Weather Resistant speakers?

[pete10uk]

I've got a permanent install job coming up where a customer wants some bgm on an outdoor balcony.

 

I have some EVID 4.2 speakers in stock from a previous job so I'd like to use these if possible.

 

They say on the box "Elliptical weather-resistant ABS enclosure" and the spec sheet says yes to outdoor use, but gives no details.

 

What does that actually mean? Can I install these outside with no shelter and expect them to keep working? or as it only states the enclosure is weather resistant not the cones or connectors and doesn't actually say weather proof, just resistant, is it more likely they will just put up some resistance before they stop working.

 

Am I reading too far in to this? Has anyone got any experience of outdoor installations?

 

Thanks in advance, Pete

[oakeedokee]

EVID 4.2s will be fine outside. We have used them on numerous occasions outdoors and they are still going strong after years of use.

[paulears]

In practice, it usually means a sealed enclosure with a driver similarly sealed with non-cardboard speaker components - so they're inherently waterproof - no access to moisture at all. The Tannoys we have on the Pier have been there for 15 years in a salty environment and still work fine, but the grills are metal in in a terrible state, and the paint finish peeling - but the designs all do the primary job, keeping the water out!

 

If you ever do any repair on waterproof speakers, seal the connectors properly if your replace them, because the movement of the driver can suck moisture in surprisingly easily.

[gyro_gearloose]

There are some musical fountains here in town which have a couple of JBL Control 25s providing the sound. They've been there for years exposed to all the sea and the elements can throw at them and they still work. I helped replace a diaphragm on one of them a couple of weeks ago as someone had poked a hole in the old one!