How long should high quality speakers last?

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

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.

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.

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. 

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.  

Good question!  Good replies!  Good post!  Thanks!

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

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 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.

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.  

They can bury me with my tannoys....

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

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.

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

Dunno my Tannoy D700 perform perfectly fine since 1998

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.

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.

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

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

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

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!

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.

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.  

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

Mike

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

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 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.

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...