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Thoughts on extending speaker life.

For those of us who own speakers that are past a few years old, and those same speakers utilize dynamic drivers, what are your thoughts on extending the life of the rubber surround ( assuming that your driver utilizes this kind of design).
In general, as the driver ages, the likelihood of the rubber surround failing increases. Without actually replacing the driver ( not possible in some instances) what do you suggest to extend the life of the driver(s), if anything?

For those with other types of driver design, what are your concerns about the extended usage of this kind of driver as it ages?

128x128daveyf
glupson
7,842 posts
 
AR 18S surrounds crumbled after maybe 10 years. Mission 761i will be 25 (years) in a month or so. surrounds look like new. Third pair, 14 years, looks like new, too. Fourth is still too young to tell. None of them has ever been treated or paid any attention to.

Could it be that something about materials used has improved over the last 20-30 years?

I would not apply anything on surrounds. There is more chance I would damage them, poke the hole or something else disastrous, than that I would extend their lifespan by a few more weeks. I do not think it is worth it.
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
You should be more concerned about components, as the odds are that at least one of them will go first. Silver lining in that is sound quality in general for the dollar has gotten way better in past 5 years imo across the range of gear. Spend your sleepless nights dreaming of a DAC crash and upgrade.

If an older speaker died, count your blessings and move up! 
canibefrank
406 posts
 
i bought mine with a living will
when the time comes
i just have to let them go
legally
inorganic's avatar
inorganic
19 posts
 

The only problem I ever had was evaporation of the ferrofluid in tweeters.  This can be serviced with some tweeters, but mine were not in that class.  A sorry problem for a supurlative and expensive speaker, albeit one of a little age.  There are some do-it-yourself recipes for a fix, but only a temporary fix.  So, I got some new speakers.
vinylfan62
119 posts
 
Early foam surrounds broke down, but have lasted more than 10 years in my experience. Many lasted 20 years or more. Butyl surrounds don’t have the same break down issue. Accordion paper edges last a long time as well. I have customers with speakers I built in the 80’s with paper edge or butyl rubber surrounds that show no signs of wear. I’m using a set of Eminence woofers from 1983 in my bedroom system. I keep checking for wear but they are still soft an pliant. And sound great. Never treated them. The newer foam compounds being used should last many years. You may not have any need to worry. What does your speaker manufacturer say about life span?
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