My 1989 PSB stratus gold's have Butyl rubber surrounds. They have never let me down. I even called and spoke to a tech about if the crossovers needed to be recapped and was assured these speakers should last longer than me. |
I think you might be ok with those SF speakers. My Olympica 3 are probably 7 years old and going strong. I think 20 years is achievable. |
treated well …. many decades! So don’t worry about your new SF‘s. |
Lol . He said I hope these speakers are my last speakers I will ever buy. In the pursuit of the sweetest sound you can achieve out of your audio equipment is a never ending story. Once your hooked it's a done deal. Enjoy the sound |
My AR 9's 40yrs and still rockin |
Forever. My Avalon Eclipse' are 30 years old and fine.
My dad's John B Lansing speakers were bought in 1961. Still working fine in our living room. They are now 60 years old, and are quite lovely endtables to boot! |
Oh come on, big, you just wanted to brag about your incoming speakers. I mean who wouldn't? They are beauties to behold and I'm confident that you will cherish them for decades to come. |
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am hoping these will be the last speakers I ever buy
"
Still one of, if not the, funniest lines in audio.
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I've owed apogee divas with the active Dax for 30 years. They perform beautifully. About 7 years ago I developed a frequency-specific buzz along the top edge of a woofer ribbon. I decided to go with Graz ribbons for both speakers, along with a complete refurbishment of guts and wires by Bill Thalman at Music Tech in VA. He does a fabulous job - the speakers retained all their quality characteristics, with more extended bass, and dynamic range. Timbers and imaging is second to none. Bottom line, it was the best value decision I've made, rather than purchase something more expensive with inferior musicality. Believe me- I checked out many replacement options!! It is worth buying the best you can and maintaining them. New front end equipment (Rossini DAC, D'Agostino amps, ARC preamp) has improved the sound substantially and impressively - old speakers do more that "keep up" - they expose improvements and deficiencies truthfully. Everything needs maintenance or repair occasionally but can last many years of frequent use. In my 60s now I hope to keep these till I give out, hopefully decades from now. If I need to downsize I will very reluctantly, but it would be at the loss of my beloved Divas! Hope this perspective helps. |
My Acoustat 1+1's electrostatics are doing quite well, thank you for asking. I had to refoam the RH Labs sub but it also is doing well. Call it 30+ years for all of them... so far!
I have to go retrieve my dad's B&W Matrix 800's... I'm HOPING they'll be okay as they've gotten very little use in 20 years. *fingers crossed*
Happy listening.
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There are 3 variables affecting aging: 1) Materials and manufacturing quality (or lack thereof) used including glues, ferrofluids, foam surrounds, etc. which can age over time. 2) Environmental conditions including temperature and more important humidity along with potential detrimental lighting effects (UV). and 3) Damage based on usage = high SPLs that may damage driver coils and / or crossover components. |
Late 80's B&W 801 matrix 2 which, aside from replacing grill fabric due to original owner's music loving cat, have required zero maintenance in over 30 years. I keep the fabric on to prevent UV damage as the room has natural light. |
I have a pair of sonus faber Guarneri homage, circa 1999, still in perfect condition. However, SF speakers require some yearly maintenance. The leather will fade if not conditioned properly & the wood needs TLC to. I would contact SF & get their maintenance suggestions. The leather will have issues if not maintained properly, fading and potential cracking. I leave mine covered when not in use to protect the wood. |
I have B&W DM1600s from '86 and Matrix 802s S2 from about the same time and they are going strong with no sign of any issues. The 802s were my mains until I bought a store demo set of Wilson Sophia 2s about 12 years ago, so they are 13 yrs old and still look/sound like new. The DM1600s replaced a pair of Technics SB4500a's from '77, and a friend now has those and they are still in great shape and still rocking. I think you can easily count on several decades with care!
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It depends - I had a set of speakers for 20 years and it was my moving for work several times that did them in. Along with some help from the movers.
I think you're going to love your speakers - I have them and regularly get astonished at hearing something in a song I never noticed before. |
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. |
I had a pair of Monitor Audio Studio 6s, and then gave them to my son last year because I bought one of the new Monitor Audio floor standing models. The speakers I gave him, are now 27 years old and still perfect (rubber surrounds). |
I, too, seem to have a thing for British speakers. Had a great experience w/ATC SCM12 Pro passive monitors (mind-blowingly good sound).
~6 months ago picked up a vintage pair of big KEF 2-ways from the '80s, 103.2s. The drivers are original, and judging by the wonderful sound, have no issues (the 8" mid/woofer is made of bextrene + rubber surrounds). I know the crossovers had been carefully/selectively worked on, with any caps that didn't test perfectly replaced.
These are 35+ years old and sound amazing. |
My pair of H. H. Scott "bookshelf" speakers from 1967 still sound great for their vintage despite moving across the continent and back, among other travels. They still look good as well.
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Funny with foam surrounds, company like JBL has used them on.some of the speakers they sold and they weren't cheap.i have a part of Bose 901....16 speakers with foam surrounds, lol....what a joke ...yes rubber surrounds can last 60 years .I have woofers made in the 50s with paper woofers and there still good...again buyer beware...they can look great and then you touch the surrounds and they disintegrate....lol |
It's all relative, right? Anywho...I have a set of Mirage M760s I bought in the late 80s. I still use them today. I recently acquired a set of Spendor S100s. Comparing on the same system the Spendors offer a different space of sound but I cannot yet say they are significantly better. Tomorrow I will be picking up a set of Focal Kanta 2s to also compare. I am hoping they will be better than both the Mirage and Spendors. I am using a McIntosh MA5200 integrated with a Rega RP8 with Ortofon Red2 cartridge, and McIntosh MCD-7008 CD player. With that said, "good speakers" should last a life time. Some maintenance costs may be necessary and very well is worth it. |
Talk about "vintage"? I am still enjoying my AR-2ax speakers from 1969! The original ten inch woofers utilized rubber surrounds that have never needed replacement.
I did have to replace one of the mid range drivers after about ten years - the corroded level controls in the 1980's, and a burnt out dome tweeter just last year. Fortunately, Parts Express carries a substitute AR dome tweeter for about $20 that matches the original perfectly.
These speakers still sound as sweet and natural as ever - especially with the latest improvements in analogue and digital sound sources!
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As long as the spider and surround is good so are the woofers which take the most beating. I have witnessed all paper cone woofers last 35 years in a Leslie organ speakers. The HF longer. Mid and high frequency depends on componenent material used and engineering design. |
I had ac pair of JBL Laners go 20yrs before the woofer foam started to go bad |
I've got a pair of 1959 JBL Hartsfield the 15inch woofer is still in good shape after all these years.
In year 2000 I bought a pair of Klipschorn the 15 inch and horn driver are still in good shape.
In April this year I purchase my 3rd collection of JBL Everest DD66000 used by the last owner who had them since 2009.
I prefer drivers are made of cloth treated surround it will last for Donkey's years.
I had many other pairs of speaker with Form surround they last 3 to 5 years in Tropical Singapore.
So I only purchase the once with cloth treated surround. I am very happy of my purchase of my three pairs of speakers in my collection and I do know they will out last me. at age 67 years. |
Depends on the speaker mostly, and how much the cone moves.
If you your speakers have "long throw" woofers with excessive cone movement, re-foaming them will be a regular activity for you.
If on the other hand you own a pair of K-horns like myself, there won't be any need to re-foam because the cone never moves more than a 1/16th of an inch, worst case scenario. No movement, no wear!
I bought my speakers new in 1978, the access panel for the woofers have never been removed. Bass is as good as it was new... |
Depends entirely on if and when you go looking / listening up the food chain! There are several models up from the Olympica Nova Vs and of course other speakers worthy of a listen.
If you really want to see how long those speakers last I recommend you don’t go listen / look at other speakers. The SF’s are great speakers. However, people change! Good luck and enjoy! |
If this has been mentioned before then ignore. Although we are all supposed to believe that things made now are better because of the new materials and technology available that is not always the case imho. I use on a daily basis speakers made in 1978 and 1990 and they both sets are working fine and neither have put a foot wrong during all that time. Of course grill foam disintegrates and has to be replaced but that's all in my experience. Treating the speakers well and not subjecting them to excessive heat, humidity or physical abuse will add to their life. |
It would be interesting to ask the company how they believe their speakers should last?
If you do and get a reply, please update us. |
Check the wiring. PVC is a commonly used jacket material. It continues to outgas over decades and the chloride oxides copper.
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Bought a pair of ADS L810 II's in 1978. Used them until about 5 years
ago. Passed them on to my brother and as far as I know, still making sounds. Only issue I ever had was blown tweeter fuses when my worthless step son used them while I was at work, |
I have a great pair of Advents from 1972 that had virtually no foam left. Got a couple of OEM woofers (an expensive fix I admit) and now I enjoy the sound I remember from way back when.The cabinets show their age but are still solid. Watch for foam loss and tweeter breakdown and 50-year-old speakers are possible. |
just got me thinking
there is plastic in the oceans and landfills that are supposed to last 1 million years
why can't they make speaker driver surrounds with that cr%p?
just like black boxes on airplanes... 🙃 |
I still have my Pioneer CS 99a speakers from 1978 that are still in great condition. Surrounds are cloth so never need replaced. They're in the barn along with my Cerwin Vegas VS 150's I bought new in 1997. I did have to recone the foam on the Vega woofers last year, but both pair still play flawlessly. Keep in mind these speakers are in a dirty, nasty, farm barn with critters, dust and filth. Haven't even been dusted off in 5 years. I would think technology would have them last even longer. |
I have a pair of Klipsch La Scala, which were made in 1981 and a pair of K horn Speakerlab, which were made in 1971 for more than ten years and a pair of JBL K2 9000, made in 1990, which I bought 3 years ago. All of them are working with no issue. I thing they sound perfectly, but I all way wonder if how much their sound quality reduce compare to the new ones?
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They'll last until you find something you think you'll like better. All of a sudden there will be something wrong with them. |
