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"Vintage" speakers...good idea?

To feed my stereo habit, I'm toying with the idea of buying a pair of "vintage" speakers, like the old classic JBL L series or something similar. Many of these speakers are up to 25 years old, but can be found with their foam surrounds repaired and in otherwise good condition. My question is, do other parts of the speaker wear out? That is, other than the obvious physical disintegration of the foam surrounds? What is the average life expectancy of a speaker?

Thanks!
John
stereomaniac
massvm
126 posts
 
Another good post at the 'Gon. The info you can pick up by just listening to the voices of experience is one of the reasons I enjoy these forums.
stereomaniac OP
71 posts
 
Thanks Sean. Really great information!

John
whatjd
615 posts
 
The above posts have great merit...all things age. That
said, if a person wants to do retro right, some of Jon
Dahlquist and Saul Marantz old employees have a firm that
will update the DQ-10 speakers. If I were going down
memory lane..the right way.., this is how I would go. A
bit like a 20 year old Ferrari that has been restored..not
current state-of-the-art.., but what a great classic!
(sorry I don't know their web site..but put Dahlquist into
a search engine..and it should come up)
dekay's avatar
dekay
2,959 posts
 
A much better speaker from the same time period are the Yamaha 1000 Studio Monitors. They seemed to be fairly efficient as I once ran a pair with a single Dynaco Stereo 70 with good results. There were a couple of different versions/models and I cannot remember the different letters that were attached to each, but one was better than the other and a little research would be in order. Seems that there was also a controversial material used in the magnets or drivers (can't remember the details on this either) but I do remember clearly that they killed a pair of L-100's and a larger pair 43 somethings (maybe 4311's).
sgmlaw
76 posts
 
One last caveat I might add regarding vintage or classic speakers is that upgrading components with modern replacement parts could reduce their resale value. I have seen the effects of this practice with some otherwise vintage tube gear, where modern caps and wires had been substituted wholesale for the original, still working, classic parts, changing but not necessarily improving the voice of the gear - and seriously impairing its market value. Personally, I appreciate keeping true classic gear close to original (it would be like installing a breakerless distributor in an old AC Cobra), but if that is not an issue to you, by all means modify. However, a fifty-year old K-horn with Cardas binding posts, Hovlands and silver Alpha core inside won't fetch as much as a good working original at resale time, IMHO.
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