How long will a loudspeaker last?

[mechael]

Hi,

I'm getting married and moving to a new condo; therefore, I'm shopping for a pair of speakers. A friend of mine is selling his pair of Paradigm Phantom V2 for $150/pair. My father wanted to give me a pair of KEF floor speaker, but it's 20 years old, plus there's some slight mold on the speaker cone. I thought the Paradigm is a good deal but I also can take the KEF.

How long does a speaker last generally? Would age deteriote the quality of the speaker? Is mold cleanable?

Thanks!

 

[Dolby CP-200]

mechael

Congratulations

Mold on the loudspeaker not a good sign check that there’s no decay of the foam surround if it’s got foam surround around the bass mid driver.

If you what to start fresh with loudspeakers for the fronts three-screen matching all the way across the front is the perfect marriage for loudspeakers that way there’ll both have something in common matching voicing.

Still never look a gift horse in the mouth, but I would pass and start fresh with loudspeakers that will be capable of withstanding the dynamics of today’s films soundtracks and general music as well.

You can clean mold yes, but I’ll check very closely to see if there’s any splits in the foam surround any cracks if so re-foaming is in order and it’s a messy affair.

 

[Jacksmyname]

I have a pair of Mirage M760 floorstanders that I bought in 1989.
The still sound as good as the day I bought them (terrific).
No signs of any breakdown at all.

 

[highfihoney]

How long does a speaker last generally? Would age deteriote the quality of the speaker? Is mold cleanable?
Thanks!

A speaker can last forever depending on how its taken care of & conditions in the home like humidity,the life of the surround is what usually comes into play,foam surrounds will last about 20 years before they start to show signs of dry rot,pleated surrounds & rubber surrounds last much longer.

I wouldnt be so quick to pass over the KEF speakers your dad has,what model are they, IE 104, 105 ?

 

[Dolby CP-200]

I have a pair of Mirage M760 floorstanders that I bought in 1989.
The still sound as good as the day I bought them (terrific).
No signs of any breakdown at all.

Jacksmyname

Do they have foam surround? I had to make a minor repair to the x2 JBL control 5 which where brought back late of 1989.

Foam surround really sucks I’d sooner replace the whole bass mid driver with rubber surround for durableness.

 

[highfihoney]

Foam surround really sucks I’d sooner replace the whole bass mid driver with rubber surround for durableness.

Replacing any type surround with another composition surround is probably not the best idea as it will change the drivers performance,at any rate a foam surround will last atleast 20 years & by the time it wears out again most people will have sold or retired them years ago,plus after 20 more years your priorities change & you start worring about other stuff like liver spots,hairy ears & weak bladder.

 

[tubesaregood]

but I would pass and start fresh with loudspeakers that will be capable of withstanding the dynamics of today’s films soundtracks and general music as well.

You can clean mold yes, but I’ll check very closely to see if there’s any splits in the foam surround any cracks if so re-foaming is in order and it’s a messy affair.

Those speakers will have no issue handling the "dynamics" of "today's" recordings. No speaker should.

And refoaming isn't all that bad, in my opinion. If it's messy, I'd blame it on operator error.

 

[dave1490]

Hi,

I'm getting married and moving to a new condo; therefore, I'm shopping for a pair of speakers. A friend of mine is selling his pair of Paradigm Phantom V2 for $150/pair. My father wanted to give me a pair of KEF floor speaker, but it's 20 years old, plus there's some slight mold on the speaker cone. I thought the Paradigm is a good deal but I also can take the KEF.

How long does a speaker last generally? Would age deteriote the quality of the speaker? Is mold cleanable?

Thanks!

speaker last forever if you dont clip them,if you heat them up youll notice the ohmage drop and then it,s time for new diaphram.the other concern is the surrounds{the rubber part}they go after 20 yr.you can also demagitize a magnet but thats rare.depending on the material used.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Hi,
How long does a speaker last generally? Would age deteriote the quality of the speaker? Is mold cleanable?

Thanks!

With some care, replacing deteriorated foam, caps in crossover, etc, they can last a very long time. Magnets don't wear, voice coil doesn't, unless it is abused with power, so not much to go out.

 

[mechael]

Thanks for your reply.

It's C95, I checked. The rubber surround seems intact; only problem is the slight mold.

Do you think they're treatable? Thanks

 

[tubesaregood]

you may be able to wipe off that mold even with a dry cloth. If not, I wouldn't worry about it. I can't foresee mold destroying your speaker diaphragm.

 

[rmongiovi]

I had a pair of Kef 107s that I bought just after they were released - mid 80's. Every bit of foam and rubber insulation on them had decayed. These speakers had a pair of woofers completely enclosed in the cabinet, in an unusual configuration where they were bolted together with a rod down the middle of the cabinet. This meant that the speakers had a foam ring on both the inside and the outside of the speaker cone. When I opened the cabinet to see why I had a buzzing noise, I found that there was almost no foam still adhering to the cone. It had all rotted and flaked off. Essentially I had a voice coil moving freely in and out and causing no motion of the cone at all. What made this worse, of course, was that the drivers were totally enclosed and I couldn't even see that it was deteriorating. Other rubber on other drivers was sticky/gooey to the touch.

I looked into repairing them, and ended up junking them.

 

[baseman]

A friend gave me a pair of Advent speakers that were made in 1975! The surrounds were totally rotted out and disintegrating when touched. I was worried that the voice coils might have been damaged from the cone hanging at an angle due to no surround support.

I bought a $15 surround kit online and the speakers are alive and kicking again, and sound fantastic. I would just be careful cleaning the cones on your's because pressing in on a speaker cone with a tight VC tolerance could damage it, but I think most modern speakers have pretty wide gaps. Good luck.

 

[tubesaregood]

It's probably difficult to hurt a voice coil just by messing with it while it's loose in the gap. The former should hold it together just fine. Playing it while the coil is loose is a different story of course.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Thanks for your reply.

It's C95, I checked. The rubber surround seems intact; only problem is the slight mold.

Do you think they're treatable? Thanks

Pretty good pictures

As suggested, first just wipe it off with a dry cloth. Try to place your fingers behind it where you are wiping so there is not much of a chance of buckling the cone.
If it doesn't work, perhaps a used toothbrush and light brushing, maybe with a very small bleach but try that on the back side first for discoloration, etc.

 

[tubesaregood]

If you're going to use bleach, I'd recommend it as a last resort and dilute it like crazy with water, as in put a few drops of bleach into 8 ounces of water.