How does smoke effect speakers?

I found an old Marantz 1060 amp at Goodwill which I purchased for next to nothing. The owner must have been a chain smoker since the exterior was all gunked up and yellowed. After it was energized and warmed up, you could smell the nicotine. It is now sitting out in the barn.

You can clean up the nicotine (on the outer surfaces of electronics) with rubbing alcohol.

Bill........ DONT YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN! :)

I suppose, if the speakers are really nice, you could consider it a "patina" as they say on Antiques Roadshow :^)
Do NOT refinish, it will ruin the "value"!

I used to service a lot of loudspeakers in the old days. You could always tell if the speaker was owned by a smoker- of course they would smell, but the suspensions of the drivers would usually be rotted long before their time.

The same is true of the rubber parts in turntables and tape machines!