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Loudspeakers - how best to prolong their lifetime?

Another thread, regarding obtaining speakers "for life" got me thinking about the lifetime of our speakers. Let's assume, for the sake of the argument, that we have a set that we really don't want to lose (just what I own right now). Is there anything that one can do to prolong their lifetime? We'll assume that we look after them regarding the power that we throw at them and that we don't play them excessively loud and blow the cones.

I recall my first "real" speakers, which were Castle Kendals. After a few years in storage, following an upgrade, I went back to them to use in my third system. They sounded terrible when I connected them up and the removal of the grill showed just why - the cone's foam surrounds had disintegrated! I pulled the two sets of spares out, ones that I had obtained from Castle as backups, and they had also gone belly-up. My current speakers have glass-fibre reinforcement so I expect some longevity.

Is there anything to do or do we just have to take what we are dealt?
niacin
hotmailjbc
571 posts
 
keep them out of direct sunlight. uva deteriorates many things.
avguy
106 posts
 
Don't let them be found without the grill with small kids around. Otherwise, these kids will not be able to resist putting their fingers to the drivers and test the impact of their little fingers on the tweeter or other drivers...:-)
g_m_c
443 posts
 
i keep my Meadowlark Blue herron 2's covered with blankets when not in use to keep the light off of them and curious hands at bay as well.
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
Besides sunlight, smoke is something to best avoid. As is high humidity and moisture. Many speakers which have foam surrounds can easily have the surrounds replaced, it's not automatically a death sentence. And depending on the brand, it's probably best to replace the caps in the crossover every couple of decades or so. Large woofers should be rotated 180 degrees every couple of decades as well, if possible, to prevent stresses on the suspension.

Among my loudspeakers is a stock pair of 1977 Klipsch Cornwalls that sound excellent thirty-three years down the road. I have a pair of Pioneer CS-99A, with the cambric surrounds, from the same era in great condition. I also have some raw drivers from the 1950s that seem to work very well and friends that use Altecs from the early 1960s that sound pretty good.

Heck, there are guys using Western Electric and Klangfilm speakers from the silent motion picture era between the wars, and loving the hell out of them. I would not sweat it.

http://www.audioanthology.com/audio1.html
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,333 posts
 
Materials do age and heavy use will cause wear and tear also. However, some speaker manufacturers have been supporting their original products for over thirty years. Meanwhile other speaker manufacturers role out new models and obsolete old ones every two or three years. There are countless numbers of flash in the pan speaker manufacturers that come and go each year.

Simply choose the right speaker company (the non disposable kind) and you won't have to worry for the next 30 years.

If you expect something to last more than thirty years without maintenance/repair then I think you are unrealistic.
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