How old is "Too old for" drivers

If you notice ivy vine's and weed's growing out of the driver mounting ring's and moth's flying in and out that's not a good sign. Seriously, driver's made since the eightie's will last at least twenty year's or longer due to better sealing, better resistive material's and butyl surround's on the driver's.

Really old speakers may be doing just fine after 50, 60 or even 70 years. Those paper cones can last a very long time if not abused. More recent speakers with foam surrounds are another story. They may rot out after only 15 years or so.

Many still use old Western Electric drivers from the 1930s. I know several people using speakers from the 1950s and I own a few pairs from the 1970s.

It seems to me that foam driver surrounds need to be replaced after some given amount of years, depending on environment. Even rubber surrounds are subject to environmental issues such as smoke and sunlight. Heating and cooling takes it's toll as well. But that almost falls under the umbrella of "routine maintenance"; it's cheap to do and tends not to have a deleterious effect.

In many cases, the capacitors in the crossover will need to be attended to before the drivers.