Speaker Longevity ???

[Guddu]

What would be longevity of decent build speakers in terms of years, in general?
There are several electronic components, speaker driver material etc..
There may be several factors in play, but is there any length of time consideration in general?

 

[staticV3]

20+ years if the conditions are right.
<1 year if the conditions are wrong.

 

[GXAlan]

Foam surrounds from the 70’s and 80’s were notably fragile.

Capacitors in the crossover potentially can fail.

Other than that, there’s a reason why Altec Voice of the Theater or vintage JBL Hartsfields and Paragons are still around. Unless driven to failure, speakers are exceptionally reliable,

The foam surround issue is a time dependent issue. For wear and tear, imagine how hard the speakers at a commercial venue must be driven compared to your home? High end home woofers and tweeters can be built to the same pro level standards.

Another day perspective. Think about a classic car and its car stereo. Rarely are the speakers damaged and car speakers are subjected to excessive thermal cycles and vibration.

For speakers, buy the best you can afford. “But once and cry once.”

 

[Mr. Widget]

There are many variables.

Foam surrounds from the 70’s and 80’s were notably fragile.

Capacitors in the crossover potentially can fail.

Foam surrounds on woofers and mids will fail, but it depends on your environmental conditions and the type of foam used. These typically last 15-20 years.
Rubber surrounds can last many decades. Woofers and mids with paper or treated cloth surrounds can last a lifetime.

There are some tweeters that have foam dampening hidden within their construction, these too will eventually deteriorate and gum up the works. Luckily this is not as wide spread as foam surrounds. For many compression drivers with aluminum diaphragms, the surround is made of the diaphragm's material pleated in one pattern or another. The aluminum will work harden over time and will eventually fail.

For crossovers, the most common failure is electrolytic caps deteriorating with age and requiring replacement. Many vintage "oil" caps last decades as do mylar caps. The coils and resistors should last for virtually forever.

So there are plenty of 50-70 year old speakers that still perform as new, but others from the 70s, 80s, and 90s that will need surround and cap replacement. If the speakers were simply left in storage, they can usually be gone through and be made as good as new. If they were played in a deteriorated state, they can be permanently ruined.

 

[Guddu]

I have personally not used old speakers, but your comments will be helpful for those interested in old speakers.

 

[DVDdoug]

Sometimes woofers can "sag" and the voice coils starts rubbing and some people rotate their woofers periodically. But It's never happened to me. I build some speakers about 40 years ago and I've re-built the cabinets twice using same drivers (just for a different "configuration) The woofer surrounds are rubber and they are still good. I did rotate the woofers 180 degrees for the last re-build.

A couple of years ago I thought the "foam" surrounds on the subs in my van had deteriorated. But it turned-out to be a "blown" woofer-amp and when I checked the woofers they actually have real rubber... I had forgotten.

 

[mhardy6647]

For loudspeakers built 70 to 80 years ago -- at least 70 to 80 years.
AlNiCo magnets do often need to be recharged after five-ish decades "for best results", and AlNiCo magnets are sensitive to mechanical shock.

For more modern loudspeakers -- well, there have been some issues (e.g., failure of glued-on magnets and, of course, polyurethane foam surrounds on drivers, also ferrofluid "drying up" in tweeters and some MR drivers).

 

[DMill]

The Rubber surrounds around the Kevlar drivers dried up and cracked after 20 years on some B&W CM4s I had. They sell kits to replace them. The how to video makes it looks like a pain in the ass to do the fix. If I thought more of the speakers to begin with I’d do it. Instead they are in their boxes in my basement.

 

[Doodski]

and... Try to keep speakers out of the sun. It changes the color of the grills, sometimes the wood will change slightly and it ruins driver surrounds and changes the color of paper woofers and tweeters. I've seen it many times. After when a speaker has a strip of discoloration down one side or at the front nobody wants to buy them.

 

[HoweSound]

Phillips dome mids and tweets still good (crazy) after all these years: 1980 to 2023. My own sealed bookshelves. Changed 8" woofers in 1996. About to re-build with new Visaton drivers and new Audax woofers. New crossovers as well. Unsure if it will be an improvement. I've been pretty happy with them, coupled with a subwoofer.

 

[MRC01]

My Magnepan 3.6/R are 23 years old with daily use and still perform to new specifications, confirmed with REW measurements.

 

[NoxMorbis]

20+ years if the conditions are right.
<1 year second if the conditions are wrong

 

[Zek]

Some tweeters have ferrofluid in them that dries out over time and needs to be replaced.

 

[thecheapseats]

in my experience, speakers are consumables like toner for laser printers or automobile tires - more so if they are studio monitors used commercially...

non-commercial speakers I purchased and still own- and one pair I inherited ->> purchased a pair of black la scalas and they have endured remarkably well for forty-seven years so far (with small amounts of painless maintenance)... I inherited some monster 4355 jbls from my uncle (nutty size/money in their day) - both needed rebuilt x-overs and some maint repairs as well... a few tannoy pairs have held up rather well (far more maint required) - kept them working only for nostalgic reasons...

I was given a pair of bose 901vi long ago... based on general principals - I burned them as firewood...

 

[RayDunzl]

My MartinLogan reQuests were purchased in 1998. So, that's 24+ years now.

Still working fine, audibly and measurably, no repairs.

There's a pair of Pilot speakers here from 1962 or so. Last time I tried them they still worked. They spent a few years in the hatchback area of a Pinto driven by a Pioneer Supertuner in the 70's.

My 8 Transistor RCA radio that I won for my bicycling skills in 1963 still works.

My Radio Shack Patrolman multiband radio which is always on (years now) and tuned to WMNF or WUSF or WFLA 970 in the garage still works, probably a 70's thing inherited from Dad the ham.

I've seen foam surround disintegration, so would avoid that if it is still used.

Actually, I can't think of a speaker that has failed for me, other than the Peavy Compression Horns we blew several times in the 1981 Rock'n'Roll PA experience..

 

[fpitas]

If you're thinking of getting vintage speakers, some hard truths are in order. Often the ones being sold were abused. Flippers (guys who buy old stuff on speculation) get them and then place them on (say) eBay for far more than they paid. They do just enough repair to get them making noise again. That means many of the drivers are incorrect and (of course) low cost. I really only know about Altecs in particular, but I have no reason to think other popular brands are immune.

 

[pjn]

What would be longevity of decent build speakers in terms of years, in general?
There are several electronic components, speaker driver material etc..
There may be several factors in play, but is there any length of time consideration in general?

Infinity Qa - 45 years but recently retired
Kef 104/2 34 years - doughnuts replaced, recapped last year, tweeters replaced 4 years ago. Still good but not as good as Kef R7 meta
So, ages.