I just ordered a set of Sonus Faber Olympica Nova Vs, my first foray into nice speakers. I turn 51 this month and am hoping these will be the last speakers I ever buy. But it got me to thinking - how long should I expect these speakers to last? Or any good speakers for that matter? Does the foam eventually break down? Issues with general wear and tear? Appreciate your perspectives!
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?
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 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.
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,
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.
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!
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...
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.
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.
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!
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.
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
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.
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.
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 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 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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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 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.
Vandersteen model 1B player the crap out of them 25 years long. Fortunly they have the rubber instead of foam edges an they have a abuse circuit that kicks inn if needed. When aging an lately applied room correction they sounds better an better.
My audio life got real when I heard a pair of Montana speakers being driven correctly by a huge Threshold amp. It was in the 90s. Incredible sound. Someone on the forum tonight said they have Montana's. What a speaker!
I bought my ADS L1590 tower speakers in 1996. This year had a complete rebuild done including crossovers. They sounded perfect before I started the refurbish. I was being cautious for upcoming years. I liked the softer sound before the rebuild. Now they sound like factor spec but so different. Going to try a different amp preamp combo for sure. Maybe quad 405s or a Schitt Freya plus Enjoy your new speakers. Takes a bunch of money to purchase and get speakers back to new condition!
I seem to have a thing for British Speakers, my original set of Tangent TM1's circa 1976 and replaced with Tangent RS4's from around 1978, I am still listening to them as I write this (Santana Caravanoral), some 40 years or so and still going strong. The drivers are all original and look in great shape, still sound great too. I have tried to keep them out of direct sunlight but they have had a rough journey.
My new adventure in British speakers are a pair of Wilson Benesch Square 2's, which I have had for less than a year, still breaking those in, but starting to come alive. Here's hoping they last as long.
My Altec's with cloth surrounds are original from late 60's or early 70's, I prefer treated cloth surrounds to even butyl rubber. For foam surrounds, I use mink oil about once every 2 years to keep them pliable.
I have 20 year old 1.6's that I push pretty hard in a large room. Not in direct sunlight, but a room where I smoke. No sign of de-lamination. The crossovers have been removed to run active so I can't speak to crossover life.
Recently inherited our father's Altec "Carmel" speakers from the early 60's and we have a pair of Altec VOT A7-8 from the mid 70's. Both sets of drivers are original and sound like new, while the cabinet finishes are being refreshed and the grill cloth replaced. As mentioned before, take good care of them and they will last a long time!
It seems that the older Magnepans lasted maybe 20 years or so now or until the wires seperated from the mylar. I have the impression that the newer Magnepans (1.6, 1.7) last indefinitely. I want to learn about the experiences of other Magnepan owners
In 1972 my wife and I bought a pair of Bose 901, Series 1. That was before Bose started using foam surrounds. They still play in our son's basement party room almost fifty years later.
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