How long do speakers last?

I'm so sorry @ieales, I guess you are a FAR BETTER expert on the freaking sound of the speakers in my house that I've listened to for 35 years and you've heard, um.....never.  Thanks for educating my ears.  As hard as it is to believe, some speakers that aren't used everyday or every month, are constantly cleaned and dusted even if not used, are kept in a 100% smoke-free environment and always kept in a climate controlled area, can have the internal components last WAY LONGER than expected.  Or, maybe I'm just lucky.

@secretguy -- I'm absolutely not letting them sit!  In the last two months I set up a 4th listening room in the house with the Polk Audio 10's.  I wanted to put together a simple system to play music with new gear I've bought over the last 4 years and never unboxed, so I hooked up a BlueNode Streamer and a Fluance RT-85 turntable with a Sutherland KC Vibe phono preamp to a Reisong A-10 tube integrated amp.  Perfect synergy with the old school Polk's.

One of the gradual degradation regimes most people don't think about is  demagnetization of the driver magnets. I have thirty year old Altec Lansing Voice of the Theater Speakers that I sent the woofers to Great Plains Audio for rebuild. They reconed, remagnetized the drivers, replaced the voice coil spiders and speaker suspensions. They are as new. 

The demagnetization occurs if you drive your speakers hard for long periods of time. The heat and vibration will disorient the magnet domains. This doesn't happen overnight, it's a gradual and accumulated process that can take years.

@secretguy I suppose this might be true as I have sent customer speakers back to be re-furbished.  FORTUNATELY, my T-1-C's from 1974 still sound as perfect as ever!

I could replace one "sock" (cover) where the cat got his claws into a little bit on the side, but I don't really see it, and they are still clean, so, no worries.  I have replaced the covers on these (customer wanted his own--had them made and I foolishly agreed to change them.)  NOT a fun thing to do, but it can be done if you are patient.

Cheers!

@allenf1963 

It's a simple chemical fact that electrolytic capacitors degrade over time.

"When life expectancies exceed 15 years the expected life of the capacitor should be limited to 15 years mainly due to the sealing materials deteriorating over time." -  Illinois Capacitor

"The quality of the oxide layer can deteriorate during storage without externally applied voltage, especially at higher temperatures. Since in this case there is no leakage current and as a result, the oxide layer will not regenerate. This leads to a higher leakage current flow when a voltage applied after prolonged storage." - Würth Elektronik

NOT playing may be more detrimental due the above aging effect depending on the initial construction and chemistry.

The quality of capacitors today is several generations better than 40 years ago. When done properly on older speakers, the improvement is well worth the investment. 

Additionally, changing components [electronics and interconnects] affects the sound. As do room, humidity and CBLF aging. So unless you still live in the same place with exactly the same system and hearing as 40 years ago, claiming identical sonics is specious.

AR-2ax speakers here from 1966 still going strong and sweet!  This was before AR fitted these with foam surrounds, so the original butyl rubber surrounds are still perfect.  One mid range unit was replaced in the mid-70's ($9) with OEM;  one dome tweeter replaced in 2015 (with perfect aftermarket unit from Parts-Express - $20);  and 4 level potentiometers replaced with L-Pads ($30).  Crossover caps are still fine. Woofer foam surrounds can be problematic after 10-15 years.