What is the end of life for a speaker most are too big for the dustbin. Why and how did you dispose of it?
The drivers get removed for scrap or re-use and the cabs get broken down to go in the fire pit. I've done this many times over the years to speakers that aren't worth the space they take up.
Scrapped a few, only ones that were really difficult to break down were some Tannoys, speakers are basically a box made from wood, MDF, particle board or similar, remove the drivers, crossover, wires and any stuffing then break the box down to flat panels, if you want the panels will fit in the bin, the electrical waste should go to your local tip or be disposed of properly, it's easiest to do the panels at the same time and put them in the correct skip. Depending on the condition and what they are you may wish to sell the drivers and crossovers, there's a big market for certain replacement drivers.
You could use speaker cabinets for growing veggies, planting flowers, etc. I used to grow cacti in some speaker boxes. If you can do some cutting/welding, you could incorporate the drivers into a modern art piece or some garden art piece. Or set up a sign with the speakers set on the curb. " FREE speakers, yo wife won't love me, but, I know you will!!!". Some dude will pick it up and it is no longer your problem.
Once drivers have fallen apart from age, there's really nothing you can do with them. See if ewaste places will take them on your next trip. Magnets might be reusable. Good thing is, speakers might be the most durable, longest lasting part of a sound system. Replace those surrounds when it's time!
Never; sold a pair to get a newer pair. Even after using them for 15 years, they all played and looked like new.
The last ones I scrapped where Maggie MG1C panels. The tweeters went open circuit; I managed to fix those with the right gauge of aluminium wire and some varnish-like adhesive. But some years later the diaphragm just ruptured. I kept the oak side piece and took the rest to the local waste place. They fought well and sounded great. But their time had come.
Nope I never trashed speakers. Even the ****tiest speakers can be sold for a few bucks to some highschool kid.
Haven’t thought about it since childhood when I owned bookshelf inexpensive speakers, the curb someone always took them. Now that I own large floor standers built like tanks that take two people to move around, well my kids will deal with it when I’m dead. I guess I’m not downsizing my home since I can’t deal with the speakers. My guess though, if I wanted them to go, put them up as a free giveaway on our local neighborhood web site that seems to post everything from recommendations to selling along with giveaways. If they were in good condition there are folks who will sell them for you but you still need to package them, so keep those boxes they came in.
Several years ago I inherited a monsterous collection of audio gear of all types. I kept some, sold what I couldn't keep, gave away as much as I could and the rest got tossed. A few examples; 12 reel to reel recorders were in my friend's living room; there was over 300lbs of transformers in his basement. Speakers of all types were piled to the ceiling in one of his storage units. This is why I had no problem tossing problematic speakers. Can't keep em all and after months of work sorting through all that I learned that I will never let myself have a collection of anything for someone else to go through when my departure time arrives.
CVs. They were junk. Dog even Peed on the woofer, I don't blame him. Gave them to my brother and he used them for benches in his band's practice room. They fell apart. CVs.
When I was a teenager, I somehow acquired a couple of huge PA speakers (15” woofers, big horns) that I used for a few years. They were too big for me to move around once I was out of my parents’ house, and eventually my dad asked if I minded if he just trashed them to free up the space. I did not mind (they had been free, and I truly had no more use for them), so what he did was chop up the cabinets and burn them. The drivers, I assume, are still in his garage somewhere.
I had a pair of Magnepan IIIa that warped while in storage. I hauled them to the dump. Tears were briefly shed.
Quite a number of years ago I was actively collecting Koss CM/1030 speakers for two reasons: to enable me to make five stacked pairs for my main HT and to salvage good parts from "junkers" to help out other owners. I've got my five fully refurbished pairs in my main HT, plus a spare fully refurbished pair in storage. I salvaged parts from six or seven pairs of junkers. I kept one set of everything as spares for my own (future) use, and then gave away all of the other parts (drivers mostly, but also fascia, fuse holders, woofer rings, grille badges, etc.) When I say gave them away, I also covered the shipping costs as well. Two sets of cabinets were literally put in dumpsters: they were too far gone to be viably restored. Don't know about the other cabinets since I had paid their owners to strip them for parts and mail those parts to me. (So yeah, I paid for parts and shipping only to turn around and give them away, including covering the shipping costs.) Along the way I also collected examples of the other models in the CM Series (CM/1020, CM/1010, CM/530) as well as parts from junkers. Some drivers are common to different models (for example the woofers in the CM/1030 and CM/1020, and the tweeters - I can provide a comprehensive list if anyone stumbling on this post needs to know - just email me at [email protected]). Regarding drivers that appear shot... I've had The Speaker Exchange in Tampa take a pair of CM/1030 woofers and recone them. Great work at a great price. They're now my spare pair. I'm sure they could do the same for the mids. I've had them re-spyder the passive radiators in my CM/530s. I've had a local company replace the surrounds on the passive radiators in my pair of CM/1010s. I've never tried to have tweeters repaired as they're the only driver for which brand new replacements are still available. However, the plastic diffusers are reusable as the new ones don't come with any. Bottom line: don't be quick to toss out damaged or failed drivers. Especially with older/vintage speakers, the best replacement could be professionally repaired originals. It's been years since I've salvaged any Koss parts, largely because there were so few pairs ever made. I also think that people recognize how good they are and are making the effort and investment in refurbishing them, more than in the past. Pairs, and parts, do come up for sale fairly regularly. Jeff
I've never scrapped speakers. I once replaced all the drivers in a pair of 1980's Sonic floor standing 8" bass reflex 2 ways because the original bass driver was damaged. That provided great results. But, in the end, I gave them away. Lately, I've given a pair of Polk T15s away, and I've got a very old pair of mid 80's Sonic 4 driver 3 ways in storage. I'm keeping them for my grandson. He wants them when he moves into a bigger house.
I put the whole thing into a fire pit, pop a grill rack over it and cook steak and vegetables. The best speakers to use are the vinyl veneered ones as that impart a smokiness reminiscent of apple wood.
I have sold almost every speaker I have ever owned while it was still “good” Last week I scrapped a pair of KLH Model 2 Computer Controlled Loudspeakers They were in an out building that was not heated or cooled and was subjected to water damage. They were destroyed, not even good for parts. The elements took their toll Cool speaker though. Advanced for early 80s
