This issue, emanates from the orignal factory information, which placed the 'life' of the ribbon at the same time frame as that of a Moving Coil Cartridge, was, I believe their phraseology.
The reason is thermal stress. As the energy passes through the aluminum tweeter, it heats, then cools. So the unknown at the time of their inception, was, how many times could this be done, before failure? So they put a two to three year life span estimate on them.
Yet over the years, this has proven to be incorrect, with the tweeters lasting, or in many cases outlasting original ownership.
You can verify this with Windell Diller at the factory, and he can give you some better info.
I have seen them fail, when people used them at extraordinary volumes; and when they did, the tweeters looked bent, and misshapen, almost like a coil effect.
Personally, I would not let it be an issue in purchase.
Hope this helps clarify, as I was there as a dealer when this began.
Best,
The reason is thermal stress. As the energy passes through the aluminum tweeter, it heats, then cools. So the unknown at the time of their inception, was, how many times could this be done, before failure? So they put a two to three year life span estimate on them.
Yet over the years, this has proven to be incorrect, with the tweeters lasting, or in many cases outlasting original ownership.
You can verify this with Windell Diller at the factory, and he can give you some better info.
I have seen them fail, when people used them at extraordinary volumes; and when they did, the tweeters looked bent, and misshapen, almost like a coil effect.
Personally, I would not let it be an issue in purchase.
Hope this helps clarify, as I was there as a dealer when this began.
Best,