Do speakers wear out?

[monstermoo]

I reckon that based on the serial numbers of my Briks they are late 70's/early 80's.

Looking at the B139's the rubber diaphram is a pale grey colour rather than black and it feels fairly firm to the touch - almost 'dry' if that makes sense?

Now, I'm wondering if speakers degrade with age and if anything can be done to help prolong the innevitable?

[John]

Caps can be replaced drivers repaired

[YNWaN]

Well, if there is going to be a problem it is with the roll surrounds of the drive units (though electrolytic capacitors in crossovers may also need to be replaced). It is well known/recognised that foam surrounds disintegrate, but rubber, or polymer, ones may also suffer; it partly depends on how much sun has shone on them.

I would just wipe them with a clean damp cloth and keep them out of the sun.

[DSJR]

yep, some speakers can age badly depending on the formulation for the surround compound. I didn't think KEF's were a problem, but I suggest you look on the Yahoo Spendor forum for recent thoughts on using a particular grade of brake fluid on some rubber-compound surrounds.

Something more insidious is that old adhesives can break down and some joints are difficult if not impossible to get at without dismantling the driver. A mate had to replace his Tangent RS4's because a joint had failed, making soprano voice impossible to listen to on one of them.

It's a lottery with many old speakers I'm afraid. the expected reliable life for domestic audio product is unofficially thought to be around ten years. the fact the many of us, especially myself, are using gear decades old is testament to the design and construction of these items.

Good luck with your 'briks.

[Welder]

Yep and yep :)

The good news, you can rebuild them ;)
Bass (and some midrange) drivers sag with age sometimes causing the coil to rub on the pole. Rotate them.
Roll surrounds perish. You can replace them.
Spiders sag and the glue degrades with time.

The limitation in repairs is usually not being able to get the bits.

Fact is, you can’t go far wrong if you treat speakers the same way you should treat a mature women; they both sag over time and go off tune.
Really you need to flip em over regularly, don’t cane them too hard, replace their electronics from time to time and you should get delightfully high squeals and low moans out of them for years.
Worst case scenario might require a few cosmetic repairs, or try hanging them upside down for a bit.

[monstermoo]

Fact is, you can’t go far wrong if you treat speakers the same way you should treat a mature women; they both sag over time and go off tune.
Really you need to flip em over regularly, don’t cane them too hard, replace their electronics from time to time and you should get delightfully high squeals and low moans out of them for years.
Worst case scenario might require a few cosmetic repairs, or try hanging them upside down for a bit.

:lolsign::D

[hornucopia]

Very amusing, my lover! (As you're in Bristol, like me!)
As an oldie myself, it made me smile!

My Leak Sandwiches have lasted 40+ years. The surrounds are doped fabric and (seem) undecayable! Just have to rotate the units to keep magnets from dropping.

Looking forwards to the personal flipping (again?)

[Welder]

@Chris
Hello my loverrrr.
Glad you got the ideal and it made you larf. Made I larf when I writ it :)

[chris@panteg]

Love that Welder ' you should call yourself Swiss Tony :)

[Mr Pig]

Looking at the B139's the rubber diaphram is a pale grey colour rather than black and it feels fairly firm to the touch

Are you talking about the flat oval bit in the centre of the driver? If so don't worry, it's supposed to be like that.

[Dave Hewitt]

Electrostatics are probably wearing out from day one.
Dave,ex Martin Logan owner.:(

[mikecole]

The speakers in my 1957 Ampex console have rubber surrounds and still sound great - no problems whatsoever. Even the crossovers are original. I also have a pair of Dynaco A25s from the 70's, also with rubber surrounds and they also play with no problem. Both speakers have that grayish dusty look to the surrounds, but the rubber is still very pliable.

[DSJR]

Some old caps seem to last for decades with no stress, but in the UK, the components available to audio manufacturers were often of "radio/TV" grade and not very long lasting at all.

Where speakers were concerned, I don't think capacitor quality really came into it, as the designers had enough trouble with crossover design, the basic quality of the drive units and of course the boxes to put everything in - capacitor quality paled to (almost) insignificance, certainly with budget quality speakers IMO.

Things weren't always bad though, as the BBC derived designs used better quality parts all through and the caps used were of higher quality to start with and were individually measured and selected in the case of the Spendor and LS3/5A models (the early Rogers models may well have been as well).