Non-subjective speaker test at home


I have a pair of older speakers.  Sound great to me.  Are there some simple tests one can do at home with a test record or test cd that they are still in great condition.  I know all speaker elements produce clean sound.  What else?
dcaudio
If they sound good to you a month from now then that's enough.

Speaker testing is not a science (outside $$$$$$ r&d facilities). There's just too many variables, the recording, the room, etc.

Whilst there's no such thing as a recording that sounds like real life I find that video recordings of friends and family can often sound spookily close to the real thing even on cheap speakers. Voices are revealing.
"i know all speaker elements produce clean sound. What else?"

You've revealed a clear case of audio nervosa. You can't accept the simple test of them producing good sound, so you think you need more "testing  stuff"

I would just put them in their best position within the room and crack open a beer.




Sheffield Labs drum track. Turn it up to 110dB.

Also rebuild or replace tweeters as the ferrofluid dries out after as little as two years. (ferrofluid drying out could be one of the reasons people report break-in of 600+ hours - common speaker designs are inadequate and run the tweeters very hot on loud music - obvious from soundstage speaker linearity tests like Magico S5- and once the ferro fluid dries out from the heat then the sensitivity of the tweeter drops and the speaker will sound less detailed and a bit smoother or duller)
@dcaudio - I think you have completed the "simple test" just by listening to them. If they sound good then that is about as far as you can go - other tests require more sophisticated equipment.

However - if you want to make use of them then it’s worth considering the following...

A physical inspection of the foam or rubber surrounds will tell you if there could be a problem there - but they can be replaced if cracked or damaged.

Also - remove the woofer and take a look at the corrugated membrane behind the cone that centers the voice coil over the magnet - if that is damaged then I think it’s game over because at some time it will fail completely

If the speakers are over 25 years old I would recommend having the crossovers rebuilt - specifically the electrolytic caps - replacing them with high quality caps will improve performance.

You could also replace the internal wiring - the quality of wire has probably come a long way since they were built

I had a pair of 34 year old speakers on which I completed the above repairs and they are still going strong today.

Hope that helps - Steve