My Garage SB3

[ebin]

Hey All

Just FYI
I live in Canada and have been running my #2 SB3
in my unheated garage all winter so far
Does not freeze in there but gets very cold.
(minus 20'C outside the garage)
The unit is usually turned on once a day
and somedays will run an hour or two.
Was told the display would be good for -20'C
Everything still works wonderful (knock on wood)

My #1 SB3 stays nice and warm snuggled up next to
my old Denon receiver and a pair of Paradigm 11se

Look'in to make/buy some wireless speakers for
around the pool area with #2, any suggestions??

Stay Warm
"Frost bit'in Canadian"

[aubuti]

There may be some exceptions that prove the rule, but for the most part wireless speakers have problems with static, dropouts, and generally not very good sound. As an alternative, could you move the SB out to poolside, and use them with some active (aka powered, amplified) speakers? Active speakers are available for a wide range of budgets, and many of them are very good. And an advantage of having the SB poolside is that you'll be able to control your tunes where you're listening to them.

[mswlogo]

You have pools in Canada !!!

[Mark Lanctot]

Hi ebin!

ebin lives in my city and I sold him that SB3. I just didn't realize he'd freeze the poor little thing! (just kidding!)

Actually this was his plan all along - I checked the specs for the display: operating temp to -20 C, storage temp to -40 C. We did have a few -20 nights a week or so ago. And as you see, it's coping fine. I haven't seen any other forum users operate their SBs in an unheated garage in the winter in a climate colder than this - it may be that ebin in doing environmental testing for Slim/Logitech.

Anyway in regards to your question, yes the cordless speakers almost universally suck. Plus I'm not sure if there's the combination weatherproof/wireless speaker. But almost every speaker manufacturer has outdoor speakers which would be fine for use in the summer. Home Depot sells 12 gauge outdoor lighting wire which would be ideal for speaker wiring - the wire insulation is UV resistant and it's designed to be buried. (Although if it's buried, I don't know why it needs to resist UV, but anyway. Maybe the exposed ends?) Its gauge is sufficient for long runs and at least one other forum member is using it for speaker wire, see http://forums.slimdevices.com/showpo...4&postcount=33 I use this stuff on the model railroad, it's got a huge number of very fine strands and very, very thick insulation. Despite the thickness of the insulation, it remains relatively flexible because of the fine stranding.

You can even get outdoor speakers disguised as rocks at the local dealer: http://www.londonaudio.com/ , see "Rockustics", but they are expensive. Better to look at conventional outdoor speakers from your favourite speaker manufacturer.

Oh and yes mswlogo, we do have pools in Canada but we tend not to use the outdoor ones in February...

[snarlydwarf]

You have pools in Canada !!!

Yes, when the igloos melt,, they have pools.

[seanadams]

At this very moment Logitech's testing facility is subjecting SB3s to storage at -40 to +70 C temperatures, vibrating the heck out of them, dropping them, etc. I even saw them grind one up and put it in a x-ray spectrometer to look for lead, mercury, chromium etc. Fun stuff!

[mflint]

I even saw them grind one up and put it in a x-ray spectrometer to look for lead, mercury, chromium etc. Fun stuff!

You won't be laughing when the pile of dust lands on your desk for repair.

[4mula1]

At this very moment Logitech's testing facility is subjecting SB3s to storage at -40 to +70 C temperatures, vibrating the heck out of them, dropping them, etc. I even saw them grind one up and put it in a x-ray spectrometer to look for lead, mercury, chromium etc. Fun stuff!

So is my SB3 RoHS compliant?

[audio53]

So is my SB3 RoHS compliant?

Let's hope not, at least as far as soldering goes. I want something with the reliability of good old tin-lead. Not that unproven and environmentally harmful tin-silver-copper solder. But, considering they ship SB3's to the EU, I'm sure it is RoHS compliant.

At least the SB3 is made in the US. I was pleasantly surprised to see made in California on my SB3.

Bob

[verbatone]

Don't fool yourself, final assembly may be done (or was done) in the US, but I'll bet more than 95% percent of the materials (plastics, LCD, circuit board, electrical components) were manufactured outside the US, most likely in China. The SMT process probably happened in China too.

I believe RoHS solder joints are just as strong as tin-lead, it's just the melting point is higher for RoHS solder paste. Once it flows, it's good to go!