I have my dad’s 1964 Wharfdale W70D speakers. Still in pristine condition. Original everything, and still sound good. I may replace the cloth woofer surrounds with butyl rubber. The tweeter surrounds are black felt. Wharfdale used materials that were known to last.
Any, and I mean ANY and ALL, speaker manufacturers that use(d) foam surrounds are CHEAP companies! They knew when they used it that it would disintegrate after a short time. Don’t buy them, unless you enjoy substandard quality. Even Polk chose to use butyl rubber because they knew it would last 50+ years with no degradation, and was stable.
Any, and I mean ANY and ALL, speaker manufacturers that use(d) foam surrounds are CHEAP companies! They knew when they used it that it would disintegrate after a short time. Don’t buy them, unless you enjoy substandard quality. Even Polk chose to use butyl rubber because they knew it would last 50+ years with no degradation, and was stable.