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Lifespan of speaker crossover components & drivers

Hi folks, this is my first post here. Briefly, a bit of background. Bought a used pair of Audiophysic Virgo mkIII around three years back. Enjoyed them for two years and then decided I needed the money and sold them (ironically to the same person who sold them to me - he'd missed them too much!). I spent a year 'slummning' it with lesser speakers but finally decided I needed the AP sound and bought a mint, year-old pair of Avanti mkIII in cherry two weeks ago.

I am delighted with these speakers and I think these are the ones for the long-term commitment.

What I want to know is what a reasonable expectation for lifespan of crossover components and drivers is. I've read that caps can dry within 15 years, depending on the type, and of course I've heard of a lot of speakers from the 70s and 80s with driver degradation (primarily 'rot' of the surrounding mounts).

I'm hoping to have a long and happy marriage, cough, I mean ownership with these speakers - and I'd be keen to know when I should be looking to have things like the crossovers re-capped.

Any pointers appreciated!
jtcedinburgh
5 responses Add your response
trelja
3,223 posts
 
The conventional wisdom is that current drivers use of butyl surrounds extends the driver's lifespan infinitely.

However, I can tell you that after only about 7 years, the Seas P21 Excel drivers in my Coincidents DEFINITELY needed to be rebuilt. Though the butyl surrounds looked pristine from the outside, after we removed them, the microcracking was most apparent. We only removed them because my friend, who happens to be the leader in this field, felt they just had SOOOOOOOO much more to give than he was hearing.

The end result of a complete rebuild of the driver (the increase in liquidity, clarity, dynamics, and slam) proved to me that you better have your drivers rebuilt periodically. If your drivers are 10 years old, you have no idea how much they have deteriorated, whether it is cosmetically apparent or not.

Wiring and electrolytic caps are probably good candidates to be changed in the timeframes that have been mentioned for caps.
porziob
316 posts
 
There are no hard & fast rules. Given reasonable use & care, they might outlast you. Don`t agonize & enjoy.
gregm
3,405 posts
 
You could search for info on the Avanti xover (i.e. a schematic); if I remember its mostly 1st order with a few notche filters however... Recapping is straightforward. Choosing the brand is less so.
jtcedinburgh OP
10 posts
 
Thanks. I've no plans to sell these speakers - though never say never, eh? - so I'm looking to get 20 years out of them before they need anything done (though of course I'm sure a recap should be relatively straightforward given the fact that the crossover is easily removed.

Anyway, any other comments welcomed!

John
gregm
3,405 posts
 
The short answer is, you'll probably have changed spkrs a few times before anything needs looking at:)

Electrolytic caps deteriorate, esp. the high voltage ones used in PS -- that's usually spec'd at 10yrs! (Yr spkrs don't have a PS.)

Surrounds: the surrounds to look out for are the old foam formulations -- NOT used nowadays. I think the Scan drivers yr Avantis wear have rubber surrounds anyway. Unless you leave the Avantis outside in the sun for a few yrs, forget about it:)

Cheers
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