Reasonable lifespan of a loudspeaker?

Or one can repair the surrounds DIY...Simply Speakers - Official Speaker Repair Parts Page - Replacement Speaker Parts and Repair

 

Traded my buddy a pair of Polk 5 b jr plus( think that’s the name) bookshelf speakers nearly twenty years ago and they are still going strong. I bought them in the mid 80s, so they are about 35 years old.

 

Mine are almost 50. 1976 or 77 - can't quite recall.

 

might depend on the crossover quality. i heard a pair of 80's polk audio 2-ways where the tweeter started distorting a little because the crossover was leaking low frequencies.

 

I think a lifetime if you really like them and keep them under repair. Love my McIntosh XR19's - bought them new in 1982.

 

high pass crossovers deteriorate gradually and people might become accustomed to the sound and not notice the difference. replacing them can be eye opening.

 

They look solid.

 

This can happen but it’s not universal. The 46-year-old caps in my Advents tested good as new.

 

I think quite a bit depends on usage habits. A race car needs a rebuild after every race.

 

The speakers in my oldest of two vinyl jukeboxes are 52 years old.
These things were built to sustain heavy use and got it.
It still sounds great.

The recording on my little Lumix camera doesn't do it justice.



Same with these Goodman's Havant speakers I use with my Leak 2000 tuner/amp I bought in 1972.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP-HpQTrcDk

 

1979. ADS L810s. Still love they way they sound.

 

KLH 6's, built sometime in the late 60's or early 70's. New crossovers and resealed woofer surrounds and there good to go... The things were built like tanks and sound wonderful.

 

Cool piece of history regardless of the sound quality.

 

No doubt they can put many modern speakers to shame.

 

I've often thought about this, and I wonder what exactly would be the result? All a single high pass cap has to do is keep the lower frequencies away from the the tweeter, yes? Wouldn't the result be full range sound frying the tweeter? I did replace the caps in my EPis, but I'm not sure why...although it was cheap, and everyone said do it.

 

1974 OLA's replaced the foam on the Masonite woofers about 5 years ago working fine. 1980 Magneplanar MGI Imp. replaced the tweeter wires about 20 years ago working fine every day as my HT speakers.

 

They’re only good for a couple more weeks…….or maybe another three decades

If you are still enjoying them, then keep going! My only recommendation would be to find an expert technician to test all of the various bits if possible and try to bring it back to factory specs. I did that with my tube mono blocks and they have been performing like new ever since. Plus I had the piece of mind that he had gone through them thoroughly so I feel comfortable listening for hours and not worrying.

Happy listening : )

 

The will last until the next asteroid hits!

 

crossovers that age and change value can also become current resistant. altering the value of a high pass or low pass filter will shift the frequency, usually not enough to damage a tweeter but enough so that the woofer and / or tweeter can be playing frequencies higher or lower than intended and with less output than new. the sound could have frequency gaps- sounding bland, lifeless, frequency overlap- and introduce phase and comb filtering distortion as well as bringing a driver closer to a breakup mode playing frequencies that they are not designed for. the results you hear when replacing them depends on their original quality and aged specification- not much change to a startling difference.

 

Generally the weak point is surrounds. Foam tends to degrade, although when I was working as a loudspeaker engineer in Chicago a fellow name Neil from a company whose name is on the tip of my brain was promoting foam that he said would not degrade. I changed jobs and don't know if foam rot has really been banished or not. Rubber-type and cloth surrounds don't really degrade. Capacitors, yeah, they can get old. Fuses or MOVs if used for tweeter protection.

But pretty much speakers might outlast YOU! (IF they are not overdriven)

Oh, woofers will sag due to gravity. I rotate mine every once in a blue moon. That's also why I avoid down-firing designs.

 

Never thought to rotate my woofers...

 

I have a 70 year old speaker (five years younger than me). It's in an old Pye radio in which everything else has long since died. But the speaker is still working and I have it connected to a modern amplifier. I often use to listen to old mono recordings.
I find it fascinating to hear songs that I first heard as a child - and then a teenager - played through the original speaker.

 

I don't think Altec speakers ever wear out

 

The correct answer is, until you get bored with them and move on to a different set.