The Mystery of the Missing Bass

It started two nights ago... watching a concert DVD in the Theater Room. Something was wrong. "Where did the damn bass go?" I headed over to the sub woofer and it showed a power light. I could even hear a small weak amount of bass, but nothing like it should be. After checking the settings on the amplifier I finally had enough, and pulled out the sub. It was cold, really cold!

The temperature outside was around 25 degrees, not unusual. Could it be the direction the wind was blowing, hitting the house head on, and streaming in through the gable vents unabated? Did they even put insulation around the sub box after they made it?

What ever the cause, the bass cone was so cold it could not flex! The sub was well below operating specs and the box it was sitting in was as cold as a refrigerator.

"What the hell?"

Go ahead and put your beer in there! It will stay cold!

The ladder to trouble. The theatre room sits above the garage, so at least I can get to this problem.

Well, there is the problem! First thing to notice is the giant gable vent opening the attic crawl space to the frigid arctic air outside! Next is the totally exposed sub woofer enclosure sticking out there freezing it's magnet off!

Thank goodness I hired professionals or this would have never happened!

Half an hour later and one roll of R13 insulation later and I think I have the problem licked.

Even with this I think I may have to find a better solution. The speaker fits so tightly in the box that warm air from the inside can't circulate around it. My thought is, maybe a heating pad under the sub on low during the winter might be the only way to keep it warm enough?

I await your thoughts.