[DTH]

I suppose I already know most of the answer to this question, but here is why I am asking:

My father in law is a music lover, as well as a toy lover. He is not a full on audiophile, but he has owned some decent gear over the years. He bought the 2 channel system he currently uses about 15 years ago. In a moment of curiosity over the holidays I removed the grill from one of his speakers, a ProAc Super Tower. These are tall, narrow speakers(like ProAc still makes, NHT, PSB etc also make similar designs) with a WTW configuration and front ports covered by the grill. I noticed that the material at teh outer edge of the woofers, all four of them, had almost completely disintegrated.

I have never listened to his system at length, but he does daily. He was surprised that he could not hear the degradation, but he also owns a monster B&W sub, and the room is not that big.

So I got him some replacement woofers from ProAc, (ProAc branded Scan Speaks, not sure of the part number but they were $250 each) installed them, and he does not need the sub any more.

So, while not a youngster, I still have not been around high end gear for all that long. How long do speakers last? I would say that these have seen heavy use(but rarely if ever at very high volume) and they are also at least 15 years old. Does anyone have any experience with this? I know that some speakers conatin silk, but what other materials are used in speakers?


NP(I miss this from HD): Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Ease Down the Road(vinyl)

[Night Wolf]

how long do spekaers last?

JBL L100= 25yeas old, and are just plain flat out balls to the walls exsesslivey loud, great, slammin' rock spekaers, but also highly detialed and real nice at medium volumes and lower volumes for critical listening, very nice speaker

KLH model 17= 35 years olf, made in '69, not a spekaer to have a party with, but still very nice

both of the above use fabric surrond,a nd are orignal

those spekaers proably had foam surrond, in that case you go and buy a foam repair kit for $25, foam falls apart over time, and get's real bad, but that dosn't mean the drivers are bad, just either get the re-foam kit yourself, or get them done at a shop, and they would be like new again.

[JohnR]

Yes, some of the old vintage speakers are still going strong, not only that but fetch a pretty penny on EBay!

This might be of interest (starts near the bottom)

http://www.vmpsaudio.com/dc15.htm

[Dan Banquer]

Between 10 and 20 years. The surround on the cones get dry rotted and generally fall to pieces. However, if you get them repaired or can get new drivers whose to say how long they will last. Personally I would check all the capacitors in the crossover after 15 years.

[audiojerry]

I just got a pair of B&W 802 Series 80 (built in 1984). I don't know their history or previous owners, so they may have been reconed or had new surrounds installed at some point, but the drivers look and sound new to me.  I think a lot depends on the environmental factors such as humidity, exposure to sunlight, cigarette smoke, etc. Also, large drivers like 12-15" woofers can sag over time, but if you turn the driver 180 degrees, it will sag back to normal position.