How long should high quality speakers last?

If a speaker is about 10 years old, you should test the drivers, crossover, etc and determine if everything is in spec (even if you weren't abusing it).

If you plan to keep some speakers for a long time,  get/keep some spare drivers on you before some manufacturer leaves you stranded...

I would not even think about this issue for about twenty years. I would examine the woofers edges for deterioration of the tape between mount and cones. Nothing wrong with examining it early. I bought four 800 Series B&W speakers and ended up getting them all re-taped at around 25 years. Other than that, they should be good until you want better performing speakers. Typically for me that is every 10 - 15 years.

It really depends on the speakers.  Foam surrounds can rot after 20 years or so.

Mine have butyl surrounds and are 35 years old. 5 years ago I refreshed the ferro fluid in the tweeters. They’re as good as new...maybe better because the caps and woofers have thousands of hours on them.  Hoping to get another 30 years from them. 

It’s a good practice to rotate your woofers 180 degrees every decade or so to offset for any gravity pull.

I think on their site Zu says "100 years"     Enjoy

My speakers are forty one years old, they look and sound like new.

Mike

Speaker life depends upon the design, environment, and usage.  I am not familiar with your speakers.  From a design perspective, ware of the basket of driver is material dependent.  Foam wares sooner than rubber as an example.  The driver diaphragm is also material dependent.  Metal and composites are more durable than paper.  Environmental factors like heat and humidity affect materials of construction.  Aggressive home playing conditions of professional playing conditions shorten life span.  Crossover design with electrolytic caps may need cap replacement after 10-12 years.  You should inspect these items for ware.  If there are no signs of ware and your speakers sound good, don’t worry.  This still appears to be a current model. So that’s comforting from a repair perspective.  I have one of my first low end audiophile speakers, a 40 year old pair of DCM Time Windows still sounding as they did back then in a vaca home in VT.  Do they sound as good as modern designs … no.  But they have not deteriorated and sound as they did back then.  

It all depends on how the speakers were constructed and the materials used.  Cones with foam surrounds deteriorate in a few years and need repair.  Quality speakers with long-lasting materials are a different story.  My woofers were made in 1946.  That’s not a typo.  They will turn 80 next year.  And they sound fantastic.

From the ZU's Definition IV User's Guide: "100 years; cabinet, and drivers, including the Zu 10” drivers; even in direct sunlight".

Play on!

100 years... no need to worry.   You should be able to pass them down for generations....  

Speakers last a very very long time especially if used carefully and not over or under driven.

My speakers are 25 years old, no deterioration of sound at all.

If the drive units have non foam surrounds, twenty years plus. Beyond that, some crossover components might need refurbishment.  That's assuming the speakers are driven within normal parameters - not used as PA for parties. That's for moving coil speakers.

Forever.because they cut my grants from the gov.all of the above is great advice.there are companies that replace the ferrofluid.i have reconed many speakers and using the shims to center the cone is very important keeping the voice coil aligned. Caps do age out but can be tested bulging and leakage is not good.coils hardly ever wear outresearch and do it yourself.enjoy the music and the journey.

Dunno my Tannoy D700 perform perfectly fine since 1998

I've had my PSB Image 2B speakers for over 20 years and they still sound great.

I've had my Definitive Technology BP 30's since 2001 and they were built in 1999 and still sound as they did then that I can remember.

I have Kef 107.2 That I bought in 1990.

i had them totally rebuilt 2015 sound as good as they did new.

Refurb took almost a year.

100 years in direct sunlight...sounds like I'm good. I could have the cabinets refinished if I want a visual change. 

They can bury me with my tannoys....

So much depends on design and whether direct sunlight falls on exposed drivers.  As others have mentioned rubber surrounds can go bad quickly. By that I mean that surrounds can become brittle and start to tear or crumble when speakers are as young as 15 years or so.  Pleated fabric or paper surrounds can last a very long time.  I've heard woofers that are 90 years old that are still good  Horn compression drivers can last a VERY long time  I own a pair of compression drivers that are over 80 years old.  Tweeters can last a long time without any maintenance if they don't have ferro-fluid in their magnetic gaps.  That stuff can start to dry out as early as 15 years or so and maintenance requires taking the speaker apart to clean out the old stuff and replace it with new ferrofluid.

Crossover components life really depends on they type of capaictor used.  If the crossover employs modern film caps or ancient paper in oil caps, they lifetime can be extremely long.  I am having a crossover made which will be using paper in oil caps that are 60-70 years old.  Electrolytic caps might not last long, but, it depends a lot on the make of the cap.  

My Krix Euphonics were purchased in the mid to late 80's, they were demonstrators from a shop that was closing. The surrounds are butyl type material, not foam so no degradation yet.. For a period in the mid 90's I drove them with a pair of Carver M400t amps, safe to say there was abuse then... Now they are powered by a Carver M500t, modded and overhauled by Nelion in Mich. My musical tastes have matured, as has my need for speed. They are still outstanding speakers, and can probably keep going, But I'm planning a move, and have a limited budget, so maybe a used pair of Dali or Monitor Silvers??? I prefer floor standing towers... My little tube system in the bedroom runs a pair of older Totem, Arros.

Until they no longer sound good to you, or you notice that "something's wrong".  I had to replace a tweeter on one of my speakers a few years ago; both recognizing the problem and accomplishing the replacement were "no-brainers".

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

Good question!  Good replies!  Good post!  Thanks!

Infinity Renaissance 90's are about 30 years old and sound perfect.   Bought maybe the last EMIT tweeters from the mfg around 2000 and never used one.  Bought a spare set of speakers and sold them after 10 years.  In my late 60 's so it'll be a test as what lasts longer.  

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. 

My Yamaha NS-2000's are rockin around 35-40 years and still sound great. I bought them off of hifido 7-8 years ago and they went through them. Changed a couple caps in the crossovers and recovered the grills, plus the speakers already had the upgraded surrounds for the woofer.

I do like the marchand electronic crossover and have talked to him.he will answered questions and tailer a build to you needs.enjoy the search.

I'm wondering what is the oldest speaker still playing out there all original with no repairs or upgrades.

Our 1959 Bozaks in our bedroom still look and sound great.  

I know someone with a pair of original Western Electric 753 speakers.  They are both probably from the late 1940's to early 1950's.  They sound really good.  He also has a pair of Western Electric 757 speakers from the same era that I also like very much.  

Your Omen Def’s don’t have a cross over just a cap on the tweeter. The 10” drivers are reported to be indestructible. There are two kits available from ZU if you want to upgrade them to match the Omen Def Supremes which I have. One is an upgraded tweeter with an upgraded cap for said tweeter. The other is a wide plinth that perfectly sets the air gap for the ports under the speaker and provides a more stable bass. 

I had a pair of Ohm Walsh speakers last over 30 years and was used daily. I did replace the drivers after the 30 year mark with an upgrade kit from Ohm. 
As long as it is in a normal humidity and temperature environment it will last longer than you might think.

@paradisecom I have Bozaks from 1963. Replacing the capacitors in the crossovers definitely improved the sound quality.

I just gave my brother a pair of Heresy II.   Still work and sound good.   I'm guessing they are 35-40 years old.   

After a decade goes by and as long as the cones or foams aren’t damaged you may want to think about re-capping them.

@georgemunn I am going to order the plinth. I was unaware ZU offered the Omen Def Supreme tweeters. I'll have to look those up

I believe ZU has discontinued the Omen Def Supreme. Maybe they will still build them on special order, however, they are no longer on the site. I'm a pro photographer and the site still uses a photo I took for them back in 2012. The B&W image of the omen def large driver close up. 

I have a pair of 30y/o ESL's, Acoustat Spectra 1100's that continue to impress me with each improvement in my other components. Anyone else have older ESL's?

In the 70s l was told by an older experienced hi-fi guy who started me on the hobby that speakers were the most reliable part of a system.

There are less components to go wrong.

This stayed in my mind over the years and l never experienced a pair of speakers ever fail and l have used many.

l was very impressed when l went to hi-fi shows in Bristol and London with the Acoustic Energy brand. Their AE1 MK1 had been designed as a small bookshelf size for use in near field recording studios. Yamaha was the brand that dominated the US but here there was a UK rival.

The price was high, but also the sound…..it was powerful, refined and had a very large sound stage. Imagery was a main talking point, and it went LOUD without fatigue or distortion…. In blind tests people thought they were listening to floor standers. The secret of the AE1 was when it was married with AE lead filled iron cast pedestal stands designed just for that speaker.

Owning a pair was too expensive when starting a family and was just out of reach. Forward 30 years and l had the chance to buy a pair with pedestals on eBay. I made an offer £100 more than the starting bid and it was accepted….a mere £550. They were ex-demo and had been given to a salesman as his Xmas bonus. And l had the bi-wire Chord Silverscreen bi-wire cables used for the demos thrown in too.

More than ten years later these speakers are now 40 years old, never been re-coned and still looking brand new with their piano finish walnut cabinets. I have no reason to think the electronics have fallen out of spec as l have bought other speakers since, moved these to rear surrounds and now they are my mains again. The newer AE Reference 1 speakers l tried just didn’t compete, there was something missing so they were demoted to be my rear surrounds.

The AE1s from 1984 still hold their own and although the base always rolled off dramatically at 60Hz they were still bought by many hi-fi enthusiasts for home systems and not just for studio use. They are now paired with two Rel T9i subs which integrate so well.

So how long can speakers last? Well engineered quality speakers could outlive many of its owners….me included. I have been very lucky to own a pair of trouble free speakers l never thought l could have afforded and to have discovered their full potential.

Jeff Days’ vintage office system:

These are heavy loudspeakers, somewhere in the 250 pound range each as a guesstimate. These vintage loudspeakers—like me, are over six decades old now—have accumulated a few scuffs and scrapes over the years, but still they are in very nice cosmetic condition overall considering their age, and the drivers, horns, crossovers and cabinets are in essentially perfect operational condition—a testimony to the impeccable quality of Altec products from that period.

My speakers are 45 years old. The woofers were refoamed 10-15 years ago. Otherwise, they have been perfectly reliable since I bought them, and they sound great.