My Hartleys are 45 years old, sound great. I ripped the x-overs out and use a Marchand electronic x-over (and four Pass lab amps). They have butyl surrounds as well.
They'll outlive me...big enough to bury me in one of them.
Regards,
barts
How long should high quality speakers last?
My Zu Omen Def MKii (rev B) are going on 13-14 years old. The speakers sound wonderful. I have no intention of parting with them. The speakers came with the latest ZU tweeter design. How long should I expect the speakers to last without any issues? I do not abuse the speakers and run them with my Luxman 595ase amp.
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- 79 posts total
More modern, polyether-based foam surrounds are very durable, and when treated with a "foam guard" should last beyond 25 years. In any event direct sunlight is best prevented from reaching exposed cones to extend longevity of the surrounds and avoid potential discolouring of the cones. When speaking of foam surrounds it seems cone movement can be a co-contributor to deterioration, likely only with older polyurethane types. Compression drivers, as stated by @larryi, are very long lasting. Some older compression drivers with aluminium diaphragms and integrated surrounds were marred by metal fatique when crossed low (like with high output cinema use and crossed at 500Hz), a problem that was avoided with the advent of titanium diaphragms. However in a home setting compression drivers should see neither thermal nor mechanical malfunction for a virtually unlimited lifespan. Indeed many older, especially pro-oriented drivers have proven their worth even after several decades of use, refurbished or not. Either way it demonstrates they are very high quality designs that easily stand the test of time, in quite a few cases in a superior fashion over modern day equivalents. |
- 79 posts total