Sunlight and speaker drivers – a recipe for disaster?

In this episode of Ask the Expert, our resident expert, Otto Jørgensen, is back, and responding to the question of how prolonged exposure to sunlight could affect speakers when used without a grille.

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How does sunlight affect the lifespan of speaker drivers if used without a grille?

That’s a really good question. Sunlight can of course damage almost anything in the world, so let's look what actually happens to a speaker when the sunlight hits it. Interestingly, the wear is mostly cosmetic. Sunlight, the UV light, and just the sheer power of light that comes from the sun could indeed wear out the colours of the cabinet of the loudspeaker, but also the colour of the drivers could become faded or "washed out" if exposed to direct sunlight. In reality, this usually does not have that much effect – if at all – on the acoustic performance of the speakers. Despite a washed out appearance, in the majority of cases no problems have been caused for the sound performance.

One "proof" of this statement that we could refer to is that we've been designing our speakers in a very similar way for more than 40 years now and –  despite the decades – these 10, 15 or 20-year-old speakers still work today: they're still playing music, and are still being enjoyed. In terms of acoustics sunlight is really not the biggest problem in the world.

What actually may be a problem – or at least what may have the most impact for the driver itself – is the heat that’s generated from the sun. So, although the sunlight in itself might not be a problem, the heat generated from the sunlight might be – especially when paired with the humidity of the room. So if you have a very dry room and the drivers are being exposed to sunlight (or other very warm things in their vicinity) then this could actually impact the rubber of the woofers or cause the coating of the tweeters to dry out, which will in turn impact the sound a little bit. It’s normally not catastrophic, but it does have an impact on the performance, and so, humidity in particular, is an issue worth being aware of.

One thing to consider when thinking about grills on versus grills off is that any sunlight that might be at risk of affecting the finish of a speaker, could potentially discolour your speaker differently behind the grilles than around the grilles, resulting in an "uneven" discolouration. Just something to consider when using grilles.

In an attempt to summarise, sunlight doesn’t really affect the sound quality of your speakers and is mostly going to affect your speakers' appearance, if at all. Of course direct sunlight is something that – if possible – should be avoided, but if you can't, I really wouldn't worry too much.

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