007
 Join date: 2010-04-17
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Posts: 32
 | | Subject: How long should speakers last? Thu Apr 22, 2010 2:30 pm | |
| What's the life expectancy on a pair of speakers? I've seen some old speakers where the rubber around the speakers are perishing, is this bad? |
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Timbo
 Join date: 2009-09-04
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Posts: 429
| | Subject: Re: How long should speakers last? Thu Apr 22, 2010 7:09 pm | |
| I would hope for at least 15 years, just be careful of the volume control as most people destroy their speakers by playing too loud at their parties. |
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Mark E Smith
 Join date: 2009-10-07
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Posts: 1852
Location: blighty
| | Subject: Re: How long should speakers last? Fri Apr 23, 2010 7:15 am | |
| I talk to someone who lives im=n Mississippi on another forum and his gear last only a few years cos of the damp atmosphere and equipment eating bugs urghh !!
I have a pair of old sealed box Linn Index's which are about 30 years old with rubber woofers , played regularly in a cheap set up in the kitchen and they are still as good ( relatively speaking ) and fast as the day I got them !
Also the speakers in my juke box must be at least 40 and must have had some stick as it came from a coffee bar ....still good !! |
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Fnuckle
Join date: 2010-04-03
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Posts: 205
| | Subject: Re: How long should speakers last? Fri Apr 23, 2010 8:46 am | |
| | 007 wrote: | | What's the life expectancy on a pair of speakers? I've seen some old speakers where the rubber around the speakers are perishing, is this bad? |
It should be at least 10 years, but usually a lot more. The cone surround is usually one of the first parts of the speaker to die. And yes, it's bad. The surround is there to damp the pistonic action of the cone. Without that, the driver's linearity goes haywire.
Better materials developed recently have extended the lifespan of the surround, but if you think of a flexible material retaining its flexibility while being put under tension every time the cone extends and being subject to different room conditions and humidities, you aren't thinking of a long-term solution. |
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Sonicman
Join date: 2009-09-04
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Posts: 658
| | Subject: Re: How long should speakers last? Fri Apr 23, 2010 7:21 pm | |
| I'd imagine more hotter and humid climates would suffer more than here in Blighty. |
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dvv
 Join date: 2009-10-20
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Posts: 3262
Location: Serbia
Age: 58
| | Subject: Re: How long should speakers last? Sat May 01, 2010 2:15 pm | |
| | Fnuckle wrote: | | 007 wrote: | | What's the life expectancy on a pair of speakers? I've seen some old speakers where the rubber around the speakers are perishing, is this bad? |
It should be at least 10 years, but usually a lot more. The cone surround is usually one of the first parts of the speaker to die. And yes, it's bad. The surround is there to damp the pistonic action of the cone. Without that, the driver's linearity goes haywire.
Better materials developed recently have extended the lifespan of the surround, but if you think of a flexible material retaining its flexibility while being put under tension every time the cone extends and being subject to different room conditions and humidities, you aren't thinking of a long-term solution. |
That surround has basically two functions. The first and foremost is to act as a programmed spring, with exactly known compliance, which was taken into account while constructing and using the driver. It is the only thing preventing the cone from jumping out, because the other thing, the so-called spider, has nowhere near the strenght to control any force to speak of.
The other function is to make sure no air leaks around the driver. Equally important for both acoustic suspension (sealed) and bass reflex enclosures, both will perform as they should only if there are no stray air leaks.
Modern sponge-like polyethilane surrounds are popular because they are fairly easy to program for compliance and are cheap, but they last much less because they are prone to outside forces and conditions, such as humidity, heat, etc. Rubber based surrounds are all but indestructible, don't care much about external conditions except for serious heat sources near them, are impervious to humidity, but are harder to manufacture and consequently more expensive.
Personally, I wouldn't buy a speaker whose drivers have anything other than rubber based suspension, because I'd know I was gambling about their service life. Maybe 10 years, maybe 15, but also maybe less than 10. |
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adam
 Join date: 2009-09-05
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Posts: 4281
Location: Spain
Age: 42
| | Subject: Re: How long should speakers last? Sun May 02, 2010 7:34 pm | |
| Have you seen the B&W surroundless drivers dvv? they are smart. JB won't like them though. |
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dvv
Join date: 2009-10-20
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Posts: 3262
Location: Serbia
Age: 58
| | Subject: Re: How long should speakers last? Sun May 02, 2010 8:35 pm | |
| | adam wrote: | | Have you seen the B&W surroundless drivers dvv? they are smart. JB won't like them though. |
Smart? I don't follow ... I thought they were rubber based?
I don't know because B&W is quite outside my interests, as are most speakers, I reckon I've solved that problem. |
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