[adityamunshi]

Originally Posted by navin

In short UV light is more liable to damage your speaker or any plastic parts in the car than heat.

I agree, could be the reason the direct sunlight exposure for long periods affected my speaker cone.

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by navin

Most car speakers have rubber surrounds (foam does not last even half as long). These are usually butyl rubber. In cheap speakers these are often foam and the foam surrounds dont last more than 2-3 years.

Other than the foam surrounds, the part that is most suspetible is the rubber (butyl) surround and the glue that holds the rubber surround to the basket and cone.

I agree with all your points Navin, but I'd like to bring one discussion to the table.

Foam was and still remains a preferred substance for surround due to its natural characteristics of low-weight/mass, strength and flexibility and thereby ability to contribute to quality audio without effectively "slowing down" movement.

However as you rightly pointed out, foam has shown a tendency to corrode with moisture/heat/uv and other characteristics that made butyl rubber a natural choice (due to its longetivity) until a little while ago.

I have seen foam make a swift return due to new chemical compositions and inventions that overcome the negative chracteristics of foam as you knew it. The rebirth of foam surrounds is on

[fine69]

I have Morel Maximo tweeters mounted on the dash that receive direct sunlight. Now the car is usually parked under direct sunlight all day (5 days a week) and would be parked the same way for the whole of coming summer, should I be worried?

PS: I'm in Delhi so expecting temperatures anywhere around ~45-46 degree celsius in peak summer.

[navin]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

However as you rightly pointed out, foam has shown a tendency to corrode with moisture/heat/uv and other characteristics that made butyl rubber a natural choice (due to its longetivity) until a little while ago.

I have seen foam make a swift return due to new chemical compositions and inventions that overcome the negative chracteristics of foam as you knew it. The rebirth of foam surrounds is on

Sam! Sam! your industry will put a supari out on you, you are letting out secrets. As Sam rightly said, foam has many advantages. It is lighter, damps better, and is more elastic. This improves transient response, and results in a more natural sound. Both the Shiva and Tempest subwoofers used foam surrounds.