'm not sure it's the snow that killed them. However the amp that powers them was powered off the whole time so they were doing nothing but sitting there all winter. The tweeters were fine. The woofers were seized. They are sealed and no water was swishing around inside.

I also don't know if they are wether "proof". I'll look into this.

Thanks.

From the Russound website :

"Designed and built to withstand the rigors of even the harshest of outdoor environments, Russound's Outback outdoor speakers will provide years of trouble-free service. They work
in a wide range of temperatures and be unaffected by extremes of humidity. A corrosion-resistant aluminum grille and bracket coupled with the speaker’s rugged environmental design assures durability in any kind of weather. Sealed
enclosures offers greater durability against any extreme from fierce downpours to blistering sun and everything in between."

It does not say weatherproof but from the description it sure sounds like they intend for them to be left outside.

That description sure does tiptoe around saying that they are meant to withstand extreme cold and direct contact with moisture (The frozen variety).

I would contact the manufacturer. Most "outdoor speakers" boast longer warranties in the 5+ year range. If they deny the warranty due being used outdoors in your environment I would discontinue dealing in their products. I would even go so far as letting them know that they spent a period of time in direct contact with snow...just to see what their response is.

Great idea. I definitely will call them. I have dozens of these speakers out in the wild. For clients systems I have had to replace two pairs that were DOA and one that failed after a winter. For my own system I have four outdoor zones. I had to replace this pair and one other in another area that was about three years old, however I have a feeling that an impedance matching volume control caused that failure as at the time that's what I was using and the volume control for that pair literally cooked due, I think, to me way over powering it. Not sure what happened there honestly as at that time I also removed all of my volume controls and upgraded to a CasaTunes multi zone controller.

Anyway I kind of got on a tangent there but the point of all that is Russsound actually has a very good warranty. It's five years replacement. Plus I buy them from A*I and all they care about is when you bought the last pair (no serials) so as long as I keep buying them every year they basically have a lifetime warranty. In the two instances where I had to use the RMA process, Russound didn't even ask for a proof of purchase. I just called them and they issued an RMA. So either the speakers are great and they don't care about replacing them, or they are crap and they sell so many they don't care about replacing them. Either way it's easy to get new ones.

Now no matter how easily I can get new speakers, I obviously don't want to be driving all over the place replacing them, but that hasn't been the case as of yet.

I'm just questioning now whether they should be mounted at ground level, or anywhere else they may get buried for the winter.

I'll call Russound and ask them about this direct snow situation. Good call.

Craig

Yeah I'd want to hear their take. My guess is they just replace them without question because they cost pennies on the dollar to make. I have to tell you, I have box style, pendant style and rock style speakers all over North America...I've never replaced a single pair due to seizing up from being in bad weather. And I really doubt the clients are bagging them all up each winter or before a rain storm lol

Except for the early Bose outdoor speakers, none of which reached their 3rd season, I haven't had a significant number of failures. My biggest problem is wire oxidation at the speaker terminals and rusting grills. Mostly, we used B&W. I try to place them under the eves when possible. I always make the point that nothing is weather proof, "ask any boat owner". And, I recommend bringing them inside during the winter.

Craig,

Russound use to make a pretty good outdoor speaker for the money 10+ years ago. Ever since they introduced this new series (about 10 years ago now) several things happened.
1) The price dropped by 30-40%. That was a red flag for me right there.
2) When I took some apart that I was demoing, they were clearly using cheaper parts and inferior basic design, than the old ones.
3) After listening to them, it was clear they dropped more than the 30-40% price in quality & sound.

All this lead me to never sell those Russound speakers again. They are crap speakers and the really cheap price on them should give you a clue.

There are a lot of good outdoor speakers that don't cost that much more than the Russound and sound better.

Try spraying the wire and terminals with a shot of Deoxit D5 when you install outdoor connections. I've found over the years it greatly increases the life.
I don't have snow here, but we have constant high humidity here in southeast GA. And some installations are near the coast with salt spray in the air.

As far as grills rusting... Holy crap, I would drop that companies outdoor speakers immediately. If they are not using the proper aluminum grills that can't rust (and not just steel that has been powder coated), then screw them.

Brad thanks for that info.

Other brands I can get are:
Boston Accoustics (5 year warranty)
RBH (5 years)
Klipsch (lifetime warranty)
KEF (both weatherproof and weather resistant are mentioned, warranty 5 years)
Current Audio (lifetime warranty)
Polk Audio (weather resistant 5 years)
JBL Pro (weather resistant, and they make a point of saying NOT weather proof)

These are from wholesalers I can pick up from locally and don't need to ship, which makes things really easy.

I have one 70v install using the Current Audio speakers. I though they sounded quite nice. That system has one speaker on a post at ground level (the other 8 are on walls or raised up and under some kind of cover) and that guy asked if he should bring it inside for the winter. I showed him how and that's what he does. They are ported and even though it's angled downward, that one had a little water inside it when he took it in after the summer. No complaints about operation. That system would be about 3 years old.

I also have one of the Polk Audio Atrium subwoofers out there. It's been about 4 years living outside all winter with no complaint.

I like the idea of a company with a lifetime warranty.

Craig

Terra
AC.16E all-climate / high-quality sound / no maintenance / lifetime guarantee

I forgot about Terra. I can get them fairly conveniently as well.

Of the ones you listed, I have experience with the following:

Boston Acoustics are awesome. They have good sound quality and seem to last (at least down here). Their size ranges are great as well; from the small Voyager 4 to the massive Voyager 7 which can handle some power and really throw out some sound.

KEF is my current go to. They have a price point not much more than Russound but much better sound quality. They don't make the Ventura 4 anymore thou; leaving only the 5.25" & 6" models. I have only been using them a few years, so still waiting to see the long term reliability. But they seem built well and others that have been using them for decades have had no problems.

JBL Pro is awesome of course. Usually only use these where high powered systems are involved, that's where they shine. Using them for common systems makes them a little pricey and generally don't sound as good with low power. Their 70V stuff is good to.

I have only ever ran into Polk's outdoor speakers on take over jobs. Every time the speakers would already have been installed for 5+ years but they also always needed replacing, because they were falling apart. I don't think I would ever spec those into a job.

I have never heard Klipsch outdoor speakers (which is odd). But with all the experience I have had with their other speakers, I would say no. Just no!

The other 2 brands you listed (RBH & Current) I have no experience at all with.

The Terra's are built like tanks and suppose to stand up to anything. I have only heard the speakers play at trade shows, which should never be judged there because of what the idiot sales rep might have done to the settings. I constantly see them turn the bass & treble controls up, like it's the G^ d^ 80's or something.

As with any speaker brand, you should get pairs of different models/series in to demo before choosing a line. The rep should give you a good discount on this demo order to test out - or let you return them all once done listening.
You need a controlled area to do the listening, a place that is setup acoustically well. So you can keep your listening sessions consistent over the years when new things come along.