Typical lifespan of actives v passives?

[Paulz]

I was wondering whether the general lifespan differs much between actives (due to the amps and such) and passives, both high quality, well maintained and under normal home stereo use.

I've seen people mention this issue as a potential downside to actives but never read anything weighing in on the question with any useful data.

Frankly, that's the only reason I'm hesitant to purchase the Kali IN-8 V2. I need them to be just about as reliable and long lived as a good quality passive, understanding that actives pose SOME higher risk of problems. But is it signicant?

I know actives are generally built to take a studio beating but have never heard re: their typical longevity or cost to maintain, which is obviously highly variable anyway.

Some information would help me with my purchase decision seems like a useful question to discuss.

 

[mhardy6647]

Plenty of passive loudspeakers (component drivers as well as whole systems) from the 1950s are still around, in good working order, and in regular use. So, what's that, 70 years?

Keep us posted on the lifespan of the actives.
I'm guessing it is going to be rather shorter.

From my perspective, it is the "all in one box" aspect that subtracts from the attractiveness of active loudspeakers, since even the expensive ones will be economically unfeasible after a fairly short time (e.g., 2 to 5 years, albeit that's a "SWAG").

 

[Ultrasonic]

I'm rather doubtful that 70 year old speaker drivers perform as well today as they did when new personally.

Edit: I have a couple of pairs of speakers that are around 20 years old and I actually wonder to what extent their performance may have degraded by now compared to when they were new.

 

[Ultrasonic]

From my perspective, it is the "all in one box" aspect that subtracts from the attractiveness of active loudspeakers, since even the expensive ones will be economically unfeasible after a fairly short time (e.g., 2 to 5 years, albeit that's a "SWAG").

In case you aren't aware, there are a lot of ATC active speakers that are MUCH older than 2-5 years old that are still serviceable by ATC and that maintain significant resale value. I'm talking at least 20 years here.

 

[mhardy6647]

In case you aren't aware, there are a lot of ATC active speakers that are MUCH older than 2-5 years old that are still serviceable by ATC and that maintain significant resale value. I'm talking at least 20 years here.

I was not; thanks for adding that information (although I'll confess I've never heard of ATC).

 

[Ron Texas]

Speakers made with foam surrounds had very short useful lives in hot humid climates, even with air conditioning. I had several fall apart after 6 or so years.

 

[q3cpma]

Depends on the brand, price and other factors (e.g. class D amps suffer much less from being stuck in a small space). But by definition, passive speakers are more reliable; at least if you ignore the presence of more or less advanced thermal limiters in active speakers.
I'm pretty sure you can find a lot of perfectly working Genelec 1029A/1030A/1031A in most studios; probably the same for other pro brands like ATC, K+H/Neumann, MEG, PSI, etc...

 

[sergeauckland]

Plenty of passive loudspeakers (component drivers as well as whole systems) from the 1950s are still around, in good working order, and in regular use. So, what's that, 70 years?

Keep us posted on the lifespan of the actives.
I'm guessing it is going to be rather shorter.

From my perspective, it is the "all in one box" aspect that subtracts from the attractiveness of active loudspeakers, since even the expensive ones will be economically unfeasible after a fairly short time (e.g., 2 to 5 years, albeit that's a "SWAG").

I bought my Meridian D5000s and DSP1500subs some 25 years ago, and they're still in daily use with their new owner, and my Genelecs are around 20 years old and working fine. So, all in one actives can have a decent enough life. Equally, my B&W 801s are now 35 years old and my JR149s are over 40 years old, and also still fine, albeit I recapped the JR149 crossovers last year, more out of lock-down boredom than need.

Provided the drivers aren't abused and stored in damp or otherwise poor conditions, and any non-polar electrolytics changed if out of spec, then I expect any loudspeaker to have a 50+ year life. Refoaming might be necessary in more modern loudspeakers, thankfully many vintage loudspeakers had rubber or paper surrounds that haven't perished in the same way. Magnet strength should last a very long time, although I've not seen any figures specifically, but I've read it's something like 100 years before noticeable degradation.

S

 

[dfuller]

Actives are generally limited by the lives of any capacitors within them, random catastrophic failures notwithstanding. Use decent ones and it's not an issue. Class AB plate amps are generally okay if they're heatsinked properly, but Class D is a better choice if you splash out for good quality ones (e.g. Barefoot using customized Hypex Fusion-like plate amps).

I was not; thanks for adding that information (although I'll confess I've never heard of ATC).

ATC is an old school British studio brand born out of the BBC (like many others). Their claim to fame is their ridiculously excellent 3" dome midrange (one of the few underhung 3" dome mids, and probably the only one that can cross in the low midrange comfortably). They were a fairly early-on proponent of going fully active (like, late 80s early 90s I think?), IIRC, and even though they build passives for the home audio market they're completely unashamed to say that the actives are better performing than the passives and they basically only build passives because audiophiles want them.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

My main speakers are from 1979 and work perfectly. Granted, these are pro drivers vs consumer. The one thing I did probably 10 years ago is to have the Alnico magnets recharged. I took response graphs before and after and honestly didn't notice one bit of difference that wouldn't appear from any measurements taken days apart.

I would expect active speakers to ultimately suffer amplifier problems after a dozen or so years, probably having to do with electrolytic capacitors in the amp failing. This could undoubtedly be repaired but it really comes down to the will to do so. Also remember that in an active speaker, the amplifier bits are being subjected to pretty heavy vibration from the woofers, which probably isn't wonderful for longevity.

My 18" JBL subs had the foam surround failure after about 10 years of use. It was simple enough to order a re-foam kit and make them good as new. The same thing happened to my JBL 4412 monitor woofers. Re-foaming made everything right. The process is messy, fiddly and somewhat time consuming, but I had excellent results (having been a JBL certified speaker technician in days past probably helped too).

 

[Ultrasonic]

I was not; thanks for adding that information (although I'll confess I've never heard of ATC).

Should you be interested:

http://atcloudspeakers.co.uk/about-atc/company-profile/

And here's an example of a pair of their active speakers from 1992 that sold on eBay in the UK a couple of weeks ago for £4200 (~$5800):

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ATC-SCM-...=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Whether modern DSP and app. based active speakers may have similar 'life-expectancy' or long term support may well turn out to be a rather different matter though.

 

[Paulz]

Well if they last long

Should you be interested:

http://atcloudspeakers.co.uk/about-atc/company-profile/

And here's an example of a pair of their active speakers from 1992 that sold on eBay in the UK a couple of weeks ago for £4200 (~$5800):

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ATC-SCM-50A-STUDIO-CONTROL-MONITOR-active-speakers-with-stands-RRP-13-600-/284350587226?hash=item42349da15a:g:liwAAOSwmglgokNu&nma=true&si=MG5n%2F3tGcj12s4eyrBYRJDMeZUI%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Whether modern DSP and app. based active speakers may have similar 'life-expectancy' or long term support may well turn out to be a rather different matter though.

So probably one could say that good examples of both should last a long time but passives typically longer?

 

[Sancus]

I'm pretty sure you can find a lot of perfectly working Genelec 1029A/1030A/1031A in most studios; probably the same for other pro brands like ATC, K+H/Neumann, MEG, PSI, etc...

Yep you can easily find those on eBay too. Heck, you can find 30+ year old Genelec models for sale if you go looking. And these were probably used for far more hours than any consumer speaker over those years.

That said, I think actives from old studio monitor companies like this are built to a higher standard than most consumer-targeted ones. And Genelec in particular keeps parts around and services old models for decades.

I really doubt you can expect the same from say an LS50W or whatever.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

Well if they last long

So probably one could say that good examples of both should last a long time but passives typically longer?

There's less to break in a passive, so I would generally agree there is the potential to last longer. Frankly though, I'd bet in time you would simply want to get new speakers because you want new speakers, not because either passive or active breaks.

 

[DVDdoug]

I built a pair of (passive) speakers based on the driver manufacturer's recommended design more than 30 years ago. I've re-built the cabinets twice since then. The woofers are (heavy) paper with rubber surround and that's still good. There was a foam or fabric "dust cover" for the voice coil and magnet and it has deteriorated so the last time I re-built the cabinets I replaced it with a paper replacement. The midranges & tweeters are still good and the crossover still works too.

I've also got a pair of "antique" (1970's?) Pioneer speakers that somebody gave me and they are also working fine.

I have a van that's almost 20 years old with a pair of 12-inch woofers in a box. I was getting distortion in the bass and I thought the surround was shot, and I was thinking it was foam surround. But the speakers were OK (rubber surround) and the bass-amp was blown. I have also fried tweeters in the van.

Generally, solid state electronics "lasts forever" but it does sort-of fail randomly. (I've obviously had trouble with bass amps in my van.) But, you do read about people occasionally having trouble with active monitors... There's "more to go wrong" and you can't simply replace the amplifier like you can with a separate amp.

 

[b4nt]

Edit: I have a couple of pairs of speakers that are around 20 years old and I actually wonder to what extent their performance may have degraded by now compared to when they were new.

Depending of the model, they may need a suspension replacement, and electrolytic caps replacement. In the worst case, speakers replacements for equivalents.

Now try to recover old dead active tree ways speakers and the amps...

My old Bose 301 II of the 80s (anyway a specific sound) are still fine, could be used as is. Other models and speakers of this period need at least a med/bass suspension refoam.

Generally, solid state electronics "lasts forever" but it does sort-of fail randomly.

In best cases, electronic parts last 20 years. In the worst, some 5 to 10. Electrolytic caps dying/aging out the first.

 

[Chrispy]

I'd typically expect passives to last longer, the amps that power them may not fare as well, tho. Might need to attend to surrounds but basic functionality can be quite long lived. Plate amps not so much IMO, rather have external amps in any case, rather keep the speaker box as simple as possible....

 

[wwenze]

I have one passive with damaged crossover, one with damaged tweeter, and one with a rotted surround.

I would say 5 years is when I start to get suspicious and 10 years is when I need to start testing their reliability.

The good part is speakers come in pairs, so even with the cheapest of microphones with imperfect frequency response you can still measure and compare the two speakers, because odds of both speakers degrading by the same amount is near-zero.

FWIW, Audioengine A2's surround is pretty guaranteed to spoil before the amp.

Active speakers? Same kind of reliability suspicion but in half the timeframe.

 

[RobL]

My 2 channel system———> I had passives with tube amplification…sold them. Then got some actives, kept them for a while…sold them. Went back to passives with SS amps, kept them for a while…sold them. Now am back to actives again. I’d say I like to switch it up every 4 or 5 years so to be honest, I’m not terribly worried about failures in that timeframe, my current active monitors come with a 5 year warranty actually.

 

[Jim Matthews]

Pertaining to the electronics - the real issue isn't longevity, it's obsolescence.

Other than enthusiasts that had something made to order, how many of us keep a loudspeaker long enough to need *any* component repaired or replaced.

With the advent of affordable DSP/Class D amplifiers, it will take a rare event (lightning strikes are still rare) for something like modern active speakers to spontaneously fail, short of abuse.

The migration to standard data transmission protocols implies years of service even if the maker closes shop.