Condition of these ~30 year old B&O Floorstanders?

[petrichor]

Howdy all. I recently inherited a pair of Beovox M100s from an uncle of mine who purchased them in ~1980 or so. At the time, they were the company's flagship model of floorstanding speakers. Specs are at the end of post, after pics. Some questions/concerns I'd like to pose to the experts here / those who are familiar with the model:

1. Can anyone tell me what these cones are made of, and if they appear to be in good condition? The large driver appears to be a paper cone, no? Some of the glue has deteriorated, and I'm holding a few pieces together with some painter's tape. Not sure if it's worth re-glueing.

2. What's an average lifespan for speakers of this type? (I know this is something of an unanswerable question as it depends upon many variables, e.g. construction quality, materials, usage, etc., but I'm looking for a very rough estimate as I know very little about speaker construction and durability -- what tends to die first on a given speaker, and in what time frame?) They spent ~25 years of their life in the same room, not moved often, and were used for 95% classical music. I believe the receiver was an old high-end NAD.

3. Are there any tests I can conduct to determine % functionality, or if a driver is shot? I wouldn't mind ordering some device or other to conduct testing. Complete noob in this area, but very eager to learn.

Pics:

Stylish blue tape holding one of the grilles on the tweeter. Notice the rusting of the screws:

Midrange:

More rust, + something's un-tucked...?

What's the edge of this cone made of? Something rubber, as it appears to be cracking?

Bass driver:

BeoVox M75/100 Passive Loudspeakers Product Specifications

Beovox M75 Specifications
Type: 6314
Continuous load 75 W
Music load 125 W
Impedance: 4 - 8 ohms
Frequency response +4 -8 dB 27 - 20,000 Hz
Sensitivity 5 W
Gross volume 55 litre
Woofer: 25cm
Phase link unit: 12,5 cm
Mid-range unit: 6cm
Tweeter: 2,5cm
Dimensions W x H x D: 35 x 65 x 27cm
Weight 17kg
Beovox M100 / M100-2 Specifications Type: 6309/6319
Continuous load:100 W
Music load: 150 W
Impedance: 4 - 8 ohms
Frequency response: +4 -8 dB 27 - 22,000 Hz
Sensitivity: 5W
Net volume: 60 litre
Gross volume: 89 litre
Woofer: 33cm
Filler driver: 11.5cm
Mid-range unit: 5.5cm
Tweeter 1: 4cm
Tweeter 2: 1.9cm
Dimensions W x H x D: 39.5 x 75 x 30.5cm
Weight: 23kg

More info @ links:
http://www.beoworld.org/prod_details.asp?pid=483
http://beophile.com/?page_id=1479

 

[TLS Guy]

Howdy all. I recently inherited a pair of Beovox M100s from an uncle of mine who purchased them in ~1980 or so. At the time, they were the company's flagship model of floorstanding speakers. Specs are at the end of post, after pics. Some questions/concerns I'd like to pose to the experts here / those who are familiar with the model:

1. Can anyone tell me what these cones are made of, and if they appear to be in good condition? The large driver appears to be a paper cone, no? Some of the glue has deteriorated, and I'm holding a few pieces together with some painter's tape. Not sure if it's worth re-glueing.

2. What's an average lifespan for speakers of this type? (I know this is something of an unanswerable question as it depends upon many variables, e.g. construction quality, materials, usage, etc., but I'm looking for a very rough estimate as I know very little about speaker construction and durability -- what tends to die first on a given speaker, and in what time frame?) They spent ~25 years of their life in the same room, not moved often, and were used for 95% classical music. I believe the receiver was an old high-end NAD.

3. Are there any tests I can conduct to determine % functionality, or if a driver is shot? I wouldn't mind ordering some device or other to conduct testing. Complete noob in this area, but very eager to learn.

Pics:

Stylish blue tape holding one of the grilles on the tweeter. Notice the rusting of the screws:

Midrange:

More rust, + something's un-tucked...?

What's the edge of this cone made of? Something rubber, as it appears to be cracking?

Bass driver:

BeoVox M75/100 Passive Loudspeakers Product Specifications

Beovox M75 Specifications
Type: 6314
Continuous load 75 W
Music load 125 W
Impedance: 4 - 8 ohms
Frequency response +4 -8 dB 27 - 20,000 Hz
Sensitivity 5 W
Gross volume 55 litre
Woofer: 25cm
Phase link unit: 12,5 cm
Mid-range unit: 6cm
Tweeter: 2,5cm
Dimensions W x H x D: 35 x 65 x 27cm
Weight 17kg
Beovox M100 / M100-2 Specifications Type: 6309/6319
Continuous load:100 W
Music load: 150 W
Impedance: 4 - 8 ohms
Frequency response: +4 -8 dB 27 - 22,000 Hz
Sensitivity: 5W
Net volume: 60 litre
Gross volume: 89 litre
Woofer: 33cm
Filler driver: 11.5cm
Mid-range unit: 5.5cm
Tweeter 1: 4cm
Tweeter 2: 1.9cm
Dimensions W x H x D: 39.5 x 75 x 30.5cm
Weight: 23kg

More info @ links:
http://www.beoworld.org/prod_details.asp?pid=483
http://beophile.com/?page_id=1479

Those are old Peerless drivers. The bass cone is paper, the mid doped paper, and the rubber surround has deteriorated beyond hope.

The lower dome mid is fabric, the lower tweeter is melinex and the top tweeter I think is fabric.

Despite the hype on the Beo sited, these speakers were pretty dreadful.

You won't find parts and I would not put money and effort into them.

 

[petrichor]

Those are old Peerless drivers. The bass cone is paper, the mid doped paper, and the rubber surround has deteriorated beyond hope.

The lower dome mid is fabric, the lower tweeter is melinex and the top tweeter I think is fabric.

Despite the hype on the Beo sited, these speakers were pretty dreadful.

You won't find parts and I would not put money and effort into them.

Greatly appreciate the info. I've read some horror stories about the unavailability of parts and the difficulty of repairing these particular models, so I've no intention to do that. They still sound okay, particularly the low end as they are massive. And, the audio quality is doubtless enhanced by the fact that i paid nothing for them.

I'll run them into the ground and not think twice about it when they give out.